Although panini presses are pretty basic in construction and simple to use, cleaning and maintenance are important for a long service life.
In high-volume operations or with heavy use, these units will have an average service life of about three to four years. When a breakdown occurs, replacement, rather than repair, is typically warranted.
One of the biggest mistakes with care for this equipment is only cleaning the cooking surfaces, when the entire unit should be cleaned. The platens and/or Teflon sheets should be thoroughly cleaned on a daily basis. Some models allow these components to be removed for easy washing with soap and water over a sink.
To ensure the hinges remain operable, these should be wiped down as needed, typically weekly or monthly, depending on the cafe’s volume. The majority of these hinges don’t require lubrication. If sticking is an issue, operators can grease this using food-grade oil. Vegetable oil should never be used as this will harden and impact operation. The biggest problem with panini machines is at the hinge points, which become bent or broken due to abuse over time. To prevent this, the plates should not be slammed down roughly during use.
More sophisticated panini machines have error codes that indicate a problem. These should not be reset and ignored, or expensive repairs and/or a total breakdown could ensue.
