Duct Work Cleaning – Commercial Kitchen Cleaning in Peak Summer

Don't Neglect Kitchen and Duct Work Cleaning During Peak Summer Season

Duct work cleaning and hygiene in commercial kitchens is important for customer safety – and the reputation of your business – all year round. But for many food businesses, summer is the busiest time of the year, as well as being the hottest, making maintaining hygiene levels a bigger challenge than normal. 

Many restaurants and food outlets experience a summer surge in business for a number of reasons, and summer 2014 is no exception:

•  Restaurants, cafes and takeaways located in popular tourist locations will usually have a summer season and some will even close over the winter.
• As well as serving the local population, there is usually an influx of tourists to many UK cities and attractions.
• The school holidays – combined with an increase in families taking holidays at home in the UK – means that there are more people out and about during the day, looking for places to eat.
• The World Cup and Commonwealth Games, both taking place this summer, mean more people opting for takeaways or combining watching football on a big screen with a pub meal.
• The economic upturn is encouraging people to eat out more often, even if it's only a high street takeaway.
• Finally, this summer is already delivering far better weather than last year, and many people are keen to make the most of it, encouraging them to take advantage of longer summer evenings to socialise with friends and eat out more often.

But while food businesses relish the prospect of a summer boom, maintaining hygiene at this time of year is more challenging for a number of reasons:

• Higher use of kitchens means waste, dirt and grease build up more quickly – perhaps faster than daily cleaning can cope with.
• Kitchen staff are under extra pressure to deliver more meals to more customers, leaving them less time than usual to carry out vital daily cleaning.
• Summer is a time when staff are more likely to take their holidays, and when it is most likely that the business takes on temporary staff – which means that cleaning standards can easily slip.
• Higher ambient temperatures means food can go off more quickly and any bacteria present on surfaces can multiply to dangerous levels in a very short time.
• Higher temperatures also means that food smells are stronger and can attract unwanted pests from much further afield.
• Higher temperatures, even at night, within duct work means that any bacteria or mould present will breed faster; and, contaminated air is more likely to get back into the main kitchen (especially when the ventilation is turned off overnight), causing invisible but potentially serious hygiene problems.
• Insects and bugs of all kinds are in peak breeding season and looking for easy food sources for their eggs and larvae. This means there is an increased chance of infestations which simply adds to the hygiene problem as well as attracting unwanted attention from customers and hygiene inspectors.

Our advice:

These extra summer hygiene challenges can be easily minimised and managed with a strong daily cleaning regime, combined with extra help from a professional cleaning company. We recommend:

• Carrying out thorough duct work and kitchen extract cleaning at the start and end of the summer season. This is especially important for restaurants and takeaways with a high output of fried goods.
• Minimising the build up of hygiene problems in the rest of the kitchen with regular commercial kitchen cleaning – at least pre-season and end of season. This should include areas inaccessible to daily cleaning such as behind and under cooking and preparation units – even small amounts of food left in these spaces can attract insects, mice and so on.
• Minimising the impact on your business by choosing contractors willing to carry out cleaning at times to suit your opening hours. Ingot Services can arrange to clean overnight or at other times to minimise disruption to your business. If in doubt about the state of your duct work or other inaccessible places within the kitchen, get an inspection from a professional kitchen and ductwork cleaning contractor.

Call Ingot Services to arrange a visit on 0800 731 7892.

Commercial Kitchen Cleaners – Restaurants Fined for Poor Hygiene

Restaurants Fined Thousands for Poor Hygiene – Commercial Kitchen Cleaners Would Have Been Cheaper

Arranging regular, scheduled cleaning by commercial kitchen cleaners can be a sound investment in your food business, in more ways than one – as some restaurants have recently discovered to their cost.

Courts are taking hygiene in restaurants seriously and are not afraid to impose significant fines on offenders. Here are just a few examples from the first half of 2014:

• A French "fine-dining" restaurant in Hove was fined a whopping £10,000 in May this year after inspectors found a number of serious hygiene problems, including a fruit fly infestation, a dangerous build up of grease in duct work, and food waste left on floors.

• In April, an Indian restaurant in Gillingham was fined £800, plus £2000 in costs, after cockroaches were discovered in a kitchen described as "filthy".

• Meanwhile, a Brighton restaurant was fined nearly £9000 in January, after inspectors found extensive evidence of mouse droppings within the kitchen. In addition the restaurant was forced to close down while the premises were cleaned and treated.

In the case of the Hove restaurant, inspectors gave the restaurant notice of the problems which needed to be addressed and only proceeded to prosecute when it was clear on a further inspection, a few weeks later, that many of the hygiene issues had still not been dealt with. A single call to commercial cleaning contractor could have resolved the entire issue for them in a weekend – and saved them several thousand pounds.

The Real Cost of Prosecution

The fines that are possible following a successful prosecution for poor hygiene can be high enough to make a severe impact on the cashflow of a business. Not many small businesses can easily find £10,000, for instance, and in some cases this type of fine could even threaten the viability of your business.

But financial cost aside, a more serious – and long-lasting – problem is probably the negative publicity surrounding a hygiene prosecution. All such cases are a matter of public record and a court case inevitably means press attention.

Local papers are always on the lookout for items relating to the local area and won't hesitate to publish the details of the case and a picture of the premises in question. And it's not hard to predict the likely effect on customers of this type of publicity.

Even if the hygiene problem itself is sorted out quickly and thoroughly, a bad reputation can take years to recover from. In many cases the only solution may be to sell up or to completely rename and relaunch the business – with obvious costs involved.

Commercial Kitchen Cleaners – Business Insurance for Restaurants

Using professional kitchen cleaners on a regular basis effectively acts as a form of business insurance for restaurants, takeaways and other food outlets:

Regular, scheduled, professional cleans can help to prevent prosecutions, fines and negative publicity by preventing hygiene problems building up to serious levels. Kitchen deep cleaning also makes it far easier for kitchen staff to maintain good daily hygiene practices afterwards.

Even when staff are vigilant about cleaning in the areas they can reasonably access (worktops, floors etc), they can't get everywhere. It is often the invisible places (under and behind appliances) where dirt can build up to a point that it can attract pests, leading to infestations.

In addition, being able to demonstrate that your premises are cleaned regularly by professionals (in addition to a good daily cleaning regime, of course) is invaluable in the event of a hygiene inspection.

Protect your business and make a professional kitchen cleaning service part of your hygiene solution by calling Ingot Services today or visiting our site at www.ingotservices.co.uk.

Duct Cleaning: Advice from Commercial Kitchen Cleaners Ingot

Duct Cleaning: A guide to fire safety in restaurants and catering premises from commercial kitchen cleaners Ingot Services 

Taking Steps to Ensure Fire Safety in Commercial Kitchens

Fires are a risk which people operating commercial kitchens must constantly guard against. There are various regulations which need to be borne in mind, covering everything from alarms to duct cleaning.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it's a legal requirement for business owners, including those running catering establishments, to carry out a fire safety risk assessment. This involves identifying any potential hazards and planning escape routes in the event of a fire. These routes must then be kept clear of obstructions, and fire doors must not be wedged open. Fuel and combustible items must be safely stored, well away from any potential sources of heat.

Staff also need to be trained in how to react if fire does break out. If five or more people work in the premises or the restaurant is licensed, then records have to be kept of the fire risk assessment, which is also good practice in any case.

Fire Alarms: Having working fire alarms is a legal obligation and restaurant owners have been fined for failing to do this. There have been cases of people in restaurant kitchens turning off alarms to avoid them being set off during cooking, but this is a dangerous practice, as well as being illegal. It is possible to install specialist alarm systems which won't be set off by ordinary cooking, and to site them in a way which will also avoid this. 

Fire Extinguishers: It is essential that all restaurants have fire extinguishers installed, which must be suitable for the size of premises and the type of cooking carried out. You will need at least one wet chemical extinguisher and a fire blanket. Increasingly, restaurants are choosing to install specialist fire suppression systems, which can both detect a fire in a commercial kitchen and immediately act to extinguish it. These systems are especially advisable if you use deep fat fryers. 

Safe Use of Equipment: All equipment in commercial kitchens needs to be installed in line with manufacturers' instructions, but that is just the start. The equipment must also be well-maintained. Gas Safe registered engineers are needed to service gas cookers, while an automatic shut-off at high temperatures is a valuable precaution for fryers. Keeping cooking equipment clean and avoiding grease and fat build-up is also essential, not only from a hygiene point of view, but to avoid fire risks. This is one of the many reasons why industrial oven cleaning and regularly-scheduled deep kitchen cleaning are both musts.

Kitchen Extract Systems: Extract duct systems in restaurant kitchens must be properly installed, with the correct clearance from ceilings. Kitchen ductwork also needs to be kept clean and free of dirt and grease build-up, which poses both health and fire hazards. As experts in duct cleaning, Ingot can advise you on the best cleaning schedule for your kitchen extracts. We issue certificates and keep full records for your peace of mind so you can prove that your extraction system is being kept properly clean. 

Ingot's industrial and commercial cleaning service is available to businesses across the UK, including those in Ipswich, Suffolk, Norwich, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and London. Get in touch now to find out more about our duct cleaning service.

Commercial Kitchen Cleaners: Keeping Restaurant Equipment Clean with Ingot

Commercial Kitchen Cleaners: Ingot's guide to choosing top items of equipment for a restaurant and arranging deep kitchen cleaning

5 Top Items of Equipment for a Restaurant Kitchen

Whether you are opening up a new catering establishment or updating an existing kitchen, it is important to make sure you have equipment which will do the job. Commercial kitchen cleaners Ingot have drawn up a list of some of the items which will help to keep you ahead of the field.

1. Industrial Ovens. The type of oven you choose will depend on the types of food you want to prepare – and also on the space you have available. Convection ovens not only cook more quickly than conventional ones, but also spread the heat more evenly, so you save time and get better results too. Induction hobs are similarly effective. Combination ovens are highly versatile pieces of equipment for a restaurant kitchen, while specialist pizza ovens can be used not just for pizzas, but also for other large dishes.
2. Deep Fat Fryers. While fried food admittedly isn't the healthiest option on the menu, it is still popular, and most restaurant kitchens will need commercial fryers. These items can be difficult to keep clean, so you need to choose a quality model which can easily be dismantled when necessary for kitchen deep cleaning.
3.  Commercial Dishwashers. Some smaller restaurants have a designated team of staff who wash up all the dishes by hand, but this is very time-consuming. Specialist commercial machines can wash at much higher temperatures and get through large volumes of crockery. It's possible to buy smaller commercial dishwashers if space is at a premium. Choose an energy-efficient machine which is also high on performance as dirty dishes and cutlery can damage the reputation of your restaurant.
4. Fridges, Freezers and Ice-Making Machines. In a commercial kitchen, refrigerators and freezers are needed which can maintain a steady temperature. This will guard against any danger of food becoming too warm when the machines have to be opened and closed regularly. A supply of ice is another kitchen essential, especially in summer, with many uses ranging from food storage and preparation to popping cubes in a drink. Various different types are available to choose from, including cube and flake ice machines.
5. Stainless Steel Sinks. These will be in constant use, with sinks needed not just for washing dishes but also for hand-washing and food preparation. It is essential that you plan your kitchen with enough sinks, conveniently placed, at the right distance from food prep areas, and that they can easily be kept clean. 

Installing all these essential items, and others in your kitchen, is just the start. To perform properly and to give a lasting service, they need to be kept in good condition. This means drawing up a regular cleaning and maintenance schedule, as well as calling in a kitchen deep cleaning company at regular intervals.

As commercial kitchen cleaners with many years of experience, Ingot can advise you on the best kitchen deep cleaning schedule for your premises. We offer a full range of kitchen equipment cleaning services including industrial oven cleaning, arranged at a time to suit you, and we provide full certification. Our service covers all of the UK, including Bristol, Newcastle, Cambridgeshire, Essex and London.

Commercial Kitchen Cleaners – Contact Ingot Services now to find out about our specialist equipment cleaning service

Deep Kitchen Cleaning – Maintaining a Healthy Commercial Environment

Keep Mice at Bay: How to Avoid Kitchen Nightmares with Deep Cleaning

If you are running a cafe, hotel or bar, the last thing you want is to find mice running about in the kitchen. One Brighton restaurant was landed a £10,000 bill after failing to tackle a mouse infestation. Yet the problem could easily have been avoided by imposing adequate hygiene measures including deep kitchen cleaning.

The restaurant was prosecuted twice by Brighton and Hove City Council and admitted five food hygiene offences. This incident underlines how important it is to maintain a clean kitchen environment in any catering establishment. Neglecting this basic duty of care can put staff and customers at risk, and damage your business reputation.  

Dealing with an Infestation

After someone reported a mouse problem at the restaurant in question, the Brighton and Hove Council food safety team paid a visit. Their discoveries included mouse droppings on shelves and floors and even on food. There was also poorly-wrapped food lying around, which attracted the mice, and unclean surfaces, with a build-up of grease on walls.

This type of incident is a particular worry because mice can spread illnesses, such as food poisoning. They taint not only the foods they actually nibble, but also other foodstuffs in the vicinity – as well as damaging equipment and cables. 

All this makes it vital to tackle an infestation quickly. At the first sign of mice, any restaurant should contact a pest control organisation. Expert pest controllers can quickly get rid of the rodents and also take preventative action to keep them out of the building.

Deep Kitchen Cleaning

Tackling the vermin themselves is only part of the answer to this type of incident, which also underlines the importance of basic kitchen hygiene. Aside from adequate pest control measures, to ensure complete cleanliness the only way to go forward after an infestation is to undertake deep kitchen cleaning. 

Deep cleaning gets to all the places you can't reach during daily kitchen cleaning, including hidden parts of cooking equipment and areas under and behind machinery. As a specialist kitchen deep cleaning company, Ingot can undertake a comprehensive service to ensure all these potential trouble spots are thoroughly cleaned. 

Working from the ceiling right down to the floor, we clean all preparation surfaces and strip down all equipment, reassembling it after the work. Deep cleans can be carried out as a one-off, for instance, at the end or start of a season or after a change of ownership. However, our advice would be to schedule regular deep cleaning, which underpins the daily cleaning by staff. Every catering business should have a deep clean at least annually, but Ingot can advise you on the optimum frequency for your business.

Deep kitchen cleaning reduces the risk of infestation by mice and other pests, but that is just one of its advantages. It will also lead to better hygiene all round, helping to protect customers and staff alike. Yet another plus is that it will demonstrate your commitment to cleanliness, potentially helping you to achieve a higher “score on the door” from environmental health officers. After every deep clean, Ingot provides a certificate to show  you have reached the highest standards of hygiene. 

Our service is available throughout the UK, in areas including Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, London, Manchester and Liverpool. 

Ingot Services  – Click here to find out more about our deep kitchen cleaning.

Air Duct Cleaning – Air Conditioning Duct Cleaning – All about Sick Building Syndrome

What is Sick Building Syndrome and What Causes it?

One of the many reasons for regular air duct cleaning in the workplace is that it helps to keep your staff and customers healthy. In particular, taking this precaution is a way to combat sick building syndrome.

This is a genuine condition, recognised by doctors, where people can become ill if they spend a lot of time in a building, usually a place of work. The syndrome usually occurs in buildings with many people working in close proximity and little access to outside air, because of windows being kept closed. It can occur everywhere from office blocks to hospitals. 

Recent studies estimate absenteeism and loss of production cost UK industry around £500 million a year. Public concern over this has risen during the last decade, and there has been increasing education over how to avoid workplace illness. Managers are responsible for healthy indoor air and other factors affecting the health of their employees at work, as stated in Health and Safety at work regulations and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations.

Symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome

The most common symptom among people suffering from sick building syndrome is fatigue, which can make it hard to concentrate. Other symptoms include eye problems and nose and throat irritation. Sufferers might also suffer from aches and pains, nausea, dizziness and headaches, as well as dry skin.  

These symptoms could also be caused by other factors, such as viruses. However, if a number of colleagues notice the same problems, then sick building syndrome might be the cause. Official NHS advice is to raise the issue with a health and safety representative, and the employer then has a duty to look into the problem.

The Causes of Sick Building Syndrome

There are believed to be various causes of sick building syndrome, but among them is inadequate ventilation, with not enough outside air coming in. Dirty air conditioning units, contaminated duct work and filters which need replacing are also implicated. The Health and Safety Executive advises employers to carry out a survey of staff and examine the cleanliness of the whole building, including heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. 

If you discover that there is a build-up of grease and dirt in air conditioning systems, or that filters need replacing, contact an air duct cleaning specialist and arrange for your system to be cleaned. Also check the schedule you have for ventilation duct cleaning is suitable, as you might need to up its frequency. 

How to Prevent Sick Building Syndrome

Sick building syndrome obviously affects individuals in the workplace, but it also affects businesses, with staff taking days off sick and resulting loss of production. It could even lead to people leaving their jobs because of the bad conditions, and make it harder to recruit replacements.

For all these reasons, businesses must work to prevent sick building syndrome, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to schedule regular air duct cleaning. Ingot can help to draw up a schedule that is right for your organisation. Effective ductwork cleaning will help both the workforce and the employer, improving health and helping productivity. Our nationwide service is available in areas including Ipswich and Suffolk, Norwich and Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bristol and London.  

Ingot Services  – Follow the link for more information or call 0800 731 7892.

Deep Kitchen Cleaning: Maintaining Top Levels of Hygiene in Restaurants

5 Reasons Deep Kitchen Cleaning Should Not Be Just "One Off Cleans"

Many restaurant owners only decide on deep kitchen cleaning as a one-off measure – perhaps when they are taking over new premises, or at the start or end of a season. However, this type of cleaning should be built into your schedule, to guard against problems before they occur. Here is a look at five reasons why deep cleaning is essential. 

1. Daily cleaning can't reach everywhere

Even if staff are following cleaning rotas diligently, the fact is that there will be places that they just can't reach – for instance, under or behind machines and counters. This means there WILL be build-up of dirt and grease in some corners or gaps. However careful you are in cleaning all visible areas, this build-up in the areas you can't see will eventually compromise your kitchen hygiene – so it needs to be addressed regularly. 

It is also vital to remember that grease will be building up unseen in your kitchen extracts, so a proper schedule for ductwork cleaning is another part of maintaining top levels of hygiene and safety. 

2. Proactive, not reactive

Deep cleaning is sometimes seen as an "emergency" measure – reacting to a perceived or actual problem. But this isn't the right approach to safeguard both diners and the restaurant's reputation. Instead, restaurateurs need to take preventative measures, and ensure that cleanliness is maintained at a high level as a matter of course.

3. A cornerstone of good food hygiene ratings

Having an excellent food hygiene rating is being seen more and more as a competitive advantage by food businesses. Many establishments with 5 stars display their “score on the door” prominently and there is no doubt that meeting this standard helps to attract customers. Regular, scheduled deep kitchen cleaning is a cornerstone of these ratings and helps to ensure that kitchens meet the gold standard.

4. Instil pride and professionalism

Regular kitchen deep cleaning sends a powerful message to all staff that your establishment works to the highest standards. Bringing in a professional kitchen deep cleaning company to carry out this task will set the tone and tell your own staff what you expect from them. This is likely not only to boost standards of hygiene generally, but also increase a sense of professionalism. Staff who are proud of the place where they work will be more motivated – and this will translate into general customer service and attitude.

5. It doesn't have to be disruptive

Many establishments put off deep kitchen cleaning because they can't work out how to fit it in around a busy restaurant schedule. But, as professional commercial kitchen cleaners, Ingot make it easy by arranging to clean at times which will suit you. If you have any concerns about scheduling, contact us and we will arrange a visit to look at what is involved and discuss your needs with you. We will also provide you with a certificate once the deep cleaning has been done, giving proof that your kitchen has achieved the highest standards of hygiene.

As commercial cleaning contractors serving businesses across the UK, Ingot can arrange a schedule of kitchen deep cleaning which is suited to the needs of your restaurant. We can also arrange one-off deep cleans where required. The areas we serve include Ipswich and Suffolk, Norwich and Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, London and further afield.

Deep Kitchen Cleaning – Click the link for more information or call Ingot on 0800 731 7892.