Your cooking equipment is arguably the most important thing inside your restaurant. One unexpected breakdown or failure and your busy dinner service is ruined. Even worse, a kitchen fire will keep you out of business for days, or even weeks.
To start, it is important to buy the right kitchen equipment, but it’s even more important to ensure that every unit is well-maintained to keep your restaurant running smoothly. Here we’ll discuss the right strategies to keep your commercial kitchen equipment in good shape.
Routine cleaning and sanitizing
Cleaning and sanitizing your kitchen equipment regularly is one of the best strategies to protect its integrity. Have your employees clean your kitchen equipment at least once every day. It helps to prevent grime, dust, debris, and food particles from building up. If they aren’t cleaned regularly, they cause wear and tear of the kitchen equipment over time.
For instance, dust can accumulate on your fridge’s coils, reducing its productivity. Ensure the fryer’s combustion is cleaned at least once a month to avoid breakdown. Make sure your employees are paying attention to the burners’ flap-tops and wipe food particles that accumulate over time. Most importantly, ensure your cleaners follow the manufacturers’ instructions if they are unsure of how to disinfect and clean kitchen equipment.
Inspect your kitchen equipment regularly
While it is easy to detect some issues with your kitchen equipment and have them repaired early, most problems are noticed when they are at advanced stages. You can prevent major issues from happening by inspecting your kitchen equipment regularly. Inspect the air filters in the HVAC system and refrigerator to make sure they are dust-free. In addition, you should inspect cooking equipment for gas leaks. Simply spray soapy water into the gas supply hoses. If you see bubbles, there is a possible gas leak.
Seek professional help
While routine inspection by your in-house team is critical, they are likely to miss certain issues. This is why you should consider contacting a reliable restaurant equipment repair contractor like the Dutton Equipment Repair to conduct regular maintenance on your kitchen equipment. A professional repair technician should inspect the microwave, fridges, fryer, and gas cooker at least once every year for possible issues. Apart from enhancing safety, regular maintenance by a professional helps to keep your commercial kitchen equipment running at peak performance, eliminating unforeseen interruptions for your restaurant business.
Train your employees
There’s a good chance that you rarely handle kitchen equipment yourself. Your employees are the ones who mostly handle kitchen equipment, which implies they should know how to handle them with care. Train your employees on equipment etiquette and put in place standard safety measures that should be observed in the kitchen.
Repair broken parts
Your kitchen appliances are subject to wear and tear after years of use. If you notice a noisy or broken component, ensure it’s repaired by a professional technician as soon as possible. Staying on top of repairs helps to keep your business running smoothly.
Endnote
Even with the best kitchen equipment, strategies to keep them in good shape should be your top priority. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected breakdowns that could ruin your business operations.