Know when to Repair and when to Repurchase

If you have just started your own restaurant or have recently decided to start serving prepared food in your bar or other store, you are going to need a large commercial refrigerator in order to handle all of the food that needs to be kept cold. Here are some tips for making sure that you are storing food in your commercial refrigerator as safely and effectively as possible.

1. Avoid Blocking Vents in the Refrigerator

Find out where all of the vents in your refrigerator are. If they are hard to see, be sure that you mark them with a bright piece of tape so that all of your employees are able to see them. Be sure that you never accidentally stack anything over these vents or put food in any way that could cover the vents. This will make the refrigerator work too hard to get the cold air to your food and to maintain the proper temperature. This has the potential to raise the overall temperature of your refrigerator to an unsustainable level that could not be safe for your food.

2. Don't Overload Your Refrigerator

When you purchase your commercial refrigerator, immediately call the manufacturer and ask what the weight limits of your refrigerator are. This will give you an approximate estimate of how much food you should be putting in your refrigerator at any one time. You want to make sure that you keep the amount of food in your refrigerator well below this limit. If you do not and your refrigerator is bursting at the seams with food, you risk accidentally creating areas of your refrigerator that are not as cold as other areas because other items in the refrigerator might be absorbing too much of the cool air before it can reach these areas. By keeping your food reasonably spaced out and under the weight guidelines of the refrigerator, you will be able to avoid creating these hot spots.

3. Store Meat On the Lowest Shelf

Finally, be sure that you store meat on the lowest shelf in case it drips. This will allow you to prevent all of your other foods from being potentially contaminated by the meat drippings. Even plastic containers can fail, and this is an easy safeguard to take.

If you have any questions, contact a company that specializes in commercial refrigeration, such as Pro-Tech Equipment Service, for more information.