Setup, Layout & Maintenance of kitchen part 2

LAYOUT:

 

            No fixed lay out of food preparation area is set universally; as space, volume of work, type of business are different at different situation. Therefore, every kitchen has its layout. In general, layout carries some common area of consideration. They are –

1. Kitchen layout should be spacious.
2. Kitchen should be well lighted.
3. Kitchen should be refreshed with fresh air.
4. Floors should be durable, to meet the heavy traffic & equipment load.
5. Floor should be impervious to moisture.
6. Grease, salts, acids, cleaning agents etc, should not affect floor.
7. Floors should not be slippery, even when wet.
8. Walls should be tiled to the ceiling, or at least to a height of eye level and over then it can be painted.
9. Wall paints should be greaseproof and washable.
10. No joints, crevices, in floors & walls where dirt and dusts can accumulate and pests and vermin can live in.
11. Wood works, furniture’s should be gloss painted, to facilitate wipe cleaning.
12. Doors should be self-closing, with easily cleanable kick plates, fingerplates, holders etc firmly fitted. Service doors should be of two ways with a window.
13. Natural lights should be used, as far as practicable. Artificial lights, when used should be properly fitted and glairs and shadows prevented.
14. Make no storage spaces, racks, cupboards etc over eye level.
15. Areas of raw materials storage and cooking should be separated from cleaning and wash-up section.
16. Cooking area should be near to food pick up area.
17. Food pick-up area should be near to service area.
18. Try to keep the workflow effective with less bends, turns, and zigzags, step backs etc. blind turns should be avoided.
19. Paths of raw foods should not cross the prepared food path.
20. Barriers should be placed to minimize the sound coming from kitchen to guest area.
21. Hoods should be liberally placed on top of all working area producing hot air, smoke, and grease.
22. Different provisions should be made for the washing of hands, food materials, and utensils.
23. Source of cooking & drinking water should be separate from other sources of water, with clear visible marking.
24. Equipments should be placed at a minimum distance of 6 inch from walls.
25. All the supplies like power, earthening, cooking gas, steam, hot & cold water, air ducts etc should be properly marked with specific color codes.
26. All the work area should accompany a small basin.
27. Utensils rack should be near to cooking area.
28. Refreshment rooms, toilets, changing rooms should be far from kitchen area.
29. Deep freezer rooms’ entrance should be with chiller room.
30. Drainage/ sewage system should be covered with a facility of through cleaning.

 

UPKEEP & MAINTENANCE:

 

UPKEEP AND MAINTENANCE of kitchen or its parts is vital because this sector runs mostly 24 hours for 365 days without halts. Any breakdown of any part of kitchen will influence the service of business house. Therefore, any faults should be treated with urgency. Nevertheless, it is better to avoid any faults or emergencies than facing it. So every corner of kitchen are subject to a proper, effective, and regular maintenance and upkeep program. These are some of the points worth consideration. It also provides the hygienic standards.

1. All the kitchen floors should be washed and wiped dry at a frequency of at least 6 times a day (or in every 4 hours).
2. Kitchen walls should be washed and wiped dry at a frequency of 4 times a day.
3. All the washes and cleanings should be by detergents with disinfectants.
4. The entire work surface like tables, burner tops, cooking ranges, equipments etc should be washed and wiped dry after finishing nay job or at a regular frequency. In addition, it should go through one thorough cleaning once in a week or after any heavy workload.
5. Small tools like knives, blades, scissors, forks, cutter, chopping boards, peelers, slicers etc should be kept clean and dry whenever not in use. One thorough cleaning with disinfectant once in a week.
6. Butchery should not run for 24 hours and the room should be treated with strong disinfectant daily at the end, following scrapping, washing, wiping, and drying.
7. Temperature factors of all heating equipments and all cooling units should be checked periodically (daily, weekly, monthly etc).
8. Workload, power consumption, speed etc of all electrical equipments should be checked frequently.
9. Supplies like gas, hot cold water, steams etc should be checked against leakage or blockage regularly. Valves, controls, switches, turn over etc also subject to effectiveness checking.
10. Clothes, linens used in kitchen and food service area should be washed with disinfectant and ironed daily.
11. Any spills of liquids, oils, etc should be cleaned as soon as possible. In case of oil spills, a hand full of salt grains should be applied on the area.
12. Hot utensils, covers, oven-tops should be marked with red color or some refined flour should be sprinkled.
13. Used and soiled utensils, tools should be washed as soon as possible.
14. Exhaust ducts should be fitted with grease filter, and cleaned daily.
15. Lights should be wiped regularly, replacing the fused one ASAP.

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