Four-Step Cleaning Process

All foodservice operations are required by health and sanitation code to employ a four-step cleaning process:

1. Scrape : scrape all food waste into a solid waste container. There is a trash barrel in the rear kichen and an extra one in the storage room you may roll into the dish pit while cleaning. Deposit all food scraps there. Please remove as much grease, butter, fat, and starch particles as possible before placing dishes or pans in the sink. Compostable materials (no grease, fat, oil, meat, or bones) may go in the compost bin located in the utility area outside (if available). Please see the specific handling procedures for grease, fat, and oil under the trash handling section of this handbook.

2. Wash : place the items to be washed into the left-compartment of the 3-bay sink. Use a scouring pad to remove any suck on food from items before filling that bay only with hot water and dish soap. Dish soap is stored on the shelf above the sink. Please remember you are to bring your own sponges and scouring pads and to take them with you at the end of the session. Wash items thoroughly and place them into the empty middle bay when clean. Periodically empty and refill the dishwater if it becomes excessively dirty.
3. Rinse : rinse the items being washed in clean running water in the middle sink bay. DO NOT fill the middle bay with rinse water, dish water, or sanitizer.
4. Sanitize : Fill the right-side sink bay with cold or warm water (it does not have to be hot). Add liquid quaternary ammonium sanitizer according to the package directions for utensil sanitizing. The sanitizer is stored on the shelf above the sink. Test with the test strips, also located on the shelf above the sink- you are aiming for a sanitizer level of 200ppm. Not more, not less. Test strips are stored on the shelf above the sink. Please use dry hands to obtain a strip and close the container afterward. Strips that are wet or open for a prolonged period must be discarded. After rinsing your items thoroughly in the second bay, fully submerge them into the sanitizer solution for at least 30 seconds. Then remove and place on the right-side drainboard. Sanitized items are not to be towel-dried. They must be left to air-dry. After excess water has drained off items on the right-side drainboard, you may move your items to the open wire shelves behind the right-side of the sink in the dish area to finish air-drying. Sanitized items should not be towel-dried to maintain sanitation.