The make or break of any catering operation can be the warewashing department. If cutlery, crockery and chefs utensils can’t be turned around quickly enough everything can grind to a halt and customers will be complaining. Plus it’s all got to be super-clean or else they’ll be more complaints and food hygiene standards can be in jeopardy.
Choice in the warewashing market has never been greater. There are now space-saving models with integral chemical dispensers, drain pumps and water softners. Energy-saving technology including heat exchangers, economy wash options and efficient wash patterns are now available on many models.
Matching machine type to demand and sitting is key to success. Front loading undercounter and cabinet models, including back-bar glasswashers are ideal for small cafes, intimate restaurants, pubs, bistros and wine bars.
The higher daily load in most small to medium sized kitchens requires larger pass through or hood dishwashers. These machines are loaded by sliding the racks of dirty dishes along tabling and through the machine.
Bigger kitchens tend to use rack conveyor-type machines that run continuously throughout the serving period. Here the racks are placed on conveyors and then travel automatically through the dishwasher with sections to pre-wash, wash, rinse and dry.
For really big commercial operations, such as airports, universities etc there are flight-type conveyors where the dirty items can be loaded directly onto the conveyor that passes through the machine.
Buying Tips
Warewashers are rated by the number of dishes or racks (at about 20 dishes per rack) they can wash per hour. So to determine what size of dishwasher you need, first estimate how many dishes each customer uses. This can very from as many as 20 in a fine dining restaurant to 10 to 12 per tray in a cafeteria, and 6 to 8 in counter service operation.
Simply multiply the number of expected customers per hour by the dish count per customer to find the number of dishes you will use per hour. Then divide this by the rack size to get the number of racks per hour the warewasher needs to be able to process.
As modern catering operations often rely on agency or part-time staff, especially during busy periods, check the machine is easy to operate.
If space is an issue with an undercounter machine, chose a model with an integral water softening system.
Warewashing Machines – Buy Online
The above is taken from Eat Out Magazine’s Catering Equipment Buying Guide.
