The Top 5 Reasons for Commercial Kitchen Equipment Failure

Whether you’re new to the restaurant game or an old hand, chances are that you’ve seen more equipment fail than you really want to think about.

While you can’t make your commercial appliances last forever, you’ll find out quickly that there’s a lot you can do to ensure the productivity of your kitchen. Waiting on blind chance just isn’t a valid way to approach your equipment.

We can’t account for all failures, but the following are the top five reasons why things go awry in the commercial kitchen.

#1: Lack of Regular Maintenance

Not hiring someone to perform the necessary preventative maintenance on your machines is the biggest mistake most people make. A lot of times, especially with skilled technicians, it seems like they just drop in every few weeks and look around while you’re paying money.

Nothing could be further from the truth, having a skilled technician come through your kitchen to perform prevention can save you time, money, and productivity.

A service contract is probably the best move someone with a commercial kitchen could make.

#2: Employee Negligence

Employee’s not doing their part is another common cause of failure. Kitchens are a messy place, and cleanliness can greatly prolong the life of hoods, stovetops, and pretty much anything else which comes through.

Some errors in cleaning processes can also mean a health code violation, to further the headaches which can be produced by those working for you.

Stick with your managing style, of course, but you can also bring a lot to the table by making sure that best practices are followed between shifts and at opening and closing.

#3: Failure to Replace Worn or Failing Parts

Things wear down over time, so when a technician recommends you should get something replaced… it’s usually in your best interest to do so as quickly as possible.

After all, it’s better to pick a time for the piece of equipment to be down than to wait for it to fail in the middle of a rush.

Belts, burners, and a lot of other relatively minor components can cause a major failure in a machine. Some of them can even cause a catastrophic failure when they cease to work, which will lead to an expensive and lengthy repair for the appliance in question.

A big part of preventative maintenance is staying on top of the relatively minor parts which make up each piece of your equipment. Keep it up, along with regular inspection, and the chances of a major failure at the worst time go way down.

#4: Incorrect Ventilation and Airflow

You can think of the air systems within your kitchen as the arteries. Too much grease and they’ll get clogged, and they definitely need to keep things moving in the right direction.

Improper ventilation can occur when you don’t have hoods which function properly, or when you’ve let things go too long without a professional cleaning. Commercial kitchens produce a frankly impressive amount of grease, and when it’s heated on the griddle or stove it has to go somewhere.

Imbalanced airflow is a common culprit. Usually, you’ll have both a hood and a swamp cooler or other air input appliance running. If your doors are slamming or the kitchen is getting too hot, then something is definitely wrong.

This not only makes things uncomfortable, it can also lead to reductions in the quality of food being cooked and premature equipment failures as things overheat.

#5: Outdated Equipment

Even if it’s still chugging along, super old equipment has a ton of flaws which can keep you from running at your best.

The top problem is undoubtedly inefficiency. This leads to higher utility bills and the difference adds up quickly over time.

Other problems can include being unable to find parts, sudden failures, and things being… well, out of date. Commercial kitchen technology has a lot of R&D dumped into it annually, so it’s usually a good idea to keep things up.

A decade or so is the usual estimated lifespan for your kitchen equipment. If it’s older than that you may want to have a technician look at it to ensure there isn’t a vast improvement available. And yes, we sell new commercial kitchen equipment also through our sister company, The Restaurant Shop.

The Takeaway

Maintenance can make all the difference in your bottom line. You’ll notice that almost all of the top reasons for failure in commercial kitchen systems are based on problems being ignored.

As long as your employees keep everything maintained and you have regular maintenance performed you’re going to be able to enjoy a long and fruitful relationship with your technicians with a minimum of day-time, mid-shift failures that can amount to a big loss for your store.

Think about the horrendous results of just one piece of your kitchen line going down during a rush and it’ll quickly become apparent why we’re the right choice for you.

Set up a service contract with us and rest assured, rather than having to merely hope that things don’t go down at the worst possible moment.