Care, Maintenance and Sanitation of Equipment

Care, Maintenance and Sanitation of Equipment

All equipment large or small, heavy or light requires care in handling to extend its life to maximum and to minimize depreciation and maintain in a reason-ably attractive and efficient condition while in use.

General Care of Equipment is Given Below:

·        Keep all equipment clean

·        Wash removable parts of equipment with suitable detergent and hot water after each use. After washing, wipe equipment completely dry before replacing.

·        Check that all pieces are in working order.

·        Close supervision at work is necessary to ensure careful handling.

·        Repairs must be attended without delay to prevent damage.

·        A weekly, fortnightly or monthly pro-gramme for oiling on servicing the equipment to maintain movable parts or machinery in order is important.

·        All the electrical inputs to the equip-ment should be checked periodically to ensure the proper electrical load is available for efficient functioning.

·        Insulations, plumbing and other connec tions need periodic check to keep equip-ment running at optimum efficiency.

·        Make full use of warranty periods to help and train organisation staff to learn regular maintenance procedures from the manufacturers and engineers.

·        Assign the care of each machine to one responsible person. Money, time and effort spent on care helps to maintain equipment in continuous working order.

1.  Equipment Cleaning

·        All equipment coming in contact with food should be kept clean.

·        They should be scrubbed, cleaned with detergent and rinsed with potable water.

·        Dipped in hot water at least for 30 sec-onds and then dry.

·        Parts of blender and mixers should be inspected after cleaning.

·        Use separate cutting board for different foods (for vegetarian and non vegetarian)

·        Prepare raw food in separate area.

·        Clean and sanitize equipment, utensils, work space after preparing each food.

·        Use specific containers for various food products

·        Use clean cloth or paper towel for wip-ing spills     

2.  Preventive Measures to Exclude Entry of Insects

Filling cracks and fissures in the walls and flooring

·        Covering drain holes, with wire gauze

·        Spraying or dusting with pesticide

·        Fumigation in large godowns.

3. Cleaning Tools

Sanitation is a quality aspect that requires alert vigilance. It limits possible exposure to contamination.

Food service equipment of var-ious qualities are available to meet the requirements of different styles of cater-ing operations. The menu forms the basis for identifying the requirement of service equipment. Though different types of service equipment may be procured for dishes and drinks offered for sale, using multipurpose equipment not only saves money but also reduces storage space and maintenance cost. Purchasing of equip-ment is a managerial activity which calls for careful and wise decisions since it involves major capital investment. Every piece of equipment chosen must be justi-fied and it should not remain idle.

Equipment must be maintained and handled carefully since poor han-dling leads to additional costs. Adequate training should be imparted to employee for proper handling of equipment. Too much of stock occupies more storage and involves additional cost and too less of it affect the operational efficiency. Hence it is important to strike a balance between these two and have just the right amount of service equipment.

All equipment must be left clean after use. When sanitation of equipment is not effective in food production and while serving, food poisoning and food infections might occur and food service will lose its customers. Hence cleaning and sanitation operation should be verified on regular basis and it forms an important step in food service.