When it comes to keeping kitchen equipment running well, many of the same rules, like keeping units clean and having them serviced regularly, apply to all types of operators. Other advice, though, can be very segment specific.
For restaurants in the quick-service and fast-casual spaces, service advice centers not just on cleaning equipment, but how operators should keep equipment and kitchens clean, says John Schwindt, general manager and vice president of operations for Colorado-based Hawkins Commercial Appliance Service.
When it comes to reducing the need for service calls, one of most important steps QSR and fast-casual operators can take is cleaning their equipment throughout the day. Schwindt isn’t talking about scrubbing units down. Instead, these operations in particular could benefit from quick cleanups of small messes, like a trail of grease that was left between the fryers and the fry dump station.
“Wipe things down with a dry towel or just a damp rag,” Schwindt says. “I’ve been saying for years that you don’t need heavy soap and water and scouring pads once a month if you just wipe them down during the day.”
The time pressure fast-food kitchens are under makes consistently cleaning small messes difficult, Schwindt acknowledges. But grease left uncleaned tends to spread, and Hawkins’ regularly dispatches technicians to fix hot side equipment with flues clogged with grease. Cleaning small spills as they happen can eliminate many such repair calls.
Cleaning practices at the end of the day matter, as well. Schwindt, a 45-year veteran of the service sector, pins many emergency repairs in the fast-casual/QSR space on restaurant employees’ cleaning practices after closing. At the end of a long day, he says, it’s easy for a staffer to want to take a shortcut. Instead of mopping the floor, for instance, they may spray it down with a hose, accidentally damaging equipment components toward the bottom of a unit with water.
“When there is a dedicated cleaning crew, we don't see those problems,” says Schwindt. “If they want their kitchen staff to clean up, those are the ones we see the problems with. I know a lot of the fast casuals hire cleaning crews after they close. That crew is there to clean up afterward. They didn't just work a full shift. That's a huge advantage.”
Even if operators change their cleaning practices, these restaurants will still need emergency repair at some point. When this happens to a fast-food/fast-casual operation, Schwindt stresses the need to create a clean place for the technician to work.
In some cases, especially in the QSR sector, technicians enter a kitchen only to find the floor of their work area littered with greasy fries and dropped nuggets. A restaurant that cleans this up beforehand makes the repair quicker (and cheaper) and also builds goodwill with the service technician.
That technician can help operators beyond just repairs. Field techs often have discretion in choosing the order of their assigned repair calls, so a good relationship could mean faster service. Techs can also help train staff on basic equipment operation. Given the high turnover in the restaurant space, this can be an especially useful value-add for operations that don’t have a robust training program.
The importance of cleaning equipment obviously applies across all sectors. But by investing the time and money into the particular cleaning challenges of the fast-food space, QSRs and fast-casual operations can both reduce service calls and get better service when a call becomes necessary.
