Thursday, December 11, 2008

How Safe is Your Commercial Kitchen?

By Malcolm J. Richmond

If you are someone who is in charge of one, or several kitchens in the bustling city of Melbourne, you already know that the sanitation and health of both your workers and your customers needs to be one of your highest priorities.

There are many things to keep in mind when you are looking at making sure that your kitchen meets the standards that have been set by the health code, but the truth of the matter is that for even the most conscientious of kitchens, it can be easy to get sloppy.

Your staff need to be taught to maintain the cleanliness of your kitchen. A lot is at stake here. Food and table service must leave customers feeling good as this is what entices them to become regular clients. The very last thing you want is for them to feel sick. News of a bad experience spreads very quickly by word of mouth and can be disastrous for your restaurant.

Good sanitation will assist you in providing quality service to your customers and help to protect the good name of your restaurant. On top of this it will also help you to avoid becoming embroiled in messy and often drawn out legal proceedings.

Here are some handy guidelines on keeping to safe kitchen practices. One, train your staff. Two, teach them that spoilt food does not necessarily look or smell poles apart from good stuff. Three, Tell them how food should be kept hot or very cold to prevent bacteria growth on it.

Other fundamental rules of kitchen hygiene include keeping all food under cover. Care should be taken to keep cooked and uncooked foods apart. No attempt must be made to adopt methods to speed up the defrosting process such as keeping food in open air. Importantly, your staff must rinse their hands both before and after touching food in any way.

Also take care that the various hot and cold places in your kitchen meet the requirements of the local legislation, and always store meats on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator in order to keep juices from dripping down onto other foods. These are the basics for a commercial kitchen, but remember that as a general rule, the busier the kitchen, the more stringent food safety procedures need to be.

Amidst the calamity that dinner time can bring to commercial kitchens it can be exhausting to keep even the simplest orders in mind; let alone adhering to proper food safety procedures. However the reputation of your restaurant depends on these procedures so it is vital that you take no chances. The more streamlined your procedures are the more likely they are to be followed by your staff. Consultation with a food safety expert is often a worthwhile exercise. These people can evaluate your current procedures and suggest any improvements to strengthen your restaurant's ability to produce safe, quality food.

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