It’s that time of year again; where the temperatures are rising, we have more daylight hours, and flies are on a mission to get into your kitchen. The abundance of heat, food and places to hide are just too much of a temptation for them, and measures need to be taken to keep your kitchen clean and hygienic.

But how much of an issue is it? It’s always a good idea to know your enemy, and here’s some worryingly interesting facts about the fly:

• – One fly can carry as many over a million germs on its body; and some of these types of bacteria can cause diseases such as Diarrhorea, Dysentry, Typhoid and Bubonic Plague.
• – Female flies can lay up to 2,730 eggs, and a pair of flies are capable of producing 191,000,000 other flies during the summer mating season
• – Once hatched, a fly can travel as far as 13 miles away from their hatching site, and can fly at an average speed of 5 miles per hour!
• – The fly has 4,000 separate lenses in each eye – that gives them an almost 360 degree view of the world around them (and potentially your kitchen!)

Flies are an important pest to combat in a commercial kitchen, as they can cause serious threat to your food hygiene and your reputation. And with the abundance of raw, prepared, cooked or leftover foods around, it’s like fly haven.

An effective way to combat your flying foe is to use an Electric or Glueboard Flykiller; essentially a unit that attracts flies and eliminates them effectively, allowing you to carry out your kitchen duties. The unit can be positioned or mounted on walls, ceilings or on a surface, depending on your requirements and model chosen.

They require power, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes to fit your needs. You can also get decorative flykillers, that are designed to look similar to light fittings or decoration, with soft, smooth designs that don’t stand out.

Decorative fly killers are great for front of house areas, such as in bars, cafes and restaurants. However a larger, industrial sized unit is best for back of house areas where efficiency is more important than the visual appeal.

Making pest control solutions since 1962, Insect-O-Cutor offer a range of units, offering something for everyone – whether you have a small prep area or a large industrial sized kitchen.

There’s a unit to fit your budget, styling and requirements from Insect-O-Cutor. See the links below for more information or to order.

Insect-O-Cutor Fly Killers

Decorative Fly Killers

Glueboards and Bulbs

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Bad ice can be the difference between sickness and health, it’s not just about the taste of your cold drinks, that’s why it’s an integral part of a proper hygiene procedure when using a commercial ice maker or ice machine.

If you’ve been wondering how to clean an ice machine, then luckily we’re here to help make sure you don’t fail a health inspection by not having cool clean ice making machines fit for professional usage.

It’s important to keep your ice machine clean, especially if it’s not been used for a long time, or it’s a brand new unit.

Cool and clean ice should be standard in any business that relies on cold drinks to turn a profit, but the cleaning process itself can be made simple by utilising a few key products to remove any built up dirt and grime.

Why you need to clean an ice machine

If your business relies on food or drink as a core product, then every single utensil or piece of equipment you use must meet regulatory standards to ensure that you meet the minimum hygiene requirement as set by British law.

Any part of an ice machine that has contact with water can develop scale, slime or mould at any time and you will be surprised at just how quickly this can happen. This build up of grime, dirt, scale and slime will contaminate your ice and therefore potentially harm your paying customers.

Prevention is always cheaper than the cure, and so we recommend that your ice machine gets a deep clean at least once every six months to keep things clean and ensure efficient operation.

Equipment

• Rubber gloves
• Cleaning solution
• Sanitising Solution
• Nylon brushes
• Sponges / Cloths
• Bucket

Method

How to clean an ice machine

1. Open the front door to access the main evaporator compartment and remove all ice.
2. Remove all ice from the bin or the dispenser.
3. Use the inbuilt ‘clean’ or ‘wash’ cycle. This will cause water to flow through the water dump valve and down into your drainage system. Your machine will indicate once it is typically ready to add cleaning chemicals which will usually take around a minute.
4. A full cleaning cycle can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the model of machine you have. Once the cycle is complete, disconnect your ice machine from the power.
5. At this point, you may need to refer to your ice machine manual to remove parts for deep cleaning.
6. Mix a solution of cleaner and lukewarm water in a bucket. As a general rule, one litre of water is needed for 100ml of cleaning fluid, but each machine may vary so please refer to your manual for exact measurements.
7. Use approximately half of the mixture you have created to soak each part you previously removed from your ice machine and use a soft bristle nylon brush, sponge or cloth to carefully clean all parts thoroughly. Rinse all cleaned parts with clean water.
8. Whilst these parts are soaking, use the other half of the cleaning solution mixture to clean all food zone surfaces of the ice machine, cube bin and dispenser. Use a nylon brush or sponge to clean the side walls, base, evaporator plastic parts, bin and dispenser.
9. Once scrubbed, rinse all areas with clean water until the cleaning solution has been removed.

How to sanitise an ice machine

1. Mix a solution of ice machine sanitiser and lukewarm water, you may need to refer to your ice machine manual for correct ratios of water to sanitiser. Generally, though, 10 litres of water is needed for 50ml of santiser.
2. Use one-half of the water and santiser solution to sanitise all of the parts removed during the cleaning process, simply use a spray bottle to coat each portion of your ice machine or soak them before reattaching. Remember you DO NOT need to rinse with water after sanitising.
3. Spray all other food zone areas such as the ice trays, bin and dispensers to protect from germs.
4. Replace all removed parts and then wait around 20 minutes for the sanitiser to thoroughly work it’s magic.
5. Plug your ice machine back into a power source and use the inbuilt ‘clean’ or ‘wash’ button. This will cause water to flow through the water dump valve and down into your drainage system. Your machine will indicate once it is typically ready to add the sanitiser which will usually take around a minute.
6. Set your machine to automatically begin making ice after the sanitising process.

Cleaning the outside of your ice machine

1. Sanitising wipes are ideal for keeping your machine clean and germ-free during operation.
2. Wipe down your machine surfaces regularly and remove any greasy residue or excess water that prevails.

Cleaning the condenser and filter

An important portion of the ice machine is the condenser unit, the washable filter also needs to be cleaned as this traps dust, dirt, lint and grease during day-to-day operation.

Cleaning the filter is as simple as rinsing under warm soapy water.

The condenser needs to be washed as a lack of airflow causes much higher operating temperatures, shortening unit life and reduces the amount of ice produced.

A quick clean every 6 months ensures that your machine will continue to serve you well.

1. Disconnect your ice machine from the power source before attempting to clean the condenser.
2. Using a torch, check for dirt between the fins. NOTE: These fins can be sharp, so proceed with caution.
3. Blow compressed air through your condenser to remove any dust and dirt build up that has accrued.
4. If dirt issues still persist, you may need to contact a service agent to have the problem rectified.

Now you have a clean ice machine, you can go back to making super cocktails and cold drinks without fear of contamination.

This guide also works for ice flakers, ice shavers and standard ice machines.

The post How to clean an ice machine appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

You pull your barbecue from winter storage to find that last summer has seriously taken its toll on the charcoal or gas-powered wonder-food maker.

Grease, grime, dirt, dust, oil and ash have combined to make a mess of your once glorious grilling machine.

Fingers coated in a dust-grease combination, you wonder how do I clean a barbecue that has been in deep storage for such a long time? We come to the rescue.

Okay, that was somewhat melodramatic, but the point still stands. We understand that the barbecue (or BBQ or even barbeque) grill is not something many catering professionals utilise during the colder winter months.

You might even have bought a barbecue on a whim a few years prior, and just haven’t managed to get much use out of it due to the often maligned ‘Great British Summer’ we’ve been put through in recent rotations around the Sun.

Luckily for those wondering whether now is the time to get rid of the grime on their grill, we’ve got a quick and easy to follow guide for getting your barbecue back in operation and making best in class burgers for the beer-garden-going crowd.

How to clean your barbecue

Before you begin scrubbing and really giving your grill some elbow grease, you’ll need to check the manufacturers’ suggestions for cleaning products and procedure.

Not every grill is created equal, and so it’s worth checking if certain solutions or cleaning products are safe to use before we start.

1) With the grill in place, heat your barbecue to full heat. If you have a gas barbecue, that just means turning the heat on full. For a charcoal barbecue, throw in fresh coals and wait for them to reach a red-hot temperature.

2) If your grill has a lid, then put the lid on, and leave it for 15-20 minutes to accumulate heat. This bakes off – carbonises – grime and food particles, making cleaning BBQ grill parts easier as caked in portions flake off whilst being scrubbed.

3) Allow your barbecue to cool down, and then scrub the bars with a steel brush. Make sure to angle the brush into awkward corners to get rid of the dirt that has built up in harder to reach places.

If you use your BBQ regularly, then beyond these simple steps there isn’t much more you should really have to do to attain a clean unit. Once per month, it’s recommended that you undertake a ‘deep clean’ process for extra cleanliness.

4) Having used the baking-off method above (and after waiting for everything to cool down – accidentally barbecuing your fingers is a bad idea), remove the grills.

5) Using warm soapy water, wash the bars. Avoid using abrasive cleaners or tools that could damage the grill. There are some products specifically designed for cleaning barbeques, and some general multipurpose cleaners which work wonderfully, but it’s worth checking the manufacturer’s guidelines. Test any cleaning solution on a small area first to ensure you’re using a grill-friendly product.

6) Rinse and dry them immediately, we recommend that you give the grill a light coating of vegetable oil to prevent rusting and foods from sticking when you next use it.

7) Remove all drip trays and drain the oil/grease collected (DO NOT POUR DOWN THE DRAIN). Soak the drip tray and scrub before replacing.

Top tips

Cleaning your BBQ grill after every usage will prevent food from sticking to the bars, and therefore improve the quality of your grilled foods.

Simply wait until the grill bars have cooled, and then use warm soapy water and a stiff wire brush to scrub your grill clean.

Using a wire brush will help remove any burnt-on food stains, and improve the taste of subsequent dishes you cook.

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