Are you maintaining the correct level of hygiene in your Commercial Kitchen? Take a moment to look at some of these key warning signs, which mean that you need to take action now. Explore the information on this page to ensure you are cleaning kitchens to the correct standards.
1. Fridge Hygiene Checklist
- Is time being taken to ensure your fridge is clean?
- Does it smell due to mold and rotting food?
- Are spillages left to fester?
- Is the seal dirty and broken?
- Mouldy Food in fridge
- When did you last remove the shelves and salad trays?
Checking these frequently avoid potential health hazards which not only risk the health of the general public but could ultimately impact on your overall business. If food standards are not up to scratch, this can spell disaster.
No restaurateur wants a customer contracting food poisoning as a direct result of poor food hygiene standards.
2. Kitchen Cleaning Checklist
Inspect the following areas to check for cleanliness. If you do not know when they were last cleaned, do it now and mark it on a calendar, so you know when to do it next!
- Floor Surfaces (including underneath movable white goods, ovens etc)
- Work Surfaces
- Ovens
- Grills
- Deep Fat Fryers
- Pots and Pans
- Chopping Boards
- Utensils
- Splash Backs
- Sinks and Drainers
Keeping on top of Kitchen Cleaning
At the end of a busy service, a good head chef will ensure his kitchen is left in a clean and hygienic state. However, some areas of kitchen cleaning are difficult to keep on top of.
It is not unusual for grease to build up on walls, extractor hoods and other kitchen appliances.
Grease buildup is a fire hazard and needs to be attended to on a regular basis.
Extractor hood filters should be changed regularly to help ventilation.
3. Floor Cleaning Checklist
It’s all too common to clean the floors and forget to move machinery out e.g ovens, fridges etc and clean behind the movable kitchen white goods.
Check the following:
- Floors mopped regularly
- Floors swept regularly
- Cookers, Movable Workstations, Dish Washers and White Goods moved to clean underneath
- Replace mop heads and use clean water
- Clean the buckets used to clean the floors
Dirty Floors = Potential Health Risk
Crumbs, spillages and general food debris will attract flies, cockroaches, and even rats. Thorough floor cleaning is imperative and needs to be done regularly and thoroughly to avoid the spread of germs and the potential for an infestation.
4. Electrical Sockets & Switches
These are areas commonly missed when performing cleaning, something a commercial cleaning company will frequently deal with.
- Light Switches
- Plug Switches
- Sockets
- Cooker Main Switches
- Cooker Timers
5. Cleaning Handles and Doors
Every day, the doors are opened and closed along with fridges, pantries and storage cupboards. Anything which is touched holds bacteria and is an area which must be cleaned.
Every day, pay attention to:
- Doors Handles
- Pantries Knobs and Handles
- Cupboards Knobs and Handles
- Fridge Handles
- Intercom Systems
Poor Cleaning Standards Risks
Commercial kitchens and canteens are used extensively on a daily basis, so cleaning should be done regularly. Busy kitchens are in constant daily use, often for long hours. Keeping a commercial kitchen cleaned properly takes time, know-how and elbow grease!
Avoid damage to your Business & Reputation
Some kitchens can appear clean at first glance, but it is important to look beyond what is staring you in the face.
Employing a Commercial Kitchen Cleaning Specialist is one way to ensure you are on top of Essential Hygiene Practices.
A professional cleaning company will make certain that your commercial kitchen is kept clean, fresh and fit for purpose.
Summary
As a restaurant owner, you can’t be expected to do everything yourself. In fact, the same can be said of any business owner. Many tasks need doing and sometimes, it’s not practical to use your own staff or do it yourself.
Sometimes, it just makes sense to outsource some of those tasks.
When it comes to the higher end restaurants, Chef’s are required to maintain good hygiene and work from a clean workstation. They tend to clean as they go, do a final clean up at the end of the day but beyond this, specialists come in to perform an intensive clean to make sure nothing is missed.
Let’s face it, they can’t take chances and need the kitchen in a spotlessly clean condition, as an inspection could come at any point.
One mistake could mean a lost Michelin star and that wouldn’t be funny.
Even the Big Boys get it wrong!
Sometimes, you just can’t avoid a mistake. We are human after all, BUT when you serve food to the public, it’s YOUR JOB to ensure kitchen hygiene is TOP Priority.
If you can’t deal with it yourself, or by utilising your staff, outsource it.
Marcus Wareing Incident
Marcus Wareing, a name we all know from TV (and MasterChef, if you are a fan like me) is synonymous with high end cooking and Michelin star awards but back in 2013, he was caught out. The Chef was criticised over fruit flies and warned of E-coli risks, plus told to purchase a new vacuum-packing machine. Bad press and food, aren’t a good combination…
Gordon Ramsay Loses Stars
Love him or loathe him, the foul-mouthed lout of the culinary world has failed to maintain his stars.
Review by the Telegraph here.
Quote: “Assistant Manager Jeffrey Giordano said at the time the restaurant had been blighted with an infestation of fruit flies, a dead mouse found in an air conditioning unit and that financial cutbacks forced him to decant supermarket gin and vodka into expensive bottles.”
FACT: 16 Restaurants lost Michelin Stars
How much of an impact would it be in your business? It’s not just a dent in the ego, but undoubtedly a dent in the pocket. People travel to Michelin Star restaurants to experience ‘the best’ and retaining the enviable star, is paramount to success.
Commercial Kitchen Cleans and Deep Cleans
Related Article
If you operate a Commercial Kitchen in London, Kent or the South East and require Cleaning Services, call SoClean on 01689 853 366
