3 Simple Steps to Maintain Restaurant Equipment

Nothing can be left to chance when you’re running a restaurant. Meeting cleanliness standards and delivering exceptional employee training ensures everything is running efficiently, but maintaining restaurant equipment is key when it comes to securing your investment.

Commercial freezers, refrigerators, and cooking appliances are the three most important pieces of equipment in a restaurant. A consistent cleaning schedule and regular inspections will help you keep these units operating at top performance, with minimal service assistance. Follow these practical steps to care for each:

Commercial Freezer Maintenance

While designed to withstand a lot of wear-and-tear, cooling systems can still break down, especially when used to store large quantities of food. A couple of ways to avoid costly emergency repairs include:

• Cleaning and sanitizing often. Bacteria spreads fast in commercial freezers, so make sure to clean often and discard all containers of old or expired food. You’ll not only prevent contamination, but you’ll also save on electricity. Start by unplugging your freezer. Take everything out, thoroughly wipe down the interior, and finish by disinfecting with sanitizer. Wait for the unit to reach the proper temperature, before placing the food back inside in organized, color-coded bins that are clearly labeled with dates.
• Maintaining fan blades. Dust and grime can make your freezer’s fan blades sluggish, so give these parts a monthly clean up.
• Conducting regular inspections. Clogged coils and condensers, cool air leaks, rusty hinges, moldy door seals, and broken gaskets are common, yet easy to fix maintenance issues. Designate a staff member to inspect the freezer regularly and catch these problems early on.

Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance

Whether you’re using a cooler, product case, or other types of commercial refrigeration, any malfunction can lead to wasted products and unsatisfied customers. Here are some tips to keep your unit running smoothly 24/7, 365 days a year:

• Choose your cleaning supplies wisely. Avoid using abrasive scrubbers and strong chemicals, such as chlorine cleaners which can be toxic if they come in contact with food. Instead, use a washcloth or soft brush to clean both the inside and the outside of your refrigerator. A combination of warm water and vinegar will remove most grease, but if you need something stronger, you can use a baking soda paste or a stainless steel degreaser. The condenser coil and the surrounding area are particularly important, so clean it as often as your manufacturer recommends, with a stiff bristle brush.
• Stay vigilant for excessive wear. Damaged seals and hinges, leaks, condensation, or unusual noises like squealing, chirping, and whistling could all be signs that your refrigerator is malfunctioning.
• Make ventilation a priority. Your refrigerator will use more power if debris is blocking the airflow. Remove it with a wet-dry vacuum to see improvements.

Commercial Cooking Equipment Maintenance

From grills to broilers, ovens, fryers, steamers, and smokers, your cooking equipment is at the core of your business.

These simple maintenance strategies can help you avoid surprise breakdowns and produce quality food without any delays:

• Focus on calibration. The temperature controls and thermostats of your cooking equipment have a huge impact on its performance, so make sure they are calibrated correctly.
• Repair or replace broken components. Be proactive and invest in new parts before the entire system shuts down.
• Do a monthly in-depth cleaning. Flattops, burners, and grates should all be wiped down after every use, but a monthly heavy-duty scrub is also necessary to remove all the carbon deposits and fat build-up that can typically slow down these units.

Maintaining restaurant kitchen equipment can be tricky without specialized help.

At Quick Servant, we offer local repair, maintenance, and replacement services for a variety of restaurant equipment including commercial freezers, refrigerators, and cooking equipment. We’ve been helping residents in the Delmarva Peninsula for over 40 years with competitive prices and readily-available expertise and we’d be honored to do the same for you.

Contact us today to schedule a commercial service appointment or give us a call at (888) 238-4133.