A commercial garbage disposal is an important kitchen appliance that is designed to shred food leftovers into small pieces. These machines are used throughout the day with no rest and can experience wear and tear. If commercial garbage disposal in a restaurant or hospital stops working for some reason, it could be an extremely frustrating situation as it could impede the functioning of the entire system and things won’t get better until you call in commercial appliances repair services and they fix the garbage disposal.

This is why you need to make sure the commercial garbage disposal is properly maintained. Not only that, you need to employ proper techniques as well. To ensure your commercial garbage disposal lasts longer, here is what you need to know.

Use Cold Water

You might have observed people using hot water while cleaning and rinsing the dishes. For them, hot water might help clean oil, grease, and other leftover particles. But, the fact of the matter is that it does not work every time and is a thing of the past.

Today, experts suggest using cold water for a variety of reasons. To begin with, you need to keep the cold water running while the disposal is processing the food to ensure everything goes smoothly down the drain. Plus, you should also keep cold water running for at least 15 once the processing is done to ensure nothing is left in the system.

Keep in mind that the running of cold water depends on the amount of food being processed by the garbage disposal. If you own a small restaurant, you will not need to keep cold water running for 15 minutes. Instead, you can make it run for 5 minutes maximum.

Running cold water for longer periods is going to only waste it. However, if you have a larger commercial kitchen, you can keep the water running for as long as the processed food does not completely vanish.

Dispose Of The Right Food

This might be your first time hearing about disposing of the right type of food. You might have thought every food is the same when it comes to throwing them in the garbage disposal but you are wrong. Garbage disposals may be very effective in dealing with huge amounts of food leftovers but there can be problems.

You have to keep in mind that garbage disposals are not made to handle excessively large pieces of bones and other food types. Things like fat, grease, oil, and other types are thrown in the disposal expecting them to break down as soon as the unit turns on.

The fact of the matter is that these items can cause serious clogs in the garbage disposal and you will have to call in an expert to fix the issue. Plus, these clogs can also put stress on the machine which can damage the motor. Moreover, fats, oil, and grease can also get stuck in the drain causing issues.

Clean & Maintain The Garbage Disposal

Cleaning and maintaining the commercial garbage disposal is one of the most crucial things you need to keep in mind if you want it to run smoothly for years. Just like other commercial kitchen appliances, commercial garbage disposals need thorough inspections and maintenance as well.

But these tasks should only be performed by an expert. While you could train your employees to ensure using the right techniques, sooner or later you will need an expert’s hand. The reason is that commercial garbage disposals go through a lot of complications while running for hours.

If a component were to malfunction, the expert would be quick to identify the root cause of the problem and fix it to get the unit running back to normal. But if you are not willing to spend on professional maintenance, do not be surprised if it breaks down sooner than later.

Regular maintenance is important for every appliance in your commercial kitchen. For example, ovens are used a lot and if they are not maintained, they will break down or won’t cook the food properly. So, hire commercial gas oven repair Fairfax services to maintain the oven so that you don’t have to deal with unhappy customers.

Use Citric Foods As Fresheners

Because garbage disposals deal with numerous types of food leftovers, they could become smelly. The last thing you would want is something rotting inside the disposal and the entire kitchen smelling making it difficult for the employees to work.

This is why you need to use citrus as a freshener to keep the bad smells away. Working in a commercial kitchen can be a demanding process. The least you want is a bad smell that forces everyone out of the kitchen. Plus, removing a bad smell from the garbage disposal can be an issue if something has been rotting for too long.

This is then again, another reason why you need to dispose of the right foods. However, you should use warm water, not hot. You would want the citrus fruits to work through the pipes, cleaning away the bacteria. Using extremely hot water may melt the fat that could cling to the blades and damage them.

Run It Regularly

A common mistake people tend to make with commercial garbage disposals is leaving them sitting dormant for months. This can rust the blades. But, if you were to run water regularly, you can easily prevent buildup.

Repairing and replacing commercial garbage disposal components can be an expensive task. This is why you need to keep a close eye on its condition to ensure everything works perfectly.

Scrape Off The Food

Another important tip you need to keep in mind while using commercial garbage disposals is scraping off the food from the plates before spilling it into the disposal. This is because garbage disposals are not meant to process strong and large bones and other leftover items.

If you continue doing that, these leftover items can easily clog the system and make it difficult for the blades to function. This can easily burn the motor and result in replacement. That said, you should make sure and train your employees to scrape off the food from the dishes.

Such minor factors play a huge role in the longevity and smooth functioning of the disposal. You wouldn’t want the disposal to face any complications just when you are busy dealing with customers.

Don’t Overfill The Disposal

There is no doubt that garbage disposals help dispose of large quantities of food at the same time. But this does not mean that you continue throwing everything inside and overfilling it, putting additional stress on the motor and blades.

Instead, you should give the disposal some time to work on one batch at a time. Unfortunately, overfilling is a common practice in the majority of commercial kitchens. This may help save time but it will damage the garbage disposal.

Therefore, put in small portions or batches of waste material and let the disposal run before placing another inside.

Conclusion

Ensuring your commercial garbage disposal works effortlessly for years to come requires following the tips mentioned above. You need to train your employees to regularly inspect and maintain the disposal. If you notice any problems, you will need to immediately shut down the disposal and consult a commercial garbage disposal repair Alexandria expert. Regular inspection and maintenance go a long way in terms of ensuring everything goes down smoothly.