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Free commercial kitchen maintenance checklist: No surprises at dinner service.
A printable maintenance checklist for restaurant and hotel kitchens. It covers cold storage, the cooking line, and water and cleaning equipment. Use it for the weekly walk-round, so small faults are fixed before a busy service.
1. Pick a template
Suggested: weekly
2. Mark each check
0 of 10 checks done0 pass · 0 fail · 0 N/A
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What it covers
The commercial kitchen checks.
How often: weeklyCold storage
- Record walk-in cooler and freezer temperatures
- Check door gaskets and door closers
- Clean condenser coils on fridges and ice machines
Cooking line
- Check fryer thermostats and oil condition
- Check burners and pilot lights on the range
- Check oven door seals and temperature accuracy
- Clean grease filters in the extraction hood
Water and cleaning
- Check dishwasher wash and rinse temperatures
- Check the ice machine water filter
- Look for leaks under sinks and around drains
These are common checks to start from. Your machine’s manual and the safety rules for your site come first, so add or change checks to match them.
From the field
Tips for a better check.
- Record walk-in temperatures at the same time each day, so a slow rise is easy to spot.
- A torn door gasket makes a cooler work harder. Replace it early, because it costs little.
- Clean hood grease filters on a fixed day. Grease build-up is a fire risk.
Want this check to come up on schedule? See how preventive maintenance plans work in Catalyces.
Know the rules
The rules behind the kitchen walk-round.
Two sets of rules shape kitchen maintenance: fire safety and food safety.
For fire, the US reference is NFPA 96, Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations. It sets how often the hood and duct system must be inspected for grease: monthly for solid-fuel cooking, quarterly for high-volume cooking such as 24-hour, charbroiling or wok cooking, twice a year for moderate volume, and yearly for low volume. When grease builds up, the system is cleaned.
The fire suppression system over the line has its own standard. NFPA 17A calls for a qualified person to service wet chemical systems every six months, with a monthly check by the owner. Keep a Class K extinguisher near the fryers, as NFPA 10 requires.
For food, the FDA Food Code sets cold holding at 41°F (5°C) or below. Your local health department adopts its own edition, so check the number it uses. Log walk-in and reach-in temperatures at the same time each day. A slow rise usually points to a dirty condenser coil or a torn door gasket, long before food is at risk.
High-temperature dish machines usually need a final rinse of 180°F (82°C). Check the data plate for your machine, and record the reading. It is often the first thing an inspector asks to see.
Run these checks on every job
Questions
Commercial kitchen checklist questions.
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