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Anthony Colant
Maintain
03.5.19

Maintaining Your Griddle: Tips and Techniques

Griddles are one of the hardest working pieces of equipment in a commercial kitchen. But are you doing your part to keep your restaurant griddle functioning at its best? While routine cleaning is essential for preventing flavor transfer and promoting food quality, a commitment to long-term maintenance is also imperative when it comes to maximizing both your griddle’s performance and its lifespan. Here’s a closer look at the periodic maintenance tips all restaurant owners and operators should know about to keep their griddles in optimal condition.

Follow our Guide to Griddle Maintenance and Cleaning for a full breakdown of maintenance tasks.

Beyond Daily Cleaning

You’re probably aware that your griddle requires daily cleaning. According to Foodservice Equipment Reports Magazine, performing additional routine maintenance tasks can extend the lifespan of your grill to up to 20 years. However, many restaurants fall short here, according to Joe Pierce, President and Owner of Pierce Parts & Service, who cites failure to perform prompt griddle maintenance as one of the biggest mistakes today’s restaurants are making.

“Just because they clean the surface today does not mean the rest of the grill is clean also. You must inspect the entire grill.”

Best Practices for Griddle Maintenance

In addition to prioritizing daily cleaning and proper routine maintenance, Pierce recommends other griddle maintenance best practices, including avoiding overloading it while cooking and keeping it level — both of which are an investment in the quality of food as well as the condition of your griddle.

“One last thing to keep in mind when it comes to maintaining your griddle? Proper training of operators is also a key factor.” Says Pierce, “Many times, a manager may forget to share the training details with all shifts, assuming that workers will be able to figure out how a new piece of equipment works.” Unfortunately, this can lead to leaks, cracks and other problems. The takeaway? The more informed all of your team members are about cleaning, maintaining and operating your griddle, the better it will perform over the long haul.”

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