As you know very well from owning a restaurant, you could have inspectors from your local health department come in at just about any time unannounced to conduct a routine inspection. If you are not prepared and get a bad grade on your inspection, this could at the very least damage your organization’s reputation. At worst, it could end up with your business getting shut down completely.
Therefore, you should constantly run your kitchen in an organized, cleanly manner that will keep you ready in the event of an unexpected inspection. Here are some of the steps you should take on a regular basis to keep you ready.
Keep your appliances in good working order
It’s important to keep your appliances working well, so be sure you work with a professional provider of restaurant equipment repairs in Delaware. If your appliances go out of order, this will hinder your ability to keep on top of your orders and could prevent you from being able to make certain menu items, which will be a nuisance to your customers. There are also safety reasons for you to keep your appliances working well. For example, a refrigerator and freezer that do not work could result in your food becoming unsafe to eat.
Keep on top of your housekeeping
Everything in your kitchen should always be stored in its appropriate place. Keep the cleaning chemicals with each other, and in a different area than where you store your food to ensure they don’t get mixed up. Have built-in times each day where you will thoroughly clean the restaurant and kitchen—many do this at the close of the day. Keeping your restaurant and kitchen clean will do a lot to impress both your customers and potential inspectors.
Make hygiene a priority
A clean kitchen will only go so far if you do not have clean employees. Have signs put up in bathrooms reminding your employees to wash their hands before they go back to work. Require rubber gloves to be worn for certain dishes, and require hair nets to be worn for people performing certain tasks. If people suffer injuries in the kitchen, make sure to bandage them or dress them quickly and appropriately.
Sanitize all surfaces and equipment
All kitchen utensils, cutting boards, and equipment must be cleaned frequently, whether you put them in a dishwasher or wash them yourself by hand. All surfaces used for food prep must also be cleaned and sanitized after every single dish you prepare. Otherwise, you run the risk of causing cross-contamination by preparing meat and other ingredients on the same surface. This creates the risk of foodborne illnesses, opening up your restaurant to lawsuits. Therefore, keep your kitchen as clean as possible, and be sure to clean up spills as soon as you can as well.
For more information about the steps, you should take to keep your kitchen in good shape for potential inspections, contact Commercial Equipment Service about our restaurant equipment and ice machine repairs in Delaware.