4 Equipment Maintenance Tips for Restaurant Kitchens

It’s incredibly important that you keep up with the needed maintenance around your restaurant. After all, when an appliance or machine goes down, it’s a really big deal. Good luck staying open for the Friday night rush if your fryer goes down and you can’t serve french fries, chicken wings, or onion rings! It’s more than just that, though. Proper maintenance means your needed machines will last longer without needing an expensive repair. It also means your kitchen is safe and healthy, which is a good thing for your customers, your team members, and you!

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at five pieces of equipment around your commercial kitchen that absolutely must be properly maintained:

#1 Deep fryer inspection

A deep fryer is the single greatest fire hazard in most commercial kitchens! Your fryer should be cleaned and maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommendations in order to avoid a disaster. This includes routine cleaning of the interior of the cabinet by your kitchen staff. The fryer should also be inspected by a qualified commercial kitchen technician at Coffey Refrigeration at least once a year after the fryer unit has been in service for five years. Our inspections include items which are inaccessible and potentially dangerous to your untrained employees. 

#2 Grease filter cleaning

Grease filters collect grease as the grease-laden vapors flow up into the hood, reducing the amount of grease that travels directly into the duct. This means you have to clean the ducts less often, and the grease filters routinely. You should probably be doing this at least once a week, possibly more often if you do heavy grease cooking. You may even want to clean the filters nightly. Doing so is an excellent way to reduce fire risks. 

#3 Automatic Extinguishing System (AES) service

Your commercial kitchen probably has an Automatic Extinguishing System (AES). It must be serviced by a qualified contractor at least every six months. This ensures that all components are ready to work in an instant. If a fire were to occur, you’d be grateful you kept up with it!

#4 Vent hood and duct cleaning

The vent hood and duct should be cleaned in order to remove grease that has built up from grease-laden vapors. This should be done every six month by a qualified contractor, like those at Coffey Refrigeration. Between service dates, your kitchen staff can wipe down the visible parts of the hood and keep the outside clean.

For these important tasks, the professionals at Coffey Refrigeration can help! These are too important to let go, as missing a needed maintenance inspection or cleaning could mean a dangerous fire breaks out in your kitchen. Don’t take this chance! Call us today at (509) 586-1519 to book your regular maintenance and inspection. We’ll come at a time that is convenient for your business hours as to not interrupt operations.