Kitchen SOP for Operating Industrial Food Steamer

To ensure the maximum safety, hygienic operation & clean operation of equipment while producing consistent results, always pay strict adherence to the guidelines of safety practices.

The Executive Chef and the Sous Chef should be responsible for ensuring that appropriate equipment operating and maintenance methods are followed by the kitchen staff. The hotel training and HRD department should develop and implement proper written Kitchen SOP’s to ensure the same is implemented correctly throughout all the food preparation outlets.

Handling Food Steamer Standard Procedures:

Note: This SOP is for reference or example only, always follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer for your and others’ safety, and also to avoid any injury while operating this equipment. 

Proper water quality can improve the taste of the food prepared in the steamer, reduce liming in the steam generator, and extend equipment life.

A vent must be installed to avoid creating a vacuum or pressure in the cooking chamber.

1) Drain Handle:

• Push the handle in to turn the steamer on.
• Pull the handle out to turn off and drain the steamer.

2) Timer:

• SetSet: Allowing an item to go from a soft or liquid state to a firmer more solid state. to the desired cooking time.
•  The timer range is 0-60 minutes.
•  When the timer reaches 0, the buzzer sounds and steam stops entering the cooking compartment.
•  Turn the timer to the off position to stop the buzzer.

3) Preheating Food Steamer:

• Preheat the cooking compartment when the steamer is first used for the day, or whenever the compartment is cold.
• Set the timer to 5 minutes.
• When the buzzer sounds, turn the timer to the OFF position.
• The steamer is ready to cook.

4) Steaming Food:

• When the compartment is preheated, place pans of food into the cooking compartment and close the door.
• Set the timer to the desired cooking time. At this point, the cooking cycle begins.
• Opening the door interrupts the cooking cycle.
• Close the door to resume cooking.
• The buzzer will sound when the cooking cycle ends.
• Turn the timer to the OFF position to silence the buzzer.
• Open the door and remove the cooked food.

5) Food Steamer Basic Operation Steps:

• Turn the steam off.
• Ensure the pressure gauge is at ‘0’ position.
• Open the steamer door away from you.
• Load steamer and close door.
• Set the desired pressure and time.
• Turn on steam.
• After completed, wait for pressure to go to the ‘0’ position.
• Turn steam off.
• Stand aside and open door away from you.
• Do not stand in front of the door when opening it.
• Remove the contents and clean the machine.
• Once cleaned, close door.
• Do not lock or turn on the machine. 

6) How to Shutdown the Food Steamer?

• Pull the drain handle until it stops.
•  The power light will turn off before the handle stops.
•  Leave the compartment door open to allow the inside to dry.

7) How to Shutdown the Food Steamer for Extended Period?

• To shut down for an extended period please follow the below steps.
•  Pull the drain handle to the OFF/DRAIN position.
•  Turn off the water and the main power supply.
•  Clean the compartment.
•  Disconnect power.

Training Summary questions:

Q1. What is the purpose of this SOP?

Q2. How to effectively use the food steamer in the hotel kitchen? 

Q3. Why it is important to wait for the pressure to go to ‘0’ before opening?

Q4. Explain the steps for steaming.

Q5. How to shut down the steamer when not in use?

SOP Number: Kitchen / F&B Production SOP – 22
Department: Kitchen / Food Production - Handling Industrial Food Steamer
Date Issued: 6-Dec-2018
Time to Train: 20 Minutes