A little while ago, we published an article about preventative maintenance on restaurant equipment. But we wanted to know the technicians’ side of the restaurant equipment. As lucky as we were, one of our master technicians had some time to spare so we took the time to ask him a simple question:

What are some things that restaurants owners don’t do to their restaurant equipment but should?

As soon as we asked him the question, his eyes sparkled as if the question was his calling to answer (which, in a way, is).

1. Clean the equipment. According to our master technicians, letting grease migrate from the source to other parts of the restaurant equipment in question can make your equipment even dirtier. If you don’t clean over time, it’s going to be very hard to do it yourself–then you’ll have to call on professionals that do dedicated kitchen cleaning. Not to mention that dirty kitchen equipment will likely give you bad marks from your health inspector.

2. Provide regular maintenance. Unless you (yourself) have been certified to do appliance or kitchen equipment repair, then our master technician suggest that you follow a regular service interval for your equipment. If you bought your equipment new, then finding owner’s manuals should be a cinch (they usually include service schedules…usually). If you bought it used (say, from us at The Frog), then it might be more of a challenge (although you could still call the manufacturer and find out if you have enough information). He also warns not to  do this yourself, as this can lead to severe hire hazards.

And that’s pretty much the only advice the master technician wanted to give us. It’s no secret that restaurant equipment are meant to last a long time. But that doesn’t mean that it’s mean to last forever. Even your grill that you used for the last two decades need some TLC.