Best Kitchen Practices to avoid grease related drainage problems

When I look at water industry news articles, all I can read, presently, are issues relating to restaurant closures, expensive operating costs for restaurants, compliance issues, so called fat bergs or sewer blockages, high street flooding and vermin infestation.

Is this an omen that the end of the world is coming to an end? But no, it seems that the common denominator is waste oils and grease entering the drainage network.

Most of this could be easily avoided or at least minimised with a little care. So what is the secret?

Folks, it is simple and logical and it starts in kitchens both restaurant and domestic.

The source of the problem lies in three areas: plate and pot washing, floor cleaning and equipment cleaning and sanitation.  Almost all food preparation has an amount of fat and grease, whether as an ingredient or as a cooking by-product. Your mission should you wish to accept it is to stop this food material from getting down the drain.

The first step is to employ the FIRST PASS OF DRY CLEANING:
What is meant by this is that food waste should be removed from utensils, dishes and surfaces by dry methods such as scraping, wiping and sweeping before using wet methods such as sweeping the floor before mopping, scraping food waste into bins before pre-rinsing the dishes and using absorbent paper towels to wipe down counters.

Second: Don’t pour grease and waste oils down the drain, recover it and recycle it instead (not in the food chain, please!). Avoid spills by emptying oil containers and bins before they are too full. Preventing spills will not only prevent sewer blockages but also help to maintain a safe work area.

Thirdly, install drain screens in sink drains preventing remaining food waste from going into the drain. The inclusion of an at source grease trap, like the Grease Guardian goes a long way towards minimizing the waste discharge to your drainage system and giving the restaurant a recycle ready collection of waste oils.

Give the neighbourhood rats less to eat and they will move on to happier hunting grounds.

There, simple isn’t it? We are aware of what best practice should be, but we all need to be just a bit more careful on how we work in our kitchens.

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