Everyone who is in the food business knows how important it is to have a grease trap and to clean it regularly. However, not many people know why that is and unfortunately, some people only clean the trap when they really have to.
This piece of equipment makes the difference between a good kitchen and a great one. So, if you are new to the business or if you plan on opening your own restaurant, you need to install one of these devices in your kitchen and maintain it regularly. Most experts advise that if you come into a restaurant and it smells like bleach from the kitchen, then you should leave the place right away. The excessive bleach stench happens when there is some kind of accident in the kitchen and the smell needs to be covered up.
Did you know that the grease trap is one of the main reasons why a kitchen may start smelling? You definitely don’t want to drive your guests away and lose money! Now we are going to talk about the cleaning of this apparatus and why you should do it.
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1. Because you have to
Source: Mahoney Environmental
And we are serious about this. We will talk about the safety and the sanitary part later, but one of the first things you should know is that if you get an inspection and if this device is not properly cleaned, your restaurant may be closed.
The sanitary inspections depend on the country you live in, but pretty much all over the world this is an important part of every food business. So, don’t wait for the inspection to close your business and you lose customers. Chances are if the word gets out that you are not doing proper maintenance, there are many customers that won’t come back no matter how clean the place is or how good the food is. Save yourself a lot of trouble and make sure all the equipment you use is properly cleaned and maintained.
2. It smells. Bad.
Source: The Daily Meal
Have you ever left your dirty dishes in the sink for a few days? Or a pan with oil in it? After a while, it starts to smell really bad, right? Well, imagine that on a much bigger scale. When there is a lot of food left and if you don’t clean the grease trap, after a few days or a week the food will start to decompose and it is going to start smelling.
And the worst thing is, it won’t smell only in there, the smell will start to spread in the kitchen and then in the restaurant itself. You wouldn’t want to eat in a place where it smells like something is dirty and rotten, right?
3. It will damage the trap and the pipes
Source: greasetrapboston.com
When the food starts decomposing in the trap and when you just add new grease and new trap in that, it will build up and it will become worse over time. And chances are, there are going to be bugs and insects.
You probably already know that when something rots and decomposes, it starts releasing gasses. Those gasses create pressure and that pressure can lead up to explosions. There are a number of cases where there was huge damage in a restaurant because the grease trap was not maintained properly.
So, if you don’t want to create additional damage and if you don’t want to risk your safety and the safety of people who work and eat there, you need to take care of this element. And if you don’t know how to clean it, or when, then you can get service such as houstontxgrease.com to clean the grease traps for you.
4. The cleaning will be more difficult
Source: Grease Trap Cleaning
When you finally get to the cleaning part you will realize that most of the grease is hardened, that there is food that’s rotting and that there might be bugs. All of these things will make the whole cleaning process a lot harder.
Let’s talk about that on a smaller scale – think about a pan where you just finished preparing greasy meat. What will happen if you just leave it there? After a while the grease will harden, it will get that white color and when you try to clean it, you will get stuck putting boiling water over it and scrubbing the pan over and over again. And what will happen if you clean it right away? The grease will just wash away with ease, and you will be done in 5 minutes.
It is the same when it comes to grease traps, so if you maintain them regularly, you will save yourself a lot of time and definitely save some money on the cleaning supplies.
5. You will lose money
Source: Grease Guardian
And this covers everything. From people leaving your restaurant to penalties, you may get if your restaurant gets reported up to the fact that you will spend a lot of money to clean the grease trap once you get to it.
Another thing is that if the equipment gets damaged, it will cost a lot to replace it. And if the pipes are damaged as well, then you may even have to close your business to cover everything up. A good quality grease trap should last between 5 and 10 years, depending on the make and model. However, you can shorten or extend that lifespan depending on the way you take care of it.
Don’t waste money on things that can be saved if you are only smart about that. There are more important things you should invest in to make your business better.
It is said that this piece of equipment should be cleaned every one to three months. However, one thing experts advise is that you should check how full it is. If it’s been filled more than 1/4 then it is time to clean it. Don’t wait for the trap to become full until you get to the maintenance part.
The cleaning process will not take a lot of time and it is easy to do. However, if you are not sure if you can do it correctly, then you can hire a service to do it for you. Most of the services do a great job and they are pretty inexpensive.
