The Staff Canteen Essential Guide to Equipment 2024: Clean

It's the wash-up stage in our Essential Guide to Equipment, as we take a closer look at the kit designed to keep things clean in commercial kitchens, in the final part of this series.

Warewashers are the quiet champions of the kitchen. As Chris Giles, UK manager, DIHR at Jestic Foodservice Solutions puts it, these wonders that dutifully clean pots, pans, utensils, plates, cutlery and glassware are ‘often tucked away out of sight’ but are nevertheless ‘an essential element of any kitchen operation.’ 

While they don’t seek the limelight, warewashers are worthy of our attention, not just because they guarantee to clean the essentials for a smooth service, but because selecting the right one/s for your kitchen can help with efficiencies and savings in many areas.  

“With warewashers, the less water you use, the less energy you use,” explains Paul Crowley, marketing development manager at Winterhalter.  

“That’s because most of the energy required for washing goes into heating the water. Using less water reduces chemical consumption, too. It’s a win-win-win, for both sustainability and cost savings.”  

Read more: 
Essential Guide to... prep
Essential Guide to... heat
Essential Guide to... cold

With water companies hiking rates over the next five years and energy prices rising again after a dip, operators will evidently be keen to make savings wherever they can.  

“Unsurprisingly manufacturers put a lot of NPD into reducing water consumption,” says Crowley, pointing out Winterhalter’s development of new wash arms for its warewashers. These are designed to optimise water flow, but also reduce water consumption by up to 25%.

Innovations in Winterhalter’s PT Series of pass-through dishwashers have been made to reduce energy and water consumption, while also increasing reliability.  Its EnergyLight function, which recycles energy from waste water to heat cold inlet water (cutting energy consumption by 10%) is fitted as standard on machines, while its Connected Wash feature analyses usage data so operators can make further energy savings.  

Equipment supplier Welbilt suggests its new ‘highly efficient, environmentally conscious and ergonomic’ WMAXX Optimaxx 500 undercounter dishwasher – which washes dishes and glassware - for eco-minded operators with limited space.  

Equipped with a water softener option and the WMAXX W Water management system, which is designed to reduce energy and water consumption, the Optimaxx 500’s stainless steel double-skin construction means it is quiet, making it suitable for front-of-house if needed.  

Other features include a simple and intuitive control panel to show the status of any of its four washing programmes and stainless-steel wash arms that can withstand high temperatures and retain heat, further improving energy efficiency.  Like Winterhalter dishwashers, the WMAXX has cloud connectivity so operators can monitor usage.  

“This is a great, compact undercounter dishwasher that maximises cost savings for an operator, gives perfect glass and dishwashing results, and is simple for all staff to use,” summarises Alistair Farquhar, national sales manager UK & Ireland, Welbilt.  

Chefs and restaurateurs with limited space and also keen to source a sustainable solution should consider the Meiko M-iClean PF-S – a slimline ‘potwashing powerhouse’ with optional energy saving heat recovery.  

Designed for low running costs and to last 10 years, the pot washer – launched last year - measures 775mm wide and 898mm deep, so takes up relatively little space but is also ‘one of the most powerful’ as it rapidly cleans and sanitises chopping boards, crates, pots, sheet pans and kitchen utensils, says Meiko UK MD Paul Anderson.  

Its front door folds flat, providing ergonomic access for cleaning or loading heavy pans and a fold-down weighted security grid with chains is optionally available to stop lightweight pans and reusable plastics from moving around or rotating during the wash.  

Other features include service and support back-up from Meiko ‘with an average first-time fix typically around 94%’ claims Anderson.

Like Meiko, Winterhalter has compact – yet powerful options. The UF-M, the smallest model in its UF Series of utensil washers, measures 775mm wide by 870mm deep and can wash up to 64 large racks per hour.  

For larger kitchens, or busier operations, there are a multitude of options. And while they take up more space, these machines can still save energy and make operations more efficient.  

Winterhalter’s MT Series of conveyor dishwasher systems have a huge washing capacity with the largest MT flight systems able to clean a whopping 8,000 plates per hour, while the rack model has a capacity of 355 racks per hour.  

These machines use the latest green technologies, including multi-filtration processes. They are also ‘gamechangers’ according to Crowley, due to the adaptability of the modular system. While they are set up to a kitchen’s spec, they can be changed round following installation if required, meaning the whole system doesn’t need to be replaced if you want to change it.  

Wexiodisk’s solution for high volume operations are its hood-type and rack machines, paired with its PRM (pre-rinse machine). The hood version - WD-PRM 6/7 and rack version WD-PRM60/90 remove the need for KPs to rinse by hand, saving valuable time.  

The PRM system is already in use at The International Hotel in Killarney and is streamlining the cleaning process in the kitchen according to head chef Krzyz Bogdanowicz.  

“With the PRM, our porters do not need to waste time and water pre-rinsing by hand. Instead, they simply need to push the basket into the PRM,” he explains. “The machine then automatically takes care of the rinsing process with chemically enriched jets of water spraying above and below which effectively removes even the toughest of stains - such as egg yolks and oil - in a matter of seconds.”

While NPD has been made in reducing water consumption, size really does matter if you want to ensure optimum savings says Giles of Jestic Foodservice Solutions. The company re-introduced Italian warewashing brand DIHR to the UK earlier this year and offers all DIHR warewashers – from 400mm x 400mm baskets, up to rack and flight type machines.  

“When it comes to using less energy, the smaller the machine the less energy it will use. This is because overall, smaller machines will use less energy, detergent, rinse aid and water than larger machines,” explains Giles.  

“It is therefore important not to over or under specify the machine you select. Oversizing equipment will ultimately result in a less efficient machine which also costs more when potentially it’s not required, however, under sizing could result in not having the time available to wash the products required.” 

(Written by Emma Eversham)