Keeping the kitchen and all areas of a restaurant’s back-of-house (BOH) are imperative. Food handling and safety not only affects the kitchen area; it affects all areas of the BOH, as germs can easily spread. One of the toughest things to do in a busy restaurant is to clean as you go, but sometimes it’s the best way to ensure that all of your surfaces all clean. However, there are five key ways that you can ensure your kitchen is clean, sanitized, and safe for both your workers and the food delivered to your customers.
1. Divide the Work
Cooks, chefs, and kitchen help easily get tired, and sometimes this leads to a case of “not my job” or just an overall laziness in cleaning efforts. To combat this, assign daily, weekly, and monthly duties to each employee. For daily duties, ensure that they are completed before the end of the shift. You can also assign some cleaning duties to front-of-house (FOH) workers as part of their side work. When assigning daily duties, pay special attention to cleaning tasks at the end of the night. All surfaces should be wiped down and sparkling clean before you lock up for the night.
2. Keep First Aid Kits Handy
Cuts happen, but if they’re not taken care of right away, harmful germs and bacteria can easily get into food. Make sure there are several first aid stations throughout the BOH, and make sure that they are stocked. In fact, stocking the first aid kits is a good job for someone’s monthly cleaning task or monthly side work. Make sure there are bandages, alcohol wipes, and other needed items for cuts and burns.
3. Organize Restaurant Cleaning Supplies
To make cleaning a little easier on everyone, have sanitizing stations throughout the BOH. Each spray bottle should be clearly labeled, and each bottle should be filled at the end of the shift. Use different solutions on different surfaces. For example, you’ll want to use straight sanitizer on counter surfaces, but degreaser for cleaning grills and griddles. Also, have one dedicated area where you keep all facility management products, such as towels, mops, and supplies.
4. Tackle Floors and Corners
Ideally, at the end of each shift, your floors should be spotless. In addition, remind employees to look behind appliances and in corners for splatters and spills. Cleaning up is easily performed with a flat microfiber mop, but tackling these corners and small spots is essential for sanitization. Also, if you have a BOH break room or bathroom, these areas need to be as spotless as the kitchen and should be on someone’s daily chore list.
5. Clean During Downtime
If you’re having a long stretch between the lunch and dinner shift, it’s a good time to tackle corners, go through refrigerators, or sanitize surfaces. Ask employees that are working a double shift to do part of their daily cleaning during downtime. That way, at the end of the shift, not only is your kitchen and BOH clean, you also cut down on overtime costs due to cleaning tasks.
When you need cleaning supplies, such as mops, sanitizers and more, contact Wilkins Linen for all of your restaurant cleaning supply needs. Serving the Houston area, we can help your business to stay clean, sanitized, and safe for you and your customers.
