Your Commercial Kitchen is the most vacant area which never stops operating be it during peak hours of your business or a private event or during a menu testing session. Therefore, it is the foremost priority to ensure your kitchen and all equipment & appliances inside it are maintained & kept in the finest possible condition.
Commercial Kitchen Equipment Maintenance is a positive aspect of your kitchen in multiple ways. It will not only save money, but it can make your kitchen more energy-efficient and overall time-saving.
If you are currently not carrying out any commercial kitchen equipment maintenance, let us walk you through some in-depth reasons on why maintenance of commercial catering equipment is so important and some handy maintenance tips for your commercial kitchen.
1. Creating a cleaning schedule
A proper cleaning schedule will ensure grease, stains & food particles are removed from the commercial kitchen equipment & appliances which will in turn lead to superior quality food.
Regular cleaning will also keep your staff & customers in good condition too leading to a safe & healthy environment.
You need to make sure that anyone cleaning your appliances follows the stainless steel cleaning instructions provided in the manual book to get the best results.
At NWCE, during the installation process, our team provides you with a checklist of items needed to be cleaned on regular basis to ensure they are in proper running condition.
2. Cleaning Vent Hood & Ducts
This is the most negligible part on which most businesses miss out on keeping it clean.
Your vent and hood ducts collect a lot of built-up grease and food debris. In order to remove grease that has built up from grease-laden vapors, the vent hood and duct should be cleaned by a qualified contractor at least once every six months and must be done by a certified hood cleaning service. You may need to perform this service more frequently, but every six months is a minimum time frame for most commercial kitchens.
At NWCE, at the time of service, our qualified service professionals make sure to clean the vent hood & ducts properly so it looks neat and clean, shining like a new one.
We advise you to instruct your staff to at least wipe down the outside of the hood to keep it looking clean for your clientele.
3. Cleaning Deep Fat Fryers
A small negligence & ignorance on cleaning & maintenance of deep-fat fryer can turn it into the most dangerous fire hazards in commercial kitchen. At NWCE, during the installation process, our team provides you a manual which has recommendations & tips on how the deep fat fryer should be cleaned and maintained.
We advise you to get the fryer scrutinized by a qualified commercial kitchen equipment contractor every 12 months. We request you to keep this in mind that there are some high-risk parts of the deep fat fryer that neither you nor your staff should clean as they may pose a potential hazard and put you or your staff in jeopardy. During the inspection, the contractor cleans these parts to ensure it remains up to the mark to give you the best quality output,
At NWCE, we understand how crucial it is to stay on top of your deep-fat fryer. Our preventative maintenance contracts are typically for a service call once every six months, however, we recommend you to get yourself added to our list of annual check-ups so that your deep-fat fryer is not neglected.
4. Cleaning Grease Filters
One of the simplest ways to avoid the chances of a grease fire in your commercial kitchen is to ensure cleaning your grease filters regularly.
At NWCE, we recommend most restaurant kitchens to do grease filter cleanings once a week. However, restaurants that cook a lot of greasy foods may need to do this service more often or even on a nightly basis, which is an excellent way to reduce fire risks.
Also, keeping by cleaning your grease filters regularly helps to cut down the amount of debris you clean off your restaurant kitchen equipment as well.
5. Replacing Broken Parts Quickly
Many businesses often do this ignorant behavior whenever they notice a broken or faulty part on one of their appliances, and they continue to operate with that part in order to avoid the onus of the cost of a repair.
At NWCE, we advise replacing the broken part of the appliance immediately rather than waiting. By staying on top of your repairs, you can prevent the more costly replacement.
The longer you wait to replace parts, it will lead to further breakdown of other parts of the appliance and resulting in the entire appliance becoming non-functional with higher negligence.
6. Cleaning Air Filters
Clean air filters are necessary when it comes to cooling equipment like refrigerators and ice machines. Many a times, these filters become clogged with dust and grease, and air cannot get through to the machine, which causes it to overheat and leads to breakdown. Y
At NWCE, we advise you to regularly clean your air filters with a Shop-Vac to remove any dust or dirt, as well as with an appropriate degreasing solution to prevent build-up.
This small clean-up practice will help you save money as you will notice a reduction in your electricity bill.
7. Floor Maintenance
Most Businesses don’t think of their kitchen floor as part of their equipment, but it is actually that equipment of your business that gets used more than any other part of your kitchen. Negligence in the cleaning of the kitchen floor can lead to situations of your employee slipping or falling on the floor which can hinder productivity.
At NWCE, we provide you with a manual that has a list of tested and certified floor cleaning products approved & recommended by the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI).
It is important to scrub the floors firmly with a deck brush as part of your daily floor-cleaning routine. We advise you to encourage the use of rubber mats & EVA rubber soles in your commercial kitchen shoes which will improve friction & grip to avoid slippery & fall on the floor.
Some pro tips from your end:
- Include this in your daily cleaning routine of scrubbing or wiping down your burners, grates, and skillets to get maximum results from them. Also, make sure to give soaking to these items appropriate removable parts in warm & foamy water every month.
- Make sure to regularly clean the drip trays and areas located underneath your cooking area where grease may accumulate.
- To clean stainless steel stains, use an Alkaline washing detergent (pH over 8). To remove lime stains, use a 25% vinegar solution.
- Go for soaps containing citric acid between pH 7 to 8 for best results.
- Don’t forget to leave wet cast iron pans or other metallic utensils on stainless steel appliances for long periods as this will encourage rust.
- When it comes to hiring cleaners for extraction systems, look out for members of the National Association of Duct Cleaners (NAAS) that adhere to TR19 standards and have ISO 9001 quality assurance certification.
- Follow the guidelines provided by the NWCE team during installation which is key to keeping warranties valid.
- Make sure to study your manuals in advance to make staff training and regular inspections hassle-free.
Contact us today to get the best tips for your commercial kitchen appliances & assistance with maintenance & service. You can even contact us over a call at 0161 764 8688 or email us at [email protected] for any kind of assistance on sales, installation, maintenance, repair, or service. Our team is always available to support you even with minor queries.
