If you’re in the business of food, keeping things consistently clean can sometimes feel overwhelming. The bad news is that a mess is inevitable. The good news is that there are a few simple steps you can take to keep things clean with minimum effort. To help you keep your business running at its best, we’ve summarised 6 easy steps you can take to become a cleaner kitchen, which always leads to a happier team and more satisfied clientele—the best kind of win-win situation.

1. Keep Your Kitchen Clutter Free

When it comes to running your food business with ease, organisation is key. To keep your kitchen looking and functioning at its best, make sure all cupboards, storerooms, fridges and drawers are located and stocked in a way that makes the most sense. To improve efficiency, keep small gadgets within reach, utilise easy-to-access shelves and racks for frequently used ingredients, and create designated spaces within your layout, e.g. the prep station, the hot station, and the cleaning station. A well-mapped out and decluttered kitchen is far easier to keep clean and to navigate.

2. Clean As You Go, Not When It’s Too Late

If you work in a busy food business it can be tempting to cast tools to the side to be cleaned up later as you cook and prepare food. But habits such as these can lead to serious headaches at the end of the working day. To maintain a clean and hygienic environment cleaning as you go is paramount. This includes washing and sanitising all utensils straight after use and wiping down bench tops regularly. An unrinsed knife that’s been used to cut raw meat is not only visibly dirty, it’s also covered with invisible bacteria. This is why it’s not hygienic to leave cleaning to the end of the day, instead wash your utensils directly after use.

3. Put Things In Their Place

In order to avoid cross-contamination, it’s important to assign each kitchen utensil its own home. Once you’ve decided where things will go, remember to educate all team members on where different items belong. There’s nothing worse than losing precious prep time while trying to locate a grater because somebody put it back where the rolling pin should be.

4. Take Proper Care Of Cleaning Equipment

You can’t have a clean floor if you are using a dirty mop. To ensure you’re not mopping your way to nowhere, be sure to clean your mops and buckets daily. First, rinse your mop until the water is clean. Then soak your mop in its bucket with hot water and bleach. Wait 10 minutes and rinse your mop again before hanging it out to dry. And remember, never leave a wet mop to dry with its head to the ground. Seems obvious, but it is always worth a mention.

5. Take The Extra Step To Sanitisation

If you work in the food industry keeping all utensils and spaces germ-free is paramount. To keep in line with industry standards you need to be sure that your equipment and all areas of your kitchen are not only rinsed and washed but also sanitised. This includes benches, floors, inside/outside cupboards, under/inside/outside food storage units and windows. To maintain a healthy workplace for food preparation you can sterilise in two different ways: with chemicals or with heat. Applying these extra measures will ensure that your premises is better protected against potential contamination.

6. Let Us Prepare Your Personalised Cleaning Schedule

If you’d do essentially anything to avoid planning a cleaning schedule, we feel you. That’s why we’re here to help. Our tailor-made cleaning schedules make it easy for you to allocate tasks to your staff and ensure everyone is aware of their duties. That means less time worrying about stains and sanitisation and more time with your clientele.

Learn more about how our digital food compliance recording services can make your life easier.