You First Bakery Business: 2 Cooling Equipment Maintenance Tips You Should Know
When you open your first bakery, you may feel overwhelmed about all of the different tasks and responsibilities that you have taken upon yourself. One of the most important of these responsibilities is the proper care and maintenance of your kitchen equipment. And in order to keep your baked goods safe to consume, you need to be sure that your commercial refrigeration units are well maintained and monitored. Here are two important steps to maintaining your commercial refrigeration units.
Check the Temperature Inside the Refrigeration Unit Several Times a Day
The first line of defense in preventing your ingredients from becoming unsafe or contaminated with bacteria or viruses is to ensure that the temperatures remain steady and at appropriate levels throughout the day. You should be sure to check the temperature three times a day: before beginning the baking process in the morning, around midday before the lunch rush, and at closing.
If your temperatures are too cold or even worse, too warm, your eggs, milk, and other temperature-sensitive ingredients could easily spoil or reach unsafe consumption levels. The so-called danger zone for food temperatures that should be avoided as much as possible is between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
While food cannot ever be completely protected from being in the danger zone for short periods of time, such as when you take the milk out of the refrigeration unit to use in baking, it cannot safely remain at that temperature for more than two hours (or less on a hot day).
Schedule System Cleanings at Regular Intervals
The internal components of your commercial refrigeration units will need to be cleaned at least twice a year, sometimes more depending on how much your refrigeration unit is used. This means that the more you open up your fridge to use it, the more you will need to have the coils, door gaskets, fan blades, and motors cleaned and checked by a professional commercial refrigeration services company, like Pro-Staff Mechanical Inc.
Dust, lint, and other debris can easily get sucked under the refrigeration unit during daily use and can block vents and fans, thus altering the effectiveness of the fridge and causing problems with the holding temperature. This regular maintenance by a professional will ensure your cooling units last for as long as possible.
Now that you know some maintenance basics for your commercial refrigeration unit, you can rest assured that your bakery gets off on the right foot!
Share