Hotel Kitchen Maintenance

The Essential Guide [2020 Edition]

Hotel Kitchen Maintenance Tips: The Essentials [2019 Edition]

We’ve listed 11 vital hotel maintenance tips and tasks that should be on the rota of any hotel kitchen. Keep on reading to find out more!

There are many different aspects to a hotel kitchen, including ovens, refrigerators, deep fat fryers, and more.

They all have a vital role to play in the overall effectiveness of a commercial kitchen, all working together in a perfect production line, allowing food to be delivered to guests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If one piece of equipment should break though, the whole operation can come to a grinding stop.

The result?

Paying customers head elsewhere, annoyed with the poor service they’ve received.

To stop this from happening, you must ensure that all pieces of the hotel kitchen equipment are maintained properly.

This isn’t a huge task though, and most pieces of kitchen equipment can be maintained simply with a few simple actions every day, week or month.

Below, we’ve listed 11 vital hotel maintenance tips and tasks that should be on the rota of any hotel kitchen. Keep on reading to find out more!

Degrease the Hood Filters

We’ll start with perhaps the least appealing job – once you’ve managed to conquer it, the rest should really be a breeze!

Every hood will have a filter, and this is the part that gets covered in grease.

The result?

The filter can become clogged, making it far less effective. What’s more, a significant build-up of grease on the filter can be a fire hazard.

We would recommend cleaning the hood filter, as part of the hotel kitchen maintenance routine, at least once a week. Some kitchens may have to do it more often – it really depends on the type of food being cooked.

Cleaning it is easy: remove the filter and then wipe off surface grease with a paper towel. Next, fill a sink with warm water and degreaser, and leave the filters to soak overnight.

When you get back into work the next morning, you can remove the filters and simply dry them off, before placing them bank in the correct place on the hood.

The same method can also be used to clean the grease traps. These probably won’t require soaking for quite as long though  (15 – 20 minutes is usually sufficient).

Clean Deep Fryer

Next, we move onto cleaning the deep fat fryer – a job that is actually quite a lot easier than you might think.

To start, you’ll need to get rid of the oil in the correct manner. This will leave you with an empty deep fryer – something that doesn’t always look too good.

Your next task is to “boil out” the fryer. Fill the fryer with water and add some deep fat fryer cleaning solution – this is widely available and not that expensive. Then boil the water, which will cause the dirt and attached food to come away from the sides.

Once the water has completely cooled, dispose of it. While the water is drained, use a brush to clean any stubborn substances from the sides. Once you’ve finished draining, flush the fryer properly with water, to ensure there’s no residue from the cleaner leftover.

You can then refill the fryer with oil, and you should immediately notice that the food tastes much better! It’ll be time to clean again when the oil becomes darker or changes consistency.

If you ever find that your deep fat fryer is not working correctly, please do not attempt to fix the problem yourself. Instead, call us straight away.

A member of our team will then attend quickly and carry out the deep fryer repair, if possible.

Maintain Air Conditioning

Let’s face it: hospitality/hotel kitchens are hugely hot places. This means that the staff members really need to have some air conditioning – without it, they’ll be hot and stressed, and this could adversely affect their work.

Simple maintenance of an air conditioning unit should ensure that it stays working throughout the year.

The most important things to clean are the filters, as doing so will stop the machine getting clogged up, and therefore reduce the risk of the unit breaking down.

When the filters have been removed, the front coil can also be carefully cleaned using a special cleaning agent.

If your air conditioning has an issue, we can help. Contact us and a trained air conditioning repair engineer will attend as soon as possible.

We can also provide annual air conditioning maintenance checks.

Look After Your Refrigerator

Refrigerator maintenance is vital. After all, just think what would happen if your refrigerator stopping working!

Most hotel kitchens clean their refrigerators at least once a week, and while doing this, also check the seals.

This is because damaged seals will cause the fridge to be less effective, and the increased work the fridge will be forced to do in order to maintain temperature will suck up extra power.

You should also check the temperature of inside the fridge, to ensure it’s at the optimum temperature. If there are any problems with the temperature, you can adjust it – instructions are usually found in the manual or online.

You should also clean your fridge’s coils regularly. These can become clogged with dust and dirt, causing the compressor to work harder.

This will use more energy, plus it will also shorten the life of your fridge. Use a brush and a vacuum to get the best results.

Got a problem with your fridge, or just need some maintenance?

If so, call us today for professional commercial fridge repair and maintenance in your area.

Maintain Ovens

The oven is the heartbeat of any hotel kitchen – without it, everything would come to a grinding stop.

We would recommend completely cleaning the oven inside and out at least once a week. This is for hygiene reasons, plus regular attention will lead to a longer life span.

We would also recommend checking the seals on the doors every week, as they can become damaged or worn.

This can lead to the doors not shutting properly, which will affect how hot the oven gets – something that can lead to problems in the cooking process.

You should also check the oven thermostat weekly. Just put an oven thermometer inside the oven and compare its reading with the oven’s.

If needed, you can then recalibrate the thermostat – instructions for this are generally in the handbook.

We understand that the oven is vital to your business, so we aim to provide the fastest commercial oven repair service around. We also offer oven maintenance, to ensure your prized piece of equipment always stays in perfect shape.

Maintain Gas Hob

Gas hob maintenance really revolves around cleaning the hob regularly – most commercial kitchens will clean it at least once a day. This will increase hygiene, plus removing debris will also lower the risk of the hob causing a fire.

Also, those using a gas hob should check the flame. A blue flame is good, however, a yellow flame indicates incomplete burning – something that will release dangerous gases into the room.

If you have a yellow flame, turn the hob off and contact a professional straight away.

Please also remember that all hotel kitchens with a gas hob must have a Gas Safety Certificate. There’s more information on this further down the page.

We can repair gas cookers at any time, plus we’re also often called upon by kitchens to perform regular maintenance checks.

Clean and Maintain Dishwasher

Everyone with a dishwasher knows that they need regular maintenance. At the very least, the filter should be cleaned often, plus the interior and exterior should be cleaned properly.

You should also ensure that the machine always has enough salt and fluid.

If you’re in a hard water area (like most of London and the Home Counties), you should also descale your dishwasher regularly.

There are ways to do this with water and vinegar, but it’s far less hassle to simply buy a specialised descaler – it shouldn’t set you back too much money.

If a dishwasher stops working properly, you’ll need a professional.

We realise that every problem in a kitchen hits your business hard, so when you call us for commercial dishwasher repairs, we’ll be with you as quickly as possible.

Electrical Equipment and Fittings

There are absolutely loads of electrical fittings and pieces of equipment in even the smallest hotel kitchen.

The most vital thing to remember here is that the electrics need checking every year, and this should be done by a professional.

All you can really do to monitor the health of your electrical system is to perform visual checks regularly. This still won’t substitute for professional oversight though.

There are legal requirements for electrical testing within businesses. You should make yourself aware of these before you open any business, including a hotel with a kitchen.

Fire Safety Equipment

Fire safety is vitally important to any business, however, it’s perhaps even more important in hotel kitchens.

After all, with all the equipment around, as well as naked flames on hobs, the kitchen really is a hazardous place.

It is absolutely vital that you check all fire alarms on a weekly basis, to ensure they’re working properly. It’s a simple job, but one that could potentially save lives.

As a business owner will know, there are legal requirements that must be met when it comes to fire prevention.

Failing to meet these requirements could result in heavy fines or even prison, plus it will put staff and customers at risk.

There will be many companies in your local area qualified for fire safety testing. If you have any questions, ring your local fire brigade using their non-emergency phone number.

Have Gas Interlock System Checked

A gas interlock system is legally required in most commercial kitchens, and it plays an absolutely vital role in keeping people and property safe.

This system essentially stops the flow of gas to the kitchen when it detects that the ventilation system is not functioning.

This, therefore, prevents the build-up of harmful and dangerous gases, plus it lowers the risk of explosion from excess unburned gas.

Your gas interlock system is massively important, therefore it should be checked by a professional organisation, such as us, regularly.

Call or message us today to learn more about gas interlock system installation, maintenance and repair.

Yearly Gas Certificate

If you have gas in your hotel kitchen, or anywhere else in your commercial premises, you are required by law to hold the correct Gas Safety Certificate.

These are awarded by qualified engineers and must be updated every 12 months.

By having a certificate of this type, you show that the gas appliances and pipes within your premises are completely safe and legal.

Having no certificate puts everyone in your premises at risk and could also lead to you receiving a large fine.

At PHS, we have a team of commercial gas safety engineers, who are qualified to issue Gas Safety Certificates.

Why not call us today to organise your next Gas Safety Certificate visit?

Annual Hotel Kitchen Maintenance from PHS

We know that the maintenance of so many hotel kitchen appliances can be daunting, which is why we want to make things easier for you.

We’re able to carry out maintenance checks on a number of appliances in the same visit, minimising confusion, reducing disruption and bringing down the cost.

During a hotel kitchen maintenance check, we can also carry out the necessary work to provide a Gas Safety Certificate for your business.

Our team is ready to help you, regardless of where you are located in London and the Home Counties. Why not give us a call or drop us an email today?