Organize Your Walk-in Cooler or Freezer

Temperature control and organized inventory are food-safety watchwords.

When Connie’s Pizza, a nine-unit Chicago-based chain, reorganized its walk-in coolers for better efficiency and improved food safety, management liked the results.

“By reconfiguring the coolers we were able to reduce stock and rotate it more effectively,” says owner Ivan Matsunaga. “We saved 3% to 5% on shrinkage and perishables.’’

The reorganized walk-ins also are easier to navigate, which encourages employees to keep the coolers tidy. In accordance with health and sanitation practices, raw meat and poultry is kept on lower shelves. Prepared and ready-to-eat foods and salads, cooked meats and ham are stowed on higher racks. Walk-in temperature is kept at 37F, and foods are tagged and dated upon arrival to ensure proper rotation.

Connie’s cooler remodel was part of a company wide initiative to improve food safety during which the chain’s 250 employees attended demonstrations on sanitation, stock organization and rotation. Because staff participated in the food-safety update, everyone now is held accountable.

Temperature and organization are critical to maintaining a food-safe walk-in cooler, says Kristie Grzywinski, senior program manager for food safety at the National Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation, Chicago. Keep foods in the cooler at an internal temperature of 41F. “Some restaurants have the luxury of several walk-ins. Most don’t,” explains the microbiologist. “That’s why organization of shelves and inventory is critical.”

She advises designating separate sections for raw and ready-to-eat foods to minimize risk of cross-contamination. Additionally, Grzywinski warns operators not overload racks, which taxes shelving integrity and impedes air circulation. Be aware of temperature variations inside the walk-in: warmer by the door, cooler in the rear. (Store meats, fish and dairy products in the cooler back area and produce closer to the front.) Shelves must be no closer than six inches from the floor to ease cleaning under racks. And allow plenty of headroom in the cooler to ensure adequate air circulation for steady temperatures and lower utility bills. Read the rest of this entry »

10 Tips for Restaurants on Saving Money, Energy & the Earth

Are you investing your energy resources wisely? The following tips provide ideas for maintaining an energy efficient operation.

Track energy consumption

Tracking your monthly electricity, water, sewer, trash and natural gas consumption is a first step toward managing your impact and monitoring the effectiveness of efficiency improvements. If you’re an independent operator or local chain, get audits from local utilities and municipalities. Many organizations provide free energy, water and waste audits in addition to advice, technical and sometimes financial assistance for upgrades and program development. Take advantage of these free professional services.

Allow for air circulation around refrigerators and freezers

Refrigerators remove heat from inside the box and eject that heat through the coils on the top or bottom of the unit. When you are cleaning around these units, do not push your reach-ins into tight spaces where the heat will build up, forcing the unit to work harder and use more energy.

Defrost food regularly

Develop a frozen food pull schedule to avoid the practice of defrosting food under running hot water. If a two-gallon-per-minute faucet is used for this purpose one hour every day for a year, the cost may exceed $800. Read the rest of this entry »

Preventative Maintenance for Refrigeration Systems

Suggested Refrigeration Systems Preventative Maintenance

Refrigeration systems are critical in the foodservice industry. It is very important to provide maintenance on your cooling systems to help prevent them from clogging or breaking down, which could lead to spoiled food, rotten food, etc. The following guidelines are provided from Heatcraft’s Operation & Instruction Manual.   By following these preventive maintenance steps, it does not guarantee your unit will not break down. However, by taking care and maintaining your refrigeration systems your unit is less likely to have problems.

Preventive Maintenance

Unit Coolers

At every six month interval, or sooner if local conditions cause clogging or fouling of air passages through the finned surface, the following items should be checked.

Read the rest of this entry »

School Food Service Stimulus Package

In addition to the numerous small business grants available, the federal government has delivered a $100 million dollar food service equipment stimulus package targeted directly at public and private schools which participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and qualify (at the building level*) with a 50% or more participation in a free and reduced lunch program.

Funds have been allocated to each state education department. Funds vary by state and range from $215,000 to $12 million. The grants are competitive which means preparation is important. The window of opportunity is very narrow so this is an actionable item. The funds are intended to be dispersed within three months.

Items the schools may wish to consider include the repair, replacement or addition of walk-in coolers and freezers. Some of the reasons these qualify include: improving food safety, reducing operating costs translating into energy savings, increased storage capacity to handle expanded breakfast, lunch and snack programs. The link below contains detailed information regarding all qualifying food service equipment. A general rule of thumb is that the equipment must support the reimbursable meal program and not specifically targeted to an ala carte program.

Here is a link to the National School Nutrition Association website where school food service directors can find the most current USDA issued communication related to this process. There are links to each individual state where the food service director can view the requirements and download the required forms.

School food service directors are welcome to call on U.S. Cooler to assist with specification, sizing etc. Contact information is easily accessed via our interactive territory map.

*Participation is measured at the building level rather than the District Level. If the equipment is for a central kitchen, all buildings served by the central kitchen are listed and included in the calculation.

Walk-in Cooler Maintenance Tips

Maintaining your walk-in coolers and freezers is pretty simple. For starters, a clean walk-in is an efficient one. Your staff is likely are trained to keep both the interior and exterior clean and sanitary (use a mild soap detergent and damp mop), but key components can sometimes be overlooked. Pay particular attention to:

Door gaskets. Keep clean and pliable. Replace when worn.

Hinges and door closers. Check regularly for proper opening.

Condenser and fan. Keep clean and free of grease so they can do a more effective job of transferring heat. Since most of you will use remote refrigeration systems, that will mean a trip up to the roof for someone on a regular basis.

Condenser and drain lines. Keep them clear and schedule checks of the seals where they enter the building.

Beyond checking these areas, it makes sense to schedule servicing every three months if your system is self-contained and every six months if it’s remote.

These tips come from the February 2009 issue of Foodservice Equipment Magazine. Find the full article here. The article also details the new government EISA rules and new innovations in walk-in component technology from glass doors to compressors.

For more cleaning and maintenence tips view this post.