Proper hygiene in commercial kitchens calls for ensuring that your grease trap is working correctly at all times. However, if you have many workers accessing the kitchen to serve food, dump leftovers and clean the dishes, preventing grease trap problems can be hard. 

Unfortunately, for your kitchen to operate optimally, you need to prevent grease trap backups and clogs. With this in mind, here are the best practices to follow to maintain a fully functional grease trap in your eatery.

Minimise Food Messes in the Kitchen

The primary reason for grease trap clogs and backups is food messes in the kitchen. Your staff dumps plates with leftovers in the sink. The cleaning staff rely on the garbage disposal unit for all food waste. There's always some food waste on the counter and preparation stations, and it ends up in the sink.

Start by instructing your workers to minimise food messes in the kitchen by taking the following measures:

• Avoid dumping food waste in the sink
• Scrape food and grease into a garbage can before placing plates in the sink
• Reduce the use of the garbage disposal unit; instead, use the trash can or other solid waste removal methods available

Taking these measures reduces the amount of grease that ends up in the grease trap and causes clogs. Also, you'll maintain hygiene in your kitchen by eliminating the nasty odours associated with clogged grease traps.

Don't Rely on DIY Maintenance

Sure, pouring boiling water into your sink breaks down congealed grease and gets things going for a while. However, this won't adequately unclog the grease trap. After weeks of use, the grease trap will start to clog up again. DIY techniques and cleaning products only skim the grease off the top. They don't adequately eliminate the waste trapped in the system.

You need professional help to clean and pump the grease trap properly. Without regular cleaning and pumping, you'll experience problems that can halt kitchen operations. Thus, as you instruct your workers to clean the sink, remember that this does not eliminate the need for professional grease trap cleaning.

Carry Out Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance eliminates grease trap problems, saves you money and improves hygiene and sanitation in your kitchen. You should do the following things:

• Inspect your grease trap regularly and ensure it's working properly
• Clean grease trap at least once a week 
• Schedule routine maintenance with a professional cleaning service at least once a month
• Pump the grease trap every three months to prevent clogs and backups

DIY tasks coupled with professional maintenance will help maintain a clean and functional grease trap all year.

Your commercial kitchen is the heart of your eatery business. Thus, maintaining the grease trap will ensure that food is prepared in a clean and sanitary environment. Observe these best practices and work with a professional service for routine grease trap cleaning and maintenance.