Research shows that customers really care about the hygiene and safety of their food when dining at a restaurant. Environmental health expert Jeremy Leach published Improving food hygiene standards-a customer-focused approach in the British Food Journal in 2001. Working with colleagues, Leach presents the results of a consumer survey which found that customers were concerned mostly by flies being kept away from food; personal hygiene issues; cleanliness of equipment, surfaces and premises; and food temperature control.
A thorough deep kitchen clean isn’t really feasible or necessary after each service. Restaurant employees will be accustomed to long hours, but asking them to stay on after each shift might cause some unrest. Unless you’re an extremely hands-on owner, a deep clean after a shift will cost you either: multiple wages for a couple of hours or a single wage for several hours. But don’t worry, not everything needs doing every day. Below is a list of daily, weekly and monthly guidelines for commercial kitchen cleaning.
Daily
- Wipe down walls, getting rid of any splashes
- Clean both sides of grills, griddles and fryers and replace any foil linings
- Wipe any other food processing equipment such as microwaves or meat slicers
- Clean utensils, letting them air-dry overnight
- Disinfect all food prep areas (this is vital to prevent contamination)
- Put all wash rags, aprons and towels in the washing machine
- Refill soap dispensers and hand towel rolls
- Sweep kitchen and walk-in fridges and storage areas
- Empty rubbish and recycling (invest in good quality bin bags to minimise the number of trips and potential spillages).
- Disinfect waste bins
- Mop floors
If your kitchen staff keep to the above checklist, you should find that you have a clean kitchen each morning before service. This allows chefs and assistants to begin prep as soon as they arrive so you can be confident the upcoming service will run smoothly. However, there are bigger jobs for commercial kitchen cleaning that need to be completed each week.
Weekly
- Clean ovens, including doors, walls and racks
- Delime the sinks and any other suitable areas
- If you use a deep fryer, this will need to be boiled out
- Use drain cleaner on any floor drains
- Sanitise any areas
These tasks can be performed by a couple of members of staff in a pretty short space of time. Ideally, this would be done on perhaps a Sunday evening as most restaurants will stop service early. This means your staff won’t have to work too late and each week can begin with an immaculate kitchen. Now, there are only a few tasks left to keep your commercial kitchen clean which should be completed each month.
Monthly
- Deep clean fridges and freezers, being as thorough as possible
- Empty grease traps
- Replace any pest traps you may have
- Prevent grease build up by washing walls and ceiling
- Clean and dust ceiling vents (this should only need doing every few months)
Food hygiene is not only important to your customers but should be a top-priority for restaurant owners. A negative review online regarding hygiene is bad enough but cases of food poisoning can be devastating for a restaurant, especially a newly established one. Invest in top-end kitchen supplies, cleaning chemicals and staff training to ensure that your kitchen is clean and your customers are safe and happy.
