When a grease trap is not working properly, it can be difficult to know what cleaning it will require. This is a critical part of keeping your restaurant greasy-triggered!
A grease trap is an assembly of metal and plastic that collects fats and oils from foods that are processed and/or cooked. When these fats and oils are contained, they drip into the trap which forces out its contents.
Many restaurants use a combination of electric and mechanical traps, which can make things even more challenging to troubleshoot. Many electricians recommend having a grease trap clean every other week, or every week if the trap is three months old.
This article will discuss when the average restaurant should have a new grease trap cleaned.
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Once a month
Most restaurants suggest that grease trap cleaning be done once a month. This is due to the fact that grease traps can get clogged when it gets too busy and people are required to clean them.
However, this is not a required frequency of operation. Most restaurants allow customers to use the same grease trap for months at a time, so long as it is cleaned.
Since one of the main purposes of a restaurant grease trap is to store oil and fat from food preparation, keeping the trap clean will help prevent any buildup of oil and fat. Ideally, you would let this hang out for at least a week, but in reality this can take longer due to people rushing after rush of food orders.
Once a year is what restaurants recommend due to their oilyness. Grease traps need to be replaced because they get old and/or damaged over time. Keeping them checked annually will help with this.
Once a year
Most restaurant owners recommend cleaning the grease trap once a year. This means that food and drink items that are greasiest or heaviest during the week are wasted, and the grease trap is cleaned.
This yearly cleaning helps prevent buildup of oil and grease, ensuring it does not spread and create a fire or danger to others in the kitchen. It also helps maintain your trap, which is an ongoing cost of operation.
How often you should clean your grease trap will depend on how often you use it. Some people use their fryers, broilers, toasters, and toast reheaters daily, while others use them only when necessary.
We recommend cleaning your fryer, broiler, toaster, and toast reheaters at least once a year to ensure good operation of these appliances. You can also schedule a service tech visit every year to check for leaks or signs of wear and tear.
It depends on the traffic of the restaurant
If the restaurant is very busy, its grease trap must be cleaned more often. Because more people are taking longer to clean it, this reflects in lower prices for customers.
Many restaurants that have a quick service location offer features such as a take-and-bake sheet pie menu, so that people can easily get their food quickly. This takes away from the restaurant operator’s time to clean the grease trap.
A general rule of thumb is once a week for a restaurant grease trap. This can be done by having one person responsibility for the trap, one person responsible for cleaning it, and another person responsible for putting it in place.
This way, each person spends some time to their own work schedule and quality of work respectively.
How to clean a grease trap
As mentioned above, greasing a trap can be beneficial when your kitchen is overly warm from an oven or cooktop temperature. This is because the grease and oil will be separated and removed by the hot cooking process.
However, if you notice your trap is not removing as much oil as it should, then it may be necessary to clean it. This may be due to the oil dropping down into the lower part of the trap where it does not escape, or because it has solidified and cannot release down the tube.
To prevent this situation from happening, you must remove any obstructions in your grease trap. One of these obstructions could be debris such as pots and pans that have been stored in it. Another could be empty bottles or containers that have been sitting in it.
To remove these, you must physically remove them from yourtrap-you will need a chisel or spoon to do so.
Use water and salt
Although alcohol-based cleaners can sometimes break grease traps, they can damage plumbing and electrical systems as well. Due to their high concentration of water, these products can cause flooding and/or drying out of plastic and metal fixtures.
This can be problematic as the grease trap needs liquid to stay active to keep pulling matter into it. If the trap cannot pull matter due to the drying out, then it will not remove liquid effectively.
To prevent this from happening, your restaurant owner should use water and salt regularly when cleaning a grease trap. Use a slightly larger container than what the trap requires to hold all the matter that may have fallen into it.
This way, there is more room for new matter to come in and clean the trap. You do not need very strong chemicals or equipment to accomplish this so do not worry about that.
Use water and baking soda
Instead of using soap and water, you can use vinegar and sugar to clean your grease trap. Both ingredients will remove grease and dirt from your trap.
Just make sure that you do not use too much vinegar or the trap will become saturated with oil. Too much liquid will result in more sweeping than necessary!
Similarly, only using sugar and vinegar to clean your trap will prevent it from becoming clogged with oil. This is important when oil is a prominent ingredient of the restaurant’s cuisine.
If something looks like it might be stuck, put some of your surplus liquid onto a paper towel and let it sit for a little while before attempting to remove it. You want to avoid pulling out oil or dirt that might cause serious damage to you or thetrap!
These tips are sure to help keep your trap in great shape and prevent clogging.
Use hot water
Many people believe that hot water and a dishwasher will ruin grease Traps, but this is not the case. The theory behind this is that when grease gets hot water would be forced to stick to it, it will be grit that will be removed.
This will help prevent you from having to run the machine several times per hour to clean it. Instead, you can use warm water and a dishwasher detergent, which should work on most brands of Trap.
If your Trap requires butter or fat for its function, then those must be kept away from the machine as well. Use an appropriately sized container for each brand of Trap to prevent problems with contamination and theft.
Lastly, do not attempt to clean your trap using a brush or dustpan as these may cause further clogs or break parts of it.
Grease traps should be cleaned when it starts to overflow
It is important for restaurants to keep grease traps clear of food and drink when they are being cleaned. This happens when the trap is full or it has been open for a while without being cleaned.
When this happens, bacteria from kitchen waste can sneak into the trap and overstump it, keeping it closed and allowing grease to stay in. This causes wasted money to purchase grease and wasted food and drink that could have been saved.
To prevent this, always run a grease trap cleaner out before opening a new system. You can also hire a professional who can do this for you, though you may have to pay more initially.