Lesson 3: Cleaning Your Professional Kitchen
A clean and orderly kitchen is a safer kitchen. With rigorous cleaning procedures, you can minimize slips and other accidents, greatly reduce the risk of causing foodborne illness, and make your health inspections a breeze. There are less-tangible benefits, too. Starting the workday in a spotless environment is not only more enjoyable, it also helps staff be more focused and productive. When the workplace is spic and span, employees will likely respond in kind, with positive attitudes, better care of equipment, and neater work habits.
Daily, weekly, and monthly checklists make the cleaning tasks less daunting. Spread the duties among all shifts so the closing crew doesn’t bear the burden.
Clean as if you are expecting a surprise health inspection every day. If you don’t allow grime to build up, the daily to-do list can be completed quickly.
File all appliance manuals where staff can find them. Consult the manuals when developing your cleaning protocols. Manufacturers often have recommendations for appropriate cleaning products and best practices.
Check your inventory of cleaning supplies regularly. Make sure all employees using disinfectants and other chemicals can read and understand the labels.
Cleaning Versus Sanitizing
Understand the difference between cleaning and sanitizing. Cleaning requires only hot, soapy water and a cloth, sponge, scrubber, or stiff brush. Sanitizing is the critical next step. It eliminates pathogens that can cause foodborne illness. Sanitizing relies on disinfectants or heat. The more concentrated the disinfectant or higher the heat, the less contact time required. To effectively sanitize, follow sanitizer directions regarding concentration and contact time.
Proper sanitizing consists of five steps:
- Scrape to remove caked-on food debris or grime. Heavy-duty scour pads and commercial sponges make this task easier (Source: Scotch-Brite™ Dual Purpose Scour Pad 96HEX).
- Wash with hot, soapy water.
- Rinse thoroughly.
- Apply sanitizer as product label directs.
- Air-dry to avoid re-contamination with a towel.