Start here41°F and the four-hour clock: what to do when your walk-in runs warmCold food must stay at 41°F or below. Here's how to check your walk-in, what the four-hour clock means, and what to do first.Read the guide
Walk-ins and refrigeration
- Bar coolers, keg boxes and glass chillers: keep the bar coldBar refrigeration lives in a tight, hot, wet spot. How to keep back-bar coolers, keg boxes and glass chillers cold through a busy night.
- How often to clean your beer linesDirty draft lines turn good beer sour and foamy. How often to clean them, what builds up inside, and what the keg cooler has to do.
- Before you call for service: quick checks and what to tell usSome service calls end with a plug or a breaker. Quick checks a manager can make first, and what to tell dispatch so the right technician comes ready.
- Six habits that make a reach-in lastAirflow, clean coils, tight gaskets, a closed door, a level cabinet and a real temperature log: six habits that add years to restaurant refrigeration.
- When a reach-in is worth replacingA reach-in that runs nonstop, sweats and keeps needing calls may be done. The signs that point to replacing it, and the ones a repair still fixes.
- Summer heat and your refrigerationHot kitchens and hot roofs make walk-ins and reach-ins work harder. What to check before summer so the cold side gets through the heat.
- Five signs your walk-in is about to failWarm readings, water on the floor, ice on the coil, a box that never stops running: the signs a walk-in gives before it goes down.
- How to load a walk-in so it stays coldWhere the stock sits decides whether a walk-in holds 41°F. How to load shelves, keep air moving and clean the box out without losing product.
- 41°F and the four-hour clock: what to do when your walk-in runs warmCold food must stay at 41°F or below. Here's how to check your walk-in, what the four-hour clock means, and what to do first.
Ice machines
- A cleaning and descaling routine for your ice machineA simple routine for a commercial ice machine: what staff do every shift, what you check each month, and when to descale and sanitize.
- Buying an ice machine: size, ice type and where it goesMost ice machine trouble starts at purchase: too small, the wrong ice or a hot spot. How to size one, pick the ice and choose where it sits.
- Why you run out of ice in summer, and how to stop itIce machines make less ice in heat, just as guests want more. How to keep yours ahead in summer: airflow, clean coils, a fresh filter and safe handling.
- Water filters for ice machines: the cheapest fix you'll buyHard water scales up ice machines and makes cloudy, bad-tasting ice. What a water filter does, how often to change it and the signs it's overdue.
- Why commercial ice machines break downThe five reasons a commercial ice machine goes down, the three a manager can fix today, and when it's time to call a technician.
Restaurant HVAC
- How often should a kitchen hood be cleaned?The fire code sets how often a kitchen exhaust system gets cleaned, from monthly to yearly. Find your interval, and what the crew does between visits.
- Make-up air, explained for restaurant managersWhat a make-up air unit does, the signs yours is down, and what your crew can check before you call for service.
- A spring check for your restaurant's air conditioningA kitchen adds heat all day, so restaurant AC works harder than an office's. What to check in spring so the rooftop unit gets through summer.
- A winter checklist for restaurant HVACA winter checklist for restaurant HVAC: filters, heat, make-up air and frozen pipes, done before the first hard freeze.
The cook line
- Before you buy kitchen equipment: seven checks from the repair sidePrice is one line on the quote. What to check before you buy a fryer, oven or cooler: fit, utilities, service access, parts, the warranty and used gear.
- Fryer care that prevents a service callDaily fryer care, oil changes, boil-outs and the signs your commercial fryer needs a technician before it goes down.
- Commercial oven care that keeps it baking evenDaily and weekly care for convection, deck and combi ovens: the cleaning, door and temperature checks that prevent hot spots and a dead oven.
- Steamer care: beat the scale before it beats youHard water scale is the top reason commercial steamers slow down and fail. How to descale, keep the door sealing and spot trouble early.
- Why kitchen equipment breaks down, and which causes you controlMost kitchen breakdowns trace back to a few causes: skipped maintenance, dirty parts, worn parts, hard water and rough use. Which ones a manager controls.
- Equipment habits that cause repairsHarsh cleaners, propped doors, hosed-down controls and warning lights ignored. The everyday habits that break kitchen equipment, for your training list.
- Gas or electric? Choosing kitchen equipment for a new storeGas and electric fryers, ovens and griddles cook, cost and break down differently. What to weigh for a new or remodeled store, from the repair side.
- Why the GFCI outlet keeps tripping in your kitchenA GFCI outlet that keeps cutting power to a cooler or warmer is warning you about a leak of current. What it means, what to check and who to call.
- Grease fires: what your crew does in the first ten secondsNever water. Kill the heat, smother it or use the Class K extinguisher, pull the system, get out. What every cook should know, and how to prevent one.
- Griddle care: scrape, clean, seasonA flat-top that's scraped through the day, cleaned at close and seasoned right cooks evenly for years. The daily and weekly routine, and when to call.
- Where equipment sits decides how hard it worksA cooler next to the fryer and a fryer jammed in a corner both cost you. Layout rules that keep equipment cool, safe and easy to service.
- Pizza oven care: deck and conveyor ovensDeck ovens need dry stones and conveyor ovens need clean belts. How to clean each kind of pizza oven, and the signs one needs a technician.
- Range and burner care: keep the flame blueClogged burner ports, lazy yellow flames and pilots that won't stay lit. How to keep a commercial range burning clean, and when it needs a technician.
- Repair or replace? Six questions to ask firstRepair or replace a walk-in, fryer or oven? Six questions on age, warranty, repair history, cost, parts and safety to answer first.
- Salamander broiler care that stops the smokeA salamander that smokes, browns unevenly or heats slowly needs attention. How to clean one safely, what to avoid, and when to call for service.
- 135°F: keeping steam tables and warmers hot enoughHot food has to hold at 135°F or above. How to run steam tables and warmers so they keep it there, and the signs one is failing.
- Is your thermometer telling the truth?Every food-safety log depends on an honest thermometer. How to check a probe in ice water, and what to do when a cooler or oven dial disagrees.
Maintenance
- The cheapest repair is a clean coilA dirty condenser coil makes your walk-in run hot and long until the compressor quits. How to spot it, clean it, and how often.
- Cut the kitchen's power bill with upkeep you already oweDirty coils, worn gaskets, clogged filters and equipment left on all day add to the power bill. Upkeep that lowers it, and habits that help.
- What health inspectors check on your equipmentWhat a health inspector checks on your walk-ins, reach-ins, ice machine, dish machine and sinks, and how to get your equipment ready.
- Keep a repair log for every unitA simple log of every repair and service visit shows which units are costing you, backs up warranty claims and helps the next technician.
- Planned or preventive maintenance: what's the difference?Every repair company pitches maintenance. What preventive and planned maintenance each mean, what a restaurant group needs, and what to ask for.
- A maintenance calendar for a restaurant groupA daily, monthly, quarterly and yearly maintenance calendar for restaurant groups, plus the plan for when something goes down anyway.
- Do the big repairs in your slow seasonThe slow weeks are the cheapest time to fix what's wearing out. What to schedule when business is quiet, so the busy season runs without a breakdown.
- Small repairs that turn into big onesA torn gasket, a slipping belt, a dripping drain, a loose door. Small problems that keep the equipment running, until they cost a compressor or a fan motor.
- A spring checklist for restaurant equipmentSpring is the time to get equipment ready for summer heat. A checklist for refrigeration, ice machines, HVAC, hoods and the cook line.
Choosing a vendor
- Why a home appliance tech isn't the call for a restaurantCommercial kitchens run different equipment, power, gas and rules than homes. What a restaurant repair company should bring that a home appliance shop may not.
- Questions to ask a restaurant equipment repair companyA vetting checklist for facilities directors: what to ask a restaurant equipment repair company before it joins your vendor list.