Tips to Organize Your Restaurant’s Walk-in Freezer
Tips to Organize Your Restaurant's Walk-in Freezer
There are several types of home freezers. One of the most popular home freezers is the one that is part of the refrigerator and takes up less than half of the fridge's size. The upright and chest freezers can also be stored in your garage or basement.
Restaurant freezer setups are different. Many are large enough for customers to walk around in. Commercial walk-in freezers in Delaware are larger than home freezers and can hold food ingredients for customers. This means that cross-contamination is possible. It's your responsibility to make sure the freezer is clean and well-organized.
A well-organized freezer in your restaurant is key to ensuring cleanliness and reducing food waste. These are five tips to help you organize your restaurant's freezer.
1) Maintain it clean and tidy. Without the ingredients to prepare food and a walk-in freezer to store it, a restaurant cannot survive as an operation. Make sure to clean and test your walk-in freezer before organizing it. Make sure that every part of your freezer is working correctly. You should schedule routine maintenance and follow a daily cleaning and care plan.
2) Give your walk-in freezer quality storage containers. Quality storage containers are one of the most appreciated gifts. Having the correct sizes and types of stacking well on your freezer shelves would be best. Many professional kitchens still use old containers for food storage. They may not be compliant with current food safety regulations. Make sure you are buying food storage containers that can be used for commercial freezers.
3) Label all: Restaurant kitchens should strive to reduce food waste. The easiest way to do that (besides using the ingredients in a timely fashion) is to label everything. Label every food container - its contents, date of purchase, and whether it was cooked or opened. Keep permanent markers and painter's tape near your walk-in freezer for quick labeling.
4) Keep meats separate from produce. Roots, whether cooked or raw, should be kept away from vegetables and other food ingredients in the freezer. Avoid cross-contamination by placing meat products on the bottom shelf. You might need to throw out any food that comes in contact with meat and juices.
5) Organize by use-by date: Before new food items arrive, take some time to organize what's in your freezer. You can avoid food loss by putting use-by dates on both old and new products. Also, you can move items around to keep foods with shorter shelf life at the front and longer ones at the back.