Avoid Becoming a ‘Kitchen Nightmare’

If you’re somehow unfamiliar with the Kitchen Nightmares, it’s a show hosted by Gordon Ramsay that focuses on the revamp of failing restaurants. Oftentimes, these restaurants have a ton of issues, starting with poor management and ending with grotesque back-of-house conditions.

If you’ve been in the food industry for any amount of time, you’re aware that the kitchen itself requires a ton of routine maintenance.When Ramsay does a walk-through of the featured kitchen, he often finds an array of bacteria and a vicious amount of grease buildup. Not only is this unappetizing, it’s a serious safety hazard as well. While the average restaurant certainly isn’t as bad at the featured “nightmares,” restaurants that fail to preform routine maintenance and upkeep may find themselves hanging up an “Out of Business” sign sooner than they think. To avoid becoming a kitchen nightmare, keep these tips in mind.

What Constitutes a Clean Kitchen?

Restaurants serious about keeping the kitchen clean will handle the following tasks on a daily basis:

• Cleaning all food prep areas
• Sweeping and mopping the floors
• Removing all trash from the kitchen
• Changing fryer oil
• Brushing the grill
• Cleaning all grease traps

Along with the daily list of cleaning chores, the restaurant needs weekly cleaning done for appliances such as ovens, coolers, coffee machine, ice machine and drains. It’s also necessary to have professional hood cleaning done on a monthly basis. The hoods can pose both health and safety hazards if they don’t remain clean.

Implementing Cleaning Procedures in your Restaurant

It will be up to you, as the owner or manager, to ensure your employees take care of the necessary cleaning. It starts with hiring kitchen workers who take pride in the work they do. Then, you can implement daily, weekly and monthly cleaning lists to ensure everything is handled properly.

Make sure your staff sticks to the lists and you won’t have to worry about ending up at the mercy of Chef Ramsay. With regular staff cleaning and professionals coming in to handle the hood cleaning, keeping your kitchen free of safety and health hazards will be a breeze.