The commercial equipment used in your restaurant may not be as easy to clean as the dishes, but it is just as important that it get clean. We have a few tips to help you make these integral parts of your kitchen germ free and appealing to work with, but keep in mind that some of them require regular, rigorous cleaning. If you don’t have the manpower or time to get everything cleaned as often as it needs to be, then consider hiring a cleaning service to lighten your workload.
Check the Grease Traps
It’s easy to remember to clean the work surfaces, but how often do we think about the internal parts that need some cleaning? Many commercial restaurant items have grease traps that catch runover. These can experience a buildup over time, and they might overflow if they are not cleaned regularly. Depending on how busy your restaurant is and how large your equipment is, you will need to clean out the grease traps daily or weekly. Gauge how often they need to be cleaned. If you only clean them once a week and the traps are 50% full or more, then you should clean them more often. This will help keep your workspace sanitary.
Use the Right Cleaning Methods for Stainless Steel
A lot of modern restaurant equipment is stainless steel, and that’s the preferred material for much of the larger equipment. You can ensure this lasts for a long time by cleaning it properly. Use a wet cloth with some mild detergent to give your stainless steel an appealing shine. Always ensure that you wipe in the same direction as the finish. There may be times where the buildup on your equipment is too tough for this cleaning method, and in those cases, you can use baking soda or some kind of powerful commercial cleaner. Just be sure to wash the cleaned area as soon as you are done working there. This will help to prevent any damage to your equipment.
Use Prevention Cleaning for Your Oven
One of the hardest parts of any commercial kitchen to clean is the oven. That’s because most people simply take too long to clean theirs, letting gunk build up over a long period of time and waiting until the oven is simply disgusting before they do any cleaning. If you have your oven cleaned on a weekly basis, though, then it will stay looking clean and will always be much easier to keep clean. This is true of all your commercial kitchen equipment. If you just practice preventative cleaning, you will have much easier time with each cleaning session.
Put the Cleaning on a Schedule
To avoid falling in the trap of forgetting to clean something because you got busy doing something else, make a detailed checklist of what needs to be cleaned and how often. Place this checklist where everyone can see it so that it will be a constant reminder of the work that needs to be done.