The Benefits of Investing in an Infrared Grill

No matter what type of food your restaurant specializes in, you stand to benefit from investing in an infrared grill. In addition to being highly cost-effective, these increasingly commonplace grills have a number of advantages over their more traditional counterparts. Restaurateurs who are entertaining the idea of adding an infrared grill to their kitchen should consider the following benefits. 

Lightning-Fast Heating Times

Infrared burners are capable of much faster heating times than traditional grills. Most infrared grills can reach temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees in under a minute. What’s more, these grills can be sufficiently preheated in around three minutes. This can prove tremendously convenient for restaurants that are always busy.

Even Distribution of Heat

Meat cooked on infrared grills tends to taste better than meat prepared on traditional grills. The reason for this is heat distribution. With traditional grills, it’s hardly uncommon for heat to be unevenly distributed throughout a piece of meat. Alternatively, infrared grills provide a far more even distribution of heat, thus ensuring more flavorful entrées.  

Easy to Clean

Grill cleaning is among the most cumbersome chores restaurant workers have to tackle. Not only does it need to be performed multiple times a day, it frequently hampers outgoing orders. Fortunately, purging infrared grills of gristle and food particles doesn’t require copious amounts of scrubbing and scraping. Simply turn the temperature up to “high,” watch the residual particles burn away and resume cooking. 

A reliable infrared grill is guaranteed to make a welcome addition to any restaurant kitchen. Since grills are vitally important tools at any given eatery, it’s only natural for restaurateurs to want the highest-quality grills currently available. If fast heating times, even distribution of heat, and easy cleaning are what you’re after, a cutting-edge infrared grill should be right up your alley.   

3 Tips for Keeping Your Restaurant’s Grill Clean

You’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant kitchen in which the grill isn’t used extensively. Since a wide variety of entrees and sides are prepared on grills, it’s no surprise they’re such popular culinary tools. However, in light of how often they’re used, they tend to get dirty rather quickly.

In fact, depending on how often your grill is used, it may need to be cleaned multiple times throughout the day. Failure to properly clean grills can result in a number of safety hazards and land you in hot water with local health inspectors. To ensure that your kitchen’s grill remains squeaky clean and consistently sanitary, heed the following cleaning tips. 

1. Carefully Follow the Manufacturer’s Instructions

Not all grills are created equal. Case in point: some grills should be cleaned with grill bricks, while others are best cleaned with grill brushes. Conversely, certain grills should be cleaned with neither, as both tools are too abrasive for their surfaces. These grills generally need to be cleaned with specialized cleansers and scraping tools. Before proceeding to clean a new grill, take care to consult the owner’s manual or manufacturer’s website.

2. Replace the Grates on a Semi-Regular Basis

Grill grates are typically the dirtiest components you’ll find on a grill. Given their propensity for attracting food particles and gristle buildup, grates should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a day and replaced as needed. Continuing to use grates that are well past their prime will result in improperly cooked meals and unhappy diners.   

3. Be Thorough When Scraping

To purge your grill of all caked-on food particles, instruct your employees to be extra-thorough when scraping the surface. By extension, invest in a reliable scraper that’s capable of removing food particles without leaving the grill awash with scratches.  

A clean grill is one of the cornerstones of a sanitary kitchen. Improper or infrequent cleaning can result in health hazards and prematurely worn-out equipment — both of which stand to cost your restaurant big bucks. Fortunately, putting the previously pointers to good use will keep your grill looking its best for years to come.

Commercial Kitchen Maintenance Tips

When a commercial kitchen is running smoothly, it's a thing of beauty. However, there's a lot of work that goes on to turn a kitchen into a well-oiled machine. A major part of that is proper maintenance. The following tips will help keep your kitchen at peak performance.

Refer to Your Owner's Manuals – Everything in your kitchen, from the deep fryer to the PVC strip curtains & doors, has an owner's manual. Those manuals are your best resource for the proper care and maintenance of your kitchen equipment. Follow the manual's guidelines to help ensure everything stays in optimal condition.

Fill Out and Return Those Warranty Cards – Most major kitchen equipment comes with warranties that often include free parts and labor. It's worth the few minutes it takes to fill the warranty cards out and mail them or even to just go online and fill them out there, if that's an option. It doesn't make sense to invest in a piece of equipment, only to ignore the warranty that goes with it.

Clean, Clean, Clean – Food scraps, dirt, and grime all build up on a daily basis, so you need to clean your equipment on a daily basis. Simply keeping everything clean will help avoid this buildup, which is a leading cause of equipment failure and malfunction. For equipment that has deep cleaning requirements, be sure to meet those as recommended by the manufacturer.

Regularly Inspect Kitchen Equipment – The smallest of things can eventually lead to catastrophic failure, so taking the time to walk through your kitchen and inspect everything is well worth it. Catching and correcting something small, such as a loose fitting, can save untold amounts of money in bigger repairs down the line. Additionally, replacing worn parts will extend the life of your equipment.

How to Clean and Store Your Commercial Fryer

Keeping your fryer and baskets in good clean order, is essential to well prepared food, and the least amount of maintenance costs. Here are a few tips for taking care of your commercial fryer and accessories.

·         Daily Clean Up – Having a daily cleaning routine for the outside of your fryer can be extremely beneficial, not to mention, sanitary! Also, think of work safety for mold and other issues that might arise from a fryer that is not cleaned on a daily basis

·         Flush Out Every 3 Months – Stay on the safe side and do a full flush of your fryer every three months. This consists of draining the fryer of oil and then filling it with warm water and dish detergent to let sit for approximately an hour. This will help to remove any residual discarded food or oil. Drain continue to fill with just warm water a few times or until clean to touch and smell.

·         Hire Professionals – Once a year your fryer should be inspected by a professional. This will help you stay ahead of any possible issues that might come up. It will also keep you from surprise emergency costs for expedited repairs.

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