Kitchen Organisation in Restaurants

It’s essential to keep it organised, clean and efficient to ensure smooth operations. If you are unorganised, this can lead to poor quality food, food wastage, unhappy customers and even injured workers. Read on for 5 effective tips to organise your restaurant kitchen.

1. Plan a layout for your restaurant kitchen

The layout of a restaurant kitchen is a crucial factor that affects its efficiency.

A well-designed layout can help chefs and kitchen staff work more efficiently and minimise the risk of accidents.

When planning the layout of the kitchen, it’s important to consider factors such as size of the kitchen, the number of employees, the type of cuisine you’re serving and safety regulations such as fire safety, flooring, lighting, exhaust placement, and ventilation.

Here are some common commercial kitchen layout types:

• Assembly line layout: As the name suggests, this layout is a linear kitchen design where the food prep starts from one end, and the completed dish ends at the other. This layout allows for easy flow of food and minimises the risk of accidents. It's best used for fast-food or other quick-service meals.
  
• Island layout: This layout features a central island in the middle where it's the central preparation or cooking station with other stations such as the dishwashing station in the kitchen organised around it. It's ideal for restaurants with ample kitchen space or those that serve more complex dishes requiring a lot of preparation, such as fine dining establishments.
  
• Zone-style layout: This layout designates different zones in the kitchen for various tasks such as prep work, cooking, plating and cleaning. The setup allows the chef and kitchen team to prepare different types of dishes at the same time. Hence, it is best used for restaurants with diverse menus such as hotel restaurants or catering kitchens.
  
• Galley layout: This layout positions all the different stations and kitchen equipment along the perimeter of the kitchen with a walking aisle in the middle. It’s most ideal for small kitchens such as a food truck.
  
• Open kitchen layout: This layout allows customers to view the chefs at work and provides transparency in the food preparation process as part of the dining experience. It is becoming an increasingly popular layout, especially in fine dining restaurants. This layout can be used for any restaurant type, but it requires a high level of organisation and cleanliness.

2. Designating zones in the kitchen

In addition to the layout, designating different zones in the kitchen for different tasks not only keeps your equipment organised but also streamlines the day-to-day process for your employees⁶.

Here are the five kitchen zones:

• The Prep Station: From cutting to kneading to marinating, this is where most of the food preparation takes place. There should be plenty of counter space, and easy storage for essentials such as knives, cutting boards and mixing bowls. As this zone is often a multi-use area, it is critical to keep this area clean, organised and even disinfected throughout the day to avoid cross-contamination.
  
• The Hot Station: This zone should house all your cooking equipment such as stovetops, ovens and fryers as hot dishes are cooked. This area should be well-ventilated to prevent heat and smoke buildup. It should also be placed in a separate space to prevent grease and heat from wearing out your dishwashers and refrigeration units. 
  
• The Cold Station: Whether you're opting for walk-in or reach-in models, this zone contains your freezers and refrigerators. It will most likely be the most used area so keeping them clean, organised and in working condition is essential to keeping food safe for consumption. Do ensure that this zone is kept at a distance from your hot station as the heat could cause your refrigeration units to run inefficiently and/or at an improper temperature.
  
• The Cleaning Station: This space handles all the cleaning of dishes, utensils, and cooking equipment. The nature of this zone should account for multiple sinks and dishwashers, ample space for drying and organising clean dishes and proper storage for cleaning equipment such as scrubbing pads to soaps and detergents.
  
• Hot/Cold Holding Areas¹: This zone is suitable if you're in a large food industry operations business such as a buffet-style restaurant or catering where food is not consumed immediately. As bacteria grow in certain temperatures, it is crucial for food to be kept at a safe temperature until consumption to stay out of the temperature danger zone (5°C - 59°C).
• Holding temperature for cold foods: 4°C and below
• Holding temperature for hot foods: 60°C and above

Every 2-4 hours, it is best to check the temperature of your hot or cold holding food and perform any corrective actions that are necessary.

3. Use kitchen shelving and storage racks

Think outside the cabinet — opt for open shelving units and racks so that all your essentials are easily accessible.

No matter what type of shelving you opt for, consider dedicating storage by specific groups of items for the most optimal storage solution.

There is a wide variety of shelves and racks, and they differ in sizes, materials, designs and purposes. Hence, you have many options for your kitchen, regardless of its size and layout.

Here are some of the most common types of shelving:

• Triangle shelves: These fit neatly into corners, maximising storage space. They are very stable and are great for storing small kitchen equipment such as mixing bowls, measuring cups, and utensils.
• Mobile shelves: These shelves are mounted on wheels, making them easy to move around the kitchen. They are great for storing large or heavy items, such as pots and pans, and can be moved to different areas of the kitchen as needed.
  
• Wall mounted shelves: These shelves are mounted on walls, providing additional storage space without taking up valuable counter or floor space. They are ideal for storing items that are frequently used, such as spices, oils, and condiments as they are within easy reach.
• Dunnage racks: These are heavy-duty racks made of metal or plastic and are designed to keep items off the floor and away from moisture. They are made to hold bulky and heavy ingredients such as flour, rice, dry or canned goods.

By using these different types of shelving in a restaurant kitchen, you can optimise its storage space, keep items organized, and ensure that everything is within easy reach.

Additionally, proper shelving can help prevent accidents and injuries caused by cluttered and disorganised work areas.

4. FIFO inventory management

First In, First Out (FIFO) is a method of inventory management to ensure that food items are used in the order in which they are received.

By labelling your food with the dates you store them and by storing the older foods in front or on top, you can locate and use the oldest foods first.

Here are five steps to implement FIFO in your kitchen:

1. Prioritise using products with the closest expiration dates first, such as those reaching their best before or use-by dates.
2. Place items that need to be used first at the front of the storage area to make them more accessible.
3. Arrange new supplies behind existing stock to ensure that older items are used first.
4. Always use the food located in the front first
5. Regularly check your inventory and ensure that all the food is within date and in good condition. If items are expired or damaged, remove and discard them.

By following these steps, your restaurant can significantly reduce food waste, save money, and provide fresher ingredients to your customers.

5. Label all your products and ingredients

Label it right, serve it tight — nothing is more important in the F&B industry than properly labelling your products including ingredients and cleaning products.

By labelling your ingredients, this ensures all similarly labeled products are stored together such as vegetables, fruits or meats.

This strategy helps to prevent cross-contamination of different foods, reducing the risk of foodborne illness.

For example, you can ensure diseases like salmonella, found on raw chicken, don’t end up in your vegetables by labelling and storing them properly.

Here's how you can label food in your restaurant kitchen:

• Product/Type of food
• Employee name
• Date food was added
• Expiration date of food

Alternatively, you can use Food Rotation Labels. These are typically color-coded for each day so that your kitchen staff can easily identify which products need to be used first and can track when they were opened or received, helping to prevent food waste and ensure the freshness and safety of the food.

Here are the colors you can use for each day of the week²:

• Sunday: Black
• Monday: Blue
• Tuesday: Yellow
• Wednesday: Red
• Thursday: Brown
• Friday: Green
• Saturday: Orange

By following these 5 tips, you’re on your way to running a successful kitchen!

Remember to plan the layout of your kitchen carefully, designate zones for different tasks, invest in high-quality shelving and storage racks, implement FIFO inventory management, and label all your products and ingredients.

An organised restaurant kitchen is the key ingredient for serving up delectable dishes, creating a safe environment, and running a smooth operation that leaves both customers and employees satisfied!

References

1.     https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/29/following-food-safety-temperatures.html

2.     https://www.dotit.com/blog/how-to-label-food-in-a-restaurant-or-commercial-kitchen.html