Kitchen SOP for Using and Handling Cooking Equipment
Using cooking equipment in a hotel kitchen requires a strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure food safety and hygiene. The first step is to ensure that all equipment is clean and sanitized before use. This includes ovens, stoves, grills, fryers, and any other cooking equipment. It is also important to ensure that all equipment is in good working condition and properly calibrated.
All Kitchen staff must know the intended use and operating methods of all cooking equipment used in the kitchen such as steamers, steam kettles, tilting skillets, ovens, burner gas, salamanders, microwaves, heavy-duty broilers, deep fryers, gas grills, etc.
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 Cooking Equipment Standard Procedures:
- Always exercise caution to minimize accident potential.
- Make sure all the equipment using electricity is turned on when working and turned off when finished work.
- Follow the cleaning procedures for all equipment after they are used.
Ovens: Always preheat thoroughly but not longer than necessary to avoid excess energy loss and interruptions of cooking.
Microwave Ovens: Do not use any plated metal or aluminum foil during food heating, because a fire could potentially erupt inside the microwave. Read more about Microwave Oven Usage and Safety.
Rice Cooker: Make sure the automatic gas pilots are still working properly.
Gas GrillGrill / Grilling - The cooking of food item over an open heat source on a screen or grid.:
- Use the iron brisk for grassing (removing) the fats from the food during grilling.
- Clean the grill surface after every use, so that they will cook at peak efficiency.
- Keep the heat for the grill at the temperature 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celcius.)
Burner Gas / Open Burner Gas Range with griddle:
- Make sure gas pilots are lit before turning on burners.
- If burners do not light, turn off the gas and allow the gas to ventilate before trying again to light pilots or burners.
- Adjust air intake so that gas flames appear blue with a white tip.
- This results in maximum heat.
- Do not keep flat top ranges on high heat unless items are being cooked over them.
- Damage to tops could result.
Meat Slicer:
- Ensure that the machine is assembled properly before use.
- Always use the end weight to press the food against the blade.
- This is to protect the hand from serious cuts and also to provide more pressure on the food for easier and more accurate slices.
- SetSet: Allowing an item to go from a soft or liquid state to a firmer more solid state. the thickness control knob at 0 (zero) when the machine is not in use or is being cleaned.
- Always unplug the machine before dismantling and cleaning.
- Keep the blade sharp with the sharpening tones provided by the slicer.
Mixer or Blender:
- Watch processing items closely since chopping times are very short.
- An extra second can seriously damage food/materials, making them a complete waste.
- Make sure the machine is properly assembled before use.
- After turning the machine off, allow the blades to come to a full stop before opening the cover.
- Keep the blades sharp since dull blades bruise food.
Training Summary questions:
Q1. What is the purpose of this SOP?
Q2. How to effectively handle Gas Grill?
Q3. Why it is important to set the thickness of the control knob to 0 when the slicer machine is not in use?
Q4. How to effectively use the Mixer or Blender?
Q5. Name a few pieces of cooking equipment used in the hotel kitchen.
SOP Number: Kitchen / F&B Production SOP – 21 Department: Kitchen / Food Production - Handling Cooking Equipments and Items Date Issued: 5-Dec-2018 Time to Train: 20 Minutes
