Washing dishes seems like a menial and easy chore. It’s something you do at home every time. You wet what you need to wash, scrub it with some soap, rinse until the suds are gone, and leave it on a rack to dry. This task is such a great stress reliever that you probably take your sweet time doing it. But when you’re in a commercial restaurant, every second counts.
There’s also the pressure of making sure that every plate, glass, and utensil is spick and span. After all, you don’t want customers to have remnants of yesterday’s cordon bleu on their buffet plate. Plus, poorly-washed dishes can lead to foodborne illnesses like food poisoning or E. coli infection. Avoid letting your cooks wait for dishes and brutal health violations with these best dishwashing practices.
Mind Your Sinks
Always have a separate sink for dishwashing and handwashing to avoid cross-contamination. Cross-contamination happens when bacteria from kitchen tools or hands get onto the food you’re serving. Your dishwashing sink should also have three compartments for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing.
Necessary Preparations
Keep your water temperature between 43 and 50 degrees Celsius to ensure you’re also killing germs apart from washing them off. If possible, use a thermometer specifically for your dishwashing station to a read and maintain the water temperature.
Read your dishwashing soap’s specifications and look for its recommended amount. Pour it into your mix and stir to incorporate it with the water. Before dunking your dishes into the wash water, make sure you’ve scraped all the visible bits of food into the rubbish bin.
Washing
Organize the items you’ll wash according to how soiled they are. Start with lightly-soiled ones first. This may include cups and glasses. Move your way up, to flatware, plates, serving dishes, and finally, pans. Keep the plates in the soapy water as you scrub them. Ensure they’re spotless before moving on to rinsing them. Leave the pans and pots last so you can soak them for a long time. This makes it easier for you to scrub off stuck food bits.
Rinsing
Move the item into the rinsing sink. Ensure that its water temp also stays at around 43 degrees Celsius. After making sure that it’s sud-free, move it to the sanitizing station. Replace your rinsing station water if it starts to look murky or filled with grease.
Sanitizing
Your third sink should have industry-standard sanitizers mixed with water. These can come in the form of liquid packets or tablets. Follow the package instructions and fully submerge each item to make sure you eliminate the remaining germs. If you have pots and pans that may not fit in your sanitizing sink, you may need to wash it professional-grade dishwashing machine like the Maidaid C511 dishwasher. These machines can provide full coverage to every item you want to wash.
Dishwashing in a commercial kitchen is completely different from the chore you usually do at home. It’s fast-paced, and cleanliness standards are way higher. Make sure you’re serving your delicious food on the cleanest plates you can offer by following these best dishwashing practices.
