7 tips and tricks to clean commercial kitchen equipment

Running a commercial kitchen is not easy. It is much more than just preparing tasty food and managing the customers. Proper hygiene and sanitation of the kitchen and the equipment are an essential daily chore required to run the business efficiently. Apart from cleaning the appliances and the countertops, routine professional clean-up of the fridges, hoods, and freezers is also necessary.

Regular and proper maintenance of the commercial kitchen equipment is not only essential for hygiene but also to ensure better functionality of the tools and a longer lifespan. As we all know it, regular cleaning is the first and most important step of maintenance. But improper cleaning can take a serious toll on the performance and longevity of the equipment.

So, while we suggest professional services for some of the bigger kitchen equipage like the hoods and freezers, you can maintain most of the other tools without any professional help. Here are the 7 best tips and tricks that will save you time and keep the tools new and shiny for long.  Let’s check out,

• Do it daily, keep it light – When it comes to large-scale cooking units, even a single day’s load can be overwhelming. So, don’t wait for the tools to get dirty, get rid of the sticky bits and pieces of food, marks, and stains daily, without a miss.

The best thing is, when you are washing the equipage every day, the process becomes much simpler as the food particles and grease don’t get the time to stick and corrode the surface of the tool. This on one hand makes cleaning more effective and on the other makes it much easier.

• Skip the harsh detergent – Commercial catering equipment like the ones sold by Simco are made of high-grade stainless steel to ensure long, uninterrupted service but washing them regularly with harsh, caustic filled alkaline detergent can take a toll over time.

It is best to opt for environment friendly homemade cleaners for daily use. It will also save money in the long run. A mixture of vinegar and bicarb soda can work efficiently to clean-up the countertops, shiny surfaces, and gastronorm pans.

Make a thick paste with the two and apply it to the surface after wiping it off with a damp cloth. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes and then sponge it off. A mixture of lemon juice, bicarb soda, and water also works great.

• Wash the sponge – Do you know sponges work as a primary source of contamination in the kitchen? They are a great breeding ground for bacteria and every time you miss cleaning the sponge, it contaminates everything it comes in touch with. So, washing and sanitizing the sponges every time you use them is a must.

The good thing is, washing the sponges daily need not to be a headache. Add the sponges to the daily dishwasher load. Make sure that the dishwasher is on the “heated dry” setting. It will kill 99.9% bacteria on the sponge without damaging it anyway.

Sanitizing the sponge in the microwave or dipping it in full-strength vinegar are some other common and effective methods followed to wash the sponge but for large scale cooking units, adding the sponge to the dishwasher load is no doubt the simplest and most effective option.  

• Ban the scourer – This is one thing your commercial kitchen equipment supplier has always been trying to tell you. Using the scourer on a greasy pan or a dirty benchtop looks like the best thing to do to keep it neat, but it will certainly do more harm than good.

The metal-based scourer when used even on high quality stainless steel made kitchen equipment daily, it is bound to scratch the metal and trigger subsequent corrosion over time. The scratches might not be visible at the beginning but over time they will ruin the equipage for sure.

Always use a sponge, a soft brush or a scrubber. If the grease and burn look too much, let it soak in the bicarb soda and vinegar mixture for some time before scrubbing off with a sponge.

• Make the dough scraper your friend – The dough scraper you have bought from your commercial kitchen supplier can do a lot when it comes to tidying the counters. Use the sharp edge of the tool to scrape off any bits and pieces of dough, flour, butter, or greased food stuck on the counter, before giving it a good wipe.

Dough scrapers are ideal to get rid of sticky food pieces from the benches and they can make the task much simpler and effective. Use them wisely as your cleaning partner for quick and effective results.

• Do not skip sanitizing – Once you have cleaned the tools properly, it’s time to sanitize. Sanitizing ensures that the kitchenware, appliances, and the benchtops are free from disease causing microorganisms.

Sanitizing should be done according to the instructions provided by your commercial kitchen supplier in Sydney. Often, hot water (above 75 degrees) is used for sanitizing, and you need to keep the tool soaked in the hot water for a few minutes for effective sanitization.  But it is not recommended because hot water might damage the material over time. Moreover, water is not suitable for sanitizing electrical cooking appliances.

It is best to opt for a no-rinse, food-grade sanitizer that can be used on any appliances, or surfaces. Sani Station by Simco is an effective food-safe sanitizer approved by EPA and NSF.

• Spend in quality equipment -- Last but not the least, high quality stainless steel made commercial kitchen equipment are naturally easy to clean and if you do it regularly, following the proper ways as suggested by your supplier, they will give you uninterrupted service for years. So, one trick to make kitchen equipment cleaning simple is to spend on high-quality stainless-steel equipment in the first place.

So, now you have the 7 best tips and tricks to clean the kitchen equipment at hand. Follow them for easy cleaning and longevity of the tools. For more information, you may get in touch with Simco.