Commercial kitchen owners are often too occupied in daily operations such as arranging food, working on customer feedback and improving efficiency, that they pay little attention to regular maintenance of the cooking space. Maintaining cooking space is more than servicing kitchen and cleaning the area once the operation stops at night. There are other vital elements in the maintenance chain such as garbage disposal and waste management that have a big impact on the operation, productivity and profit of the kitchen. In this blog post, we list a few ways to manage cleaning and maintenance of commercial kitchen to make the space for efficient. To know more about Commercial kitchen planning and design talk to our experts HPG consultants
Creating a Checklist
A checklist must be made before the kitchen gets functional. There must be a list of defined procedures that the staff should follow to ensure adherence to safety and standards. The support staff must be given the responsibility of cleaning the visible particles from floors, equipment, and counters and throwing away trash in the bins so that the cooking space remains clean and hygienic.
Getting Adequate Equipment
The tables, trash bins, and equipment should have a wheel-base so that maximum space is utilized and the area can be easily cleaned. Wheel based trolleys must be kept in pre-preparation areas and the support staff should empty them in a covered container placed outside the kitchen, at least three to four times a day. In addition to this, there should be separate bins for grease, organic and recyclable waste.
Installing Food Disposable Machine
A food disposable machine could be a helpful addition to the commercial kitchen. These machines break food particles into tiny parts and then flush them down the drain. Food disposable machines should be installed in the dishwashing area.
Investing in Good Kitchen Equipment
Food wastage is a major concern for commercial kitchen owners. They can invest in high-quality equipment to reduce wastage. For instance, using specialized knives for filleting fish means less wasted product. These small investments could have a big impact on the profit and efficiency of the commercial kitchen.
Related Read – 5 Focus Areas of Commercial Kitchen Planning and Management
Planning Waste Management
A major portion of food cooked in the kitchen is unnecessarily wasted because it was unused or not eaten during a meal, so waste management should be an important part of your operations plan. Avoidable and unavoidable waste must be graded to reduce wastage. The avoidable wastes include peelings, remains of bread etc. and unavoidable waste includes egg shells, bones etc.
Related Read – 5 Focus Areas of Commercial Kitchen Plannings
What Else to Do?
To keep the kitchen clean and hygienic, it is essential to give regular training to staff, label disposable bins and have adequate equipment for space utilization and storing waste at one place. Though you can introduce these upgrades in the commercial kitchen at any point of time, it is always better to consider them at the planning stage. This way, you can have the right equipment to maintain kitchen right from the day it becomes functional. Turning to a food industry consultant for planning and layout of the commercial kitchen is always the right way to create an optimal functioning kitchen. Food & beverage consultants are aware of the operational hurdles in managing the kitchen and would suggest the right steps and equipment to improve efficiency, productivity, and profit.
If you are looking for food industry consultant in Dubai or India, HPG Consulting will be happy to provide assistance in conceptualization, food service planning, operational area planning and facility planning in new or existing commercial space. For details call +91-9311 202 627 or fill out the contact form.