food truck cleaning

​A great skill to have is the talent of cooking, and one of the great businesses to come across is the food truck business. If you are good at cooking, its something serious to look at. It has been around for years and is not going anywhere.  Doing service all around the country we run into food trucks. We have even run into food trucks with a restaurant setup or more appropriately, you can call it a open concession setup outside. Ive seen it setup where its multiple food trucks lined up in a half circle, acting as a food court. This was one of the more genius ideas that I have come across. Most food truck owners have a talent for cooking, and find way to the capital needed for the opening of a food truck, and go straight into business. We even these days have online ordering and delivery, to where you can park a food truck in your back yard and operate it straight from your food truck and kitchen. These days the restaurant industry is a wide open business. In my opinion this is the best time to enter the business with the most in options in generating income.

Food truck sanitation

​Now you have invested into a new food truck, purchased all of the right equipment for your restaurant type, and you are ready to get started. One of the things that you have to be prepared for are the local health inspections. These are typically conducted 1x per year, but if you receive a customer complaint, it could send you into an early inspection. Do not worry, this article will go over some equipment types and the proper procedure for cleaning each type. We also will refer our services and come out and lend you a hand. We offer our services all over the country and come out and meet food truck owners, and assist them in passing health inspections.

Food truck sanitation checklist
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​Food storage is a big deal. All uncooked food should be stored in marked containers, and stored in a properly temperature storage area, for proper health safety. Raw uncooked meat, or meat that has not yet been cooked should be stored separate from cooked food. All food stored should be labeled and the date and time it was stored should be visibly marked on the front of its container.  All food that is set out for prep should not be kept out in the open for long periods of time. All of the paper products, and tableware should be stored in a safe clean location and properly sanitized before every reuse. Make sure that all refrigerator units have no issues when dealing with keeping the proper temperature.   Make sure that sanitation products are kept in separate storage locations from the actual food. Hand washing stations should be on deck in a food truck.  Your food truck should be equipped with the proper ventilation needed. Making sure that your refer is in proper working condition and up to date on maintenance is key. The refer can be a major breeding ground for mold and mildew. This is a very important area for a food truck. Mold can settle in areas, and you can lose major money as a food truck owner. All mobile vender permits need to be up to date and current according to regulations.  All of the floors should be properly degreased, walls, and ceiling.

Food Truck Equipment Cleaning
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36" gas countertop radiant charbroiler

​The 36” gas countertop radiant charbroiler is a perfect piece of equipment for a food truck. It holds 3 burners, in which you can cook three different dishes at the same time. Very durable piece of equipment, and the perfect countertop size. It also has a simple propane connection that works well. The surface of the equipment is castiron to even the broiling and it has a function that catches the grease. The casriron gates are removeable from the equipment.
 
Cleaning of this bit of equipment is not that bad. Pressure washing should never be an option, due to the damage that it causes. The burners have to be removed and and soaked in a degreaser/disinfectant for 1hr prior to scrubbing. Some of these burners become badly filled with buildup. If Deep Cleaning of these item can be setup 1x per week or Bi-weekly, it can greatly cutback on severe buildup.  While the burners are soaking you can place degreaser in a spray bottle and spray the areas to be cleaned. Let these areas soak for 1  hour as well.  Buildup collects against the sides of the unit. Ive seen reports of citations on burners for runoff buildup. So since this machine is soo durable, and well built, spray soaking it is no problem. After one hour of soaking use paint scrappers to remove any heavily caked on buildup. Then you should be able to use a regular green scrubber pad after that. Dawn dish detergent is use as a great degreaser and disinfectant. If you use too strong of chemicals, customers will taste the harsh chemicals in their food. So Dawn products work best. Its very effective without being expensive and gets the job done. Other areas to clean are just the surface, and remove any crumbs or buildup, where the burners are docked.
 

 Avantco Chef Series gas 12" 2 burner countertop range

 This is another great countertop design perfect for food trucks. This the Avantco Chef Series Gas 12 burner.  This is is used as recommended by the manufacturer as a sauce, side, and entrée perfect tool.  The temperature controls are nicely centered at the front of the unit.  This unit is built like a tank, it is designed to last and withstand the harshest of conditions. This is not a large piece of equipment it can easily fit on a table with other equipment. This is perfect for maximizing your earning potential and output.
 
These durable stainless steel countertop ranges are built to withstand everyday use. Their compact design fits easily onto work tables and chef bases to optimize kitchen space. The removeable trays work well for cleaning up the area. This is another propane capable unit with the easy connectors.
 
 
Cleanup for these units are much like the broilers. Chemicals always stay the same with our cleaning services, to stay safe and prevent customer complaints. Dawn again is the chemical of choice. The burners need be removed, and set in a sink or a tub of water. Dawn dish detergent needs to be filled in the sink. The burners should soak for one hour. Any areas on the stove should be sprayed with Dawn. Let these areas sit and soak for 40min to an hour. After the burners and the other soaking areas soak for 1 hour, you can use a paint scrapper on tough areas, and green scrubber pads on the remainder. Wipe any crumbs in the burner dock area, and cleaning is complete.

How can you prevent Health Inspection Infractions?

We run a service, called Restaurant Cleaning Professionals. We specialize in cleaning restaurants, but we clean food trucks as well. We work with restaurant owners and food truck owners alike to help them deep clean their food trucks and every line of equipment. We can come on a as called service or we can clean on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. We are very affordable, and our service are a great service to give restaurant and food truck owners a break from worrying about cleanliness and passing Health Inspections. If you would like to try out our service, and let us manage your Health Inspection ratings, you can fillout our service request form, found here