The kitchen equipment is the backbone of any restaurant. Without equipment, a kitchen won’t be able to run. You need to ensure they’re functioning properly to avoid inconvenience, stress, and profit loss.
Regular preventive maintenance and early repairs help you increase equipment efficiency and avoid costly emergencies. You don’t want your equipment to break down just before you open the restaurant.
By ensuring that you have a detailed plan on maintenance, you can spend less on your kitchen, overall. Here are some basic kitchen equipment services and repair and maintenance tips.
- Clean kitchen vent, hood, and duct. It’s crucial to call on a professional kitchen equipment repair contractor at least every six months. Between those periods, it helps to keep the vent, hood, and duct clean. Staff should make it a habit to get rid of the grease that can accumulate on the structure. The greasier the food, the faster the grease can collect on the filters. And the longer debris stays on the equipment, the harder it can be to remove them.
- Inspect fryers. Fryers should be maintained and repaired according to the manufacturer’s specific instructions or your kitchen equipment supplier. Pay attention to this part of your kitchen as it’s prone to accidents. The deep fryer is a fire hazard so it should also be cleaned daily and inspected by a qualified team at least once a year. It’s important to educate everyone in the kitchen, especially those that operate the fryer, on the parts that can and cannot be accessed. Your staff should be properly informed which items they can clean or touch, and which should be entrusted only to those trained to repair kitchen equipment.
- Inspect the extinguishing system. Be sure that the fire extinguishing system is ready for work at all times. Schedule a regular inspection so a qualified contractor can also provide you with daily maintenance advice. Ask any questions you may have about the maintenance procedures on manuals before any issues occur. You don’t want to damage equipment or cause an emergency by doing something incorrectly. You’ll also want to ensure that you can avail of the warranty benefits for your equipment by following maintenance procedures.
- Schedule equipment inspection and repair. Plan a schedule for maintaining and fixing kitchen equipment. And be sure that employees are all aware of this. Every commercial kitchen equipment may have different maintenance needs, which means that not all of them will be seen at once. To avoid missing anything, the schedule should be planned. Always consult with an expert team before attempting repairs. Self-repair can nullify warranties and this can also result in further damages to your equipment.
- Train employees. This is not about how to repair kitchen equipment per se but is equally beneficial. Employees should know how to operate, leave, and clean equipment. For example, they should be aware of safety practices that should be done before leaving the kitchen and which areas have to be cleaned, inspected, or turned on or off.
It takes professionals to repair kitchen equipment, but employees should be knowledgeable too as they’ll be in the restaurant almost every day. It’s extra work, but it’s all worth it considering the risks involved.