It can be hard to maintain organisation in a busy kitchen, but it is essential for the health of your customers and business to employ an efficient system. There will be specific adaptations you can make for your own specific business, but there are also some general guidelines that can help you form the policy for your kitchen.
Low Shelf Storage for Meats
As described at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/storing-food-safely, meat should be stored on the bottom shelves in your fridge to prevent cross-contamination and make it easy to clean up spills. If other food touches meat juices or marinades, make sure to throw it away.
Failing to store meat on lower shelves can increase the risk of juices dripping down and contaminating other food in the fridge. This can pose a serious health risk to your customers – and to your business’s reputation.
Space Items
Whether you are filling a restaurant food fridge supplied by https://www.fridgefreezerdirect.co.uk/ or another form of commercial refrigeration unit, air needs to be able to circulate. You may be tempted to cram as much in as possible to use the space available most effectively, but you should aim to leave between three and six inches separating food products and the walls in order to achieve the best performance from your fridge.
As well as preventing wasted energy and risking food spoilage, allowing the air to circulate properly in your commercial refrigeration unit will help to prevent hot spots and work to prevent uneven freezing and cooling.
Avoid the Floor
Keep products off the floor of your fridge in order to stop contaminants and water from making their way into your food and causing a potential hazard.
Food should generally be stored away from the floor, and this is as true in your refrigeration unit as it is in the rest of your kitchen. This is a specific health code, and it is important that everyone in your kitchen is aware of the importance of keeping food off the floor – in the fridge and out. Making sure that there is enough shelving in your refrigerator will help remove the temptation to use the floor as extra storage space, while adequate staff training is also important to highlight the risk of food contamination and infestation by pests in your fridge if food is not positioned high enough.
