The Issues That Have To Be Considered When Equipping A Commercial Kitchen

Many people have dreams of running their own catering business, which can range from operating a caf or restaurant to providing food and support services for business events that involve hospitality.

In all these scenarios the focus of the business is on the kitchen and when planning the start-up of the new business it makes sense to put as much investment and thought into getting this facility right.

The primary reason for this is the numbers of people who will be affected by the kitchen's activities. Among these are the staff working there and therefore the Health and Safety regulations that are designed to ensure a safe working environment. Then there are the customers, who will hopefully enjoy the products of the kitchen and therefore expect that the food has been prepared, cooked and stored according to Food Safety and Hygiene regulations. Last,but not least, the people living and working in the neighbourhood surrounding the kitchen need to be protected from excessive noise, fumes and waste products, all covered by Environmental Health legislation.

Most important to ensuring all these people are taken care of is the kind of kitchen equipment that will be installed, especially cookers, and the ventilation, the methods being used for keeping the air circulating and clean, which usually involves an extraction system.

The design and maintenance of the extraction system is central to ensuring both staff and fire safety.

A properly working extraction system should ensure that the kitchen is a safe and comfortable environment in which to work. It consists of extraction canopies directly over the cooking appliances that draw up steam and fumes through filters into a ductwork system that discharges into the outside air. A ventilation system can also include ductwork that delivers clean air into the kitchen if it is large enough that this cannot be accomplished adequately using windows.

The Health and Safety Executive guidelines advise that it is particularly important to provide adequate makeup air for gas fired appliances. An inadequate supply of air can lead to incomplete combustion and the accumulation of combustion products such as carbon monoxide.

Paying attention to the level of activity and the type of food being cooked a schedule of cleaning is also important. Any food that is fried, or highly spiced will mean that the steam from the cooking is likely to contain dissolved grease and other particles that will be taken up into the extraction system.

Even the most airtight and efficient extraction and filtering cannot prevent a degree of this extracted mixture from being deposited on the inside of the ductwork, where it can build up unseen to become hazardous not only for harbouring possible germs but also as a seat for fires to start. Therefore as part of the planning before starting up such a business it is a good idea to do a proper risk assessment and investigate the available extraction cleaning services on offer in the area.

Kitchen extraction cleaning is a job best carried out regularly by a professional company that knows the regulations, has trained staff and the right equipment and will do its best to work around the daily schedule of the kitchen.

It is also likely that the business insurers will require evidence of a regular maintenance and cleaning programme from records and a certificate issued by the company in order to provide proper insurance cover at a price the business can afford.


Copyright (c) 2012 Alison Withers