Operating a Commercial Kitchen

To operate a commercial kitchen effectively, one must comply with all the health department regulations and fire safety rules. These agencies will periodically check the operations. Complying with their rules is not only to avoid penalties and possible closures, but also to keep the workers and customers safe and healthy. This maintains the reputation of the business in this competitive market.

Fire Safety Rules

Skope Adelaide believes that commercial kitchens should only use kitchen appliances that pay attention to fire safety. The fire extinguishers, fire suppression features, and ventilation systems will be charged annually. However maintain accurate servicing as and when the time comes. Ventilation systems used specifically for the cooking appliances sometimes use grease should be professionally cleaned bi-annually. All exits should be unobstructed and no electrical outlets should be overloaded.

Sanitation

The health department regulations dictate that the surfaces are kept clean and disinfected. One should wash dishes and equipments with a disinfecting solution after each use. The commercial kitchen should be equipped with a bleach bucket for disinfection uses. The solution is prepared with one teaspoon of bleaching powder with each gallon of water. One should wash the dishes in a three-compartment stainless steel sink. One can be used for washing, one for rinsing and the third for sanitizing. There should be separate sinks for washing hands, and keep it stocked with soap and paper towels.

Temperature Control

The health department states that all potentially hazardous foods should be stored at temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit or below 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The potential hazardous foods include meats, dairy products, cooked vegetables, and rice. To cool the foods from the temperature 140 degree to 41 degree, one can spread them in restaurant pans uncovered and keep them in the refrigerator. The items should cool in four hours or less in order to comply with the stated health department regulations. It is important to check the temperatures regularly with a metal stem thermometer from the range of 0 degrees to 220 degrees.

Maintaining Cleanliness

It is important to maintain cleanliness of the kitchen at all times. Energy is at an all time low when staff employed in the kitchen end their long shift. This causes the routine clean up tasks to be performed with lesser enthusiasm as it should have been. This is the reason that operators check to ensure that all employees are actually paying attention to cleanliness. They also validate whether the staff is adhering to the best practices when completing the tasks. The issue with most kitchens is that all food service floors should be hygienically maintained, to protect the restaurant patrons and also to maintain the health and hygiene code and regulation. It demands high standard in a rough environment and some of these tips may actually help in operators answering those needs.

Before cleaning the service floors, all the floor drains should be unobstructed and working properly. The floors are usually made of quarry or ceramic. These floors should be coated with low or anti slip coating to foster proper sanitation, avoid the possibility of a slip, and fall accident. The floor work should be taken care of before beginning with food handling or processing. This will prevent all the floor soils and debris from becoming airborne and landing on the workspaces or even the equipments. If the employers are using mops and buckets, they should be cleaned thoroughly or replaced daily. The soiled mops and buckets are the breeding grounds of contaminants. This increases the concern surrounding the contamination. A squeegee can be used to remove the moisture from the floor drains for quicker drying. A 175 rpm buffer can be used once a week to loosen soils, grease and oil that builds on the floors. One can also use the blue or green scrubbing pad along with a floor machine. Using a smaller machine helps in maneuvering better in and around cooking areas in the service kitchen. All the mops and buckets, including the chemicals and floor care equipment should be stored off the ground on the shelves and racks. This deters pests and keeps the devices clean.

It is important that the clean up personnel hired is able to maintain the requirements of the commercial kitchen. The food service kitchen takes the help of anti fatigue mats and equipments that will prevent slip and fall. This prevents the workers from fatiguing. The mats need to be cleaned and sanitized at closing. They should be dry before its reuse and reopening of the facility.

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