Not many people enjoy cleaning, but it has to be done. And while you can get away with not cleaning your kitchen at home every day, this isn’t the case if you work at a restaurant. This means your kitchen staff must clean up at the end of each night before going home. After all, sanitation is the key to maintaining a healthy eating establishment. Make sure that cleaning the kitchen area and all equipment is at the top of your nightly to-do list!
A thorough cleaning is not only important to prevent bacteria that could make customers sick—it’s also the law. Here’s your go-to checklist to ensure thorough restaurant cleaning in Delaware:
- Beverage dispensers: The issue with beverage dispensers is that you can’t see how dirty their smaller and internal components really are. The nozzles and dispenser heads on beverage dispensers often get overlooked at the end of the night. Parts like nozzles and heads have sugar and moisture still inside them, which attracts fruit flies and enables mold and bacteria to grow. Wash and sanitize nozzle and dispenser heads every day.
- Ice machines: The ice machine is another piece of restaurant equipment that sometimes gets missed. Servers don’t usually touch restaurant ice with their bare hands, but a dirty machine can grow bacteria, contaminate the ice and make people sick. The best way to know for sure your ice is safe for consumption is to clean the bin and dispenser regularly.
- Meat slicers: When cleaning your restaurant’s meat slicer, make sure to clean the entire device. Clean the top blade and the bottom section nightly, in addition to cleaning the entire meat slicer between different cuts of meat.
- Refrigerator coils: Your restaurant kitchen refrigerator works hard to ensure perishable food stays cool. All types of refrigerators have coils, which need to be cleaned. Coils that are clean are better able to evenly cool the inside of the unit. But if refrigerator coils are not clean, they cannot function as they should and the cooling unit could stop working altogether. Assign someone on staff to dust the back of the refrigerator once a month to ensure good performance and efficiency.
- Food splatters: Food is bound to splash on kitchen walls and equipment—it’s inevitable. Dried, caked-on splashes are harder to remove from surfaces than fresh splatter, and spills on the floor are a slip hazard. Also, food spills attract pests and bacteria. Instruct everyone to clean up food splashes immediately to avoid these situations.
- The dumpster area: Although the dumpster area is not technically a part of your restaurant kitchen, a dirty outdoor trash area can play host to rodents, insects and bacteria. Make sure kitchen trash makes it into dumpster bins with secure lids, and use a hose to wash away residue to keep the area clean and odor-free.
Commercial Equipment Service Inc. can tell you that nightly restaurant cleaning in Delaware is a team effort. While cleaning, keep your eyes open for equipment problems or damage. Don’t wait—call us today for an appointment!