Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Restaurant Kitchen

Over the last decade, a growing number of businesses have begun rethinking their approach to energy consumption. As the effects of global climate change become increasingly difficult to ignore, businesses of all sizes have started looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Fortunately, going green is much easier for restaurants than other types of establishments. As an added bonus, taking a few eco-conscious measures can save you a considerable sum in energy costs. To help your eatery do its part for the environment, consider the following tips.

Keep Track of Energy Consumption

The first step in whipping your kitchen into shape is keeping track of energy consumption. Use specialized meters to record how much water, gas, and electricity various pieces of equipment consume. After your findings have been recorded, make note of which tools need to be updated and which are consuming acceptable amounts of energy.

Invest in Energy-Efficient Parts

Replacing every piece of equipment that consumes too much energy isn’t exactly economical, nor does it help your financial bottom line. For example, stove apparatuses and walk-in refrigeration units are often easier to retrofit than outright replace. This entails keeping old equipment but outfitting it with new components, such as energy-efficient cooler door gaskets.   

Get Behind Eco-Friendly Dishwashers

Although updating your dishwashers may strike you as a large expense, it can save you a tremendous amount in both water and power costs down the line. Dishwashers equipped with heat-recovery condensers and smaller wash-tanks eat up less energy and clean dishes more expediently than their bulky old-school counterparts. 

A push for increased environmental awareness has swept the globe in recent years. Rather than remain mired in the past, it’s in your best interest to get with the times — and see that your restaurant does the same. If you’re determined to bring your kitchen up to snuff, keep an eye on energy consumption levels, engage in retrofitting as needed and invest in eco-friendly dishwashers.  

Meticulously Maintaining Your Walk-in Cooler

A well-maintained walk-in cooler is the only thing that stands between your restaurant and copious amounts of spoiled food. That being the case, it’s in you and your patrons’ best interest that your eatery’s cooler remain in tip-top condition. Luckily, as long as you’re consistent in performing basic upkeep, you should have no problem keeping your cooler in working order. In your efforts to keep your cooler operational, take care to tend to the following tasks.

Keep the Door Closed

While keeping the doors firmly closed may seem like a no-brainer, a surprising number of walk-in coolers break down as a result of doors continuously being propped open. Unless someone is inside the cooler, the door(s) should remain shut. As is the case with refrigerators, leaving doors open for extended periods wears out compressor motors, effectively preventing coolers from functioning properly.

Perform Regular Gasket Checks

Every few months, make a point of checking the gaskets located between the cooler panels. This will enable you to monitor for cracks and other signs of wear. If you come across any gaskets that look particularly weathered, it’s strongly advised that you promptly replace them. Fortunately, O-Reps, the Web’s foremost purveyor of walk-in cooler accessories offers amazing deals on high-end gaskets from a wide range of well-known manufacturers.

Keep the Lights Off

Just as you need to keep the door(s) shut, make sure to turn off the lights when no one is inside the cooler. Lights produce heat, which makes the compressor motor work harder to account for the increase in temperature. Like opened doors, lights that are left on can lead to prematurely kaput compressors. 

A faulty walk-in cooler can mean big problems for your restaurant. In many respects, functional coolers are the most important tools an eatery has, so it behooves responsible restaurateurs to keep them in good condition.   

Great Deals on Commercial Refrigeration Parts at O-Reps

Without fully functional refrigeration units, no restaurant would be able to stay open. Good food is the cornerstone of any successful eatery, and without commercial refrigeration, there’s no efficient way to prevent large amounts of ingredients from going bad. For this reason, it’s imperative that restaurant owners and managers take steps to keep their refrigeration units in prime condition. Swapping out defective parts when needed can go a long way in maintaining these units. Fortunately, great deals on commercial refrigeration parts can always be found at O-Reps’ online store.  

Compressors

An intact compressor is the heart of any heavy-duty freezer or refrigeration unit. This means that if your fridge finds itself stricken with a faulty compressor, you have little time to replace it. Luckily, O-Reps stocks an extensive array of heavily-discounted compressors from such renowned manufacturers as Tecumseh and Copeland. Additionally, the store’s expedient shipping options ensure that you’ll have your new compressor or any other commercial refrigeration parts within two to three days.

Thermostats

A functional thermostat enables you to control the temperature in your restaurant’s refrigeration units. Unfortunately, broken thermostats often lead to extreme increases or decreases in temperature, effectively ruining large amounts of food. To combat this problem, O-Reps sells a wide selection of replacement thermostats, many of which cost well under $100. 

Shelving

Depending on how expansive your menu is, your refrigeration units may be home to abundant amounts of ingredients. In the interest of staying organized, make sure to equip your walk-in fridges and freezers with resilient shelving. In addition to selling discounted name-brand wire shelves, O-Reps also offers abundant custom-made shelving options to more discerning customers.

In light of all the work you’ve put into your restaurant, you’re not about to let its success be hampered by a faulty refrigeration unit. By replacing broken parts in an expedient manner, you can ensure that your on-site fridges and freezers remain operational for the foreseeable future.   

Why O-Reps Is Right for All Your Commercial Freezer Needs: Part II

Your commercial freezer parts can be the most cost effective way to reduce bills for your commercial walk-in-cooler and freezer. Keeping up-to-date with all the maintenance and repair of your appliances can be a great way to save money over time. This includes paying for emergency attention to your freezer, as well as the cost of more expensive parts, or entirely new unit. Here is another reason to choose O-Reps when it comes to choose replacement parts for your commercial kitchen.

Priced-to-Own Kitchen Accessories

Although O-Reps is renowned for its heavily-discounted freezer components, the store is proud to offer restaurateurs an affordable array of kitchen accessories. Eateries in need of fryer baskets, cookware, slicer blades, blending blades, or grinder plates are urged to pay a visit to the company’s online store. 

When a freezer or refrigeration unit encounters problems, most restaurants have precious little time to fix things before food spoils. This is why it pays to acquaint yourself with a reliable parts supplier. In the quest to keep your food fresh and uphold your eatery’s reputation, O-Reps can prove exceedingly helpful. 

Need more information? Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact us today at 888.289.5911 to get the very best when it comes to commercial walk-in cooler parts!

Why O-Reps Is Right for All Your Commercial Freezer Needs

There is no denying that owning and/or managing a restaurant is tough. Whether your eatery is independently-owned or part of a larger chain, the trials and tribulations of restaurant ownership are universal. As any proprietor can confirm, various pieces of kitchen equipment — most notably freezers and refrigeration units — constantly need to be repaired and have components swapped out. The busier your establishment is, the more taxed the tools of the trade are likely to be. For this reason, becoming acquainted with a consistently reliable kitchen supply company can lift a tremendous weight off your shoulders. 

Wide Selection of Parts at Rock-Bottom Prices

No matter which commercial freezer parts you’re looking for, O-Reps has what you need for a price you’re willing to pay. Compressors, gaskets, and thermostats for a wide range of models are readily available at O-Reps’ online store. On the less technical side, O-Reps also offers an extensive selection of doors, strip curtains, and shelves.

Prompt Shipping

When certain components malfunction, prompt replacement is integral to salvaging the contents of a freezer. That being the case, many restaurants want new parts shipped and delivered as quickly as possible. This is why O-Reps offers discounted one-to-four-day ground shipping with all of its parts and accessories.

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.

Energy-Efficiency Tips for Your Charbroiler

You might be surprised to discover there are several ways you can save both energy and money when operating a charbroiler. Here's how:

Make Sure Your Charbroiler Is in Good Repair – Over time, metal fatigue and corrosion can develop, causing your charbroiler to perform inefficiently. Make sure to inspect your charbroiler on a regular basis and perform maintenance as needed, including replacing commercial charbroiler parts as needed. This will go a long way toward extending your charbroiler's life as well as maintaining energy efficiency.

Clean Properly – Raising the heat to scorch off debris not only is a waste of energy but can also damage your gas valves. Instead, use proper tools and preventative measures to keep your charbroiler clean. Make sure to keep the burner box free of ash to ensure proper heat transfer. Additionally, radiants should be removed daily and scrubbed with wire brushes.

Use Only What You Need – Eliminate stand-by times and significantly reduce energy costs by only using part of your charbroiler. Turn the unit off entirely during slow times. A charbroiler consistently uses more energy than six fryers combined, so turning it off for three extra hours a day can reduce your energy costs by over $600 a year. When preheating, do not exceed manufacturer's recommended preheat times. With underfired charbroilers, you can even reduce preheat time by 15 to 20 minutes.

Use Your Griddle – Whenever possible, use your griddle. Because griddles have thermostats, you can lower the temperature, reducing the amount of energy consumed. If your griddle has grooves, you can still have grill marks on your food the same as a commercial charbroiler.

Properly Ventilate – Charbroilers radiate an average of 25 percent of the heat they use. Make sure the kitchen is properly ventilated to avoid higher cooling costs.

Keep these tips in mind for a more cost-effective, energy-efficient charbroiler.