3 Tips for Increasing Energy Efficiency in Your Kitchen

If you’ve been looking for ways to decrease your kitchen’s carbon footprint while increasing its energy-efficiency, it’s time to rethink your approach to energy consumption. Even if you’re not particularly passionate about matters concerning the environment, taking steps to consume less energy can help your financial bottom line.

Luckily, becoming energy efficient is much easier than many restaurateurs think. A little bit of effort and ingenuity can go a long way in saving you money and making your establishment more eco-friendly. 

1. Stay on Top of Equipment Maintenance

Performing regular maintenance on your kitchen equipment can help tremendously in the quest for energy efficiency. This entails cleaning stoves, ovens and refrigeration units on a regular basis, as well as swapping out damaged and defective components as needed. Keeping your food storage units outfitted with top-of-the-line refrigerator freezer parts can prove particularly helpful.

2. Separate Heating and Cooling Devices

Keeping heating and cooling devices far apart can do wonders for your kitchen’s energy consumption. When refrigerators and freezers are placed in the immediate vicinity of stoves, ovens, and other sources of heat, both types of devices have to work extra hard to account for the extreme temperatures, effectively reducing their respective life-spans and driving up your energy costs.

3. Educate Your Staff on Energy Efficiency  

Educating your staff on energy efficiency can lead to an immediate reduction in your energy costs and consumption. When bringing your crewmembers up to speed, place a strong emphasis on the little things. For example, meticulously closing refrigerator doors, shutting off burners and turning off faucets when they’re not in use are all simple – yet highly effective – ways to promote energy efficiency.   

With an ever-increasing number of eateries making efforts to go green, you don’t want your restaurant to be left in the dust. Becoming energy efficient doesn’t mean upending the way your staff does things or spending a princely sum. Properly maintaining your equipment, separating heating and cooling devices, and keeping your staff in the know are all easy ways to do your part for both the environment and your restaurant’s finances.

Properly Caring for Your Kitchen

Your kitchen is essentially the heart of your restaurant. Without a well-maintained kitchen and a knowledgeable, hardworking staff, no eatery would have a fighting chance. As such, it behooves restaurateurs to keep their kitchens in prime condition. A messy, disorganized, or unhygienic kitchen can result in dissatisfied diners and earn your establishment the ire of the Health Department. When working to maintain a professional kitchen, the following measures are sure to come in handy. 

Be Diligent About Daily Cleaning

In the quest to keep your kitchen as sanitary as possible, daily cleaning is not something you can afford to skimp on. In fact, certain cleaning rituals need to be performed multiple times each day. To ensure that your kitchen remains clean and germ-free, be diligent about disinfecting preparation surfaces, wiping down ranges, grills and fryers, and thoroughly cleaning can openers and meat slicers. In the interest of avoiding pests, make sure the areas around waste receptacles remain squeaky clean. 

Regularly Inspect Your Refrigeration Units

Without functional refrigeration units, you won’t have servable food — and without servable food, you won’t have a restaurant. With this in mind, have your refrigerators and freezers inspected on a regular basis and swap out defective components — like cooler door gaskets — as needed. 

Use Slip-Resistant Cleaners and Coatings

An unexpected slip in the kitchen can have disastrous consequences. Not only can this hamper timely food preparation, it’s liable to put you at the receiving end of a lawsuit. If you’re determined to prevent slips in your restaurant’s kitchen, clean your floors with slip-resistant cleaners and encourage your staff to exercise caution at all times.

Properly maintaining your kitchen is something from which everyone can benefit. Your staff will have an easier time preparing meals, diners will receive their orders in a more expedient fashion and your business will quickly find its way into the health department’s good graces.