Have you recently thought about moving your restaurant’s kitchen equipment? If yes, you may be wondering whether this entire process is easy or difficult. Fortunately, worry no more as this guide has everything you need to know to make this somewhat unnerving task more manageable.
But for moving restaurant equipment to be easier for you, there are a couple of things you need to consider. These ensure that everything goes smoothly. During this period of your move, remember to build up a stock of patience and persistence to handle this move successfully. With that said, here are five tips to consider when moving restaurant equipment.
Get Professional Help
Moving your restaurant equipment by yourself can be a risky business. Often, it’s best to leave them in place and hire an Orange County moving company to do the job for you. This is crucial even though you might be eager to save some money. Doing this is significant because these experts know how to properly plan for a commercial moving job and have the right tools and techniques for getting the job done right.
Professional movers also make sure everything is wrapped in padding before it’s put into the truck. This ensures that your restaurant appliances don’t get jostled around too much while being moved. Otherwise, this equipment can suffer serious damage if it gets tipped over and falls into something like a countertop. And there’s nothing more disheartening than seeing a new appliance meet an untimely end before it reaches the end of its useful life.
Make Sure To Unplug The Kitchen Appliances
When you’re relocating your restaurant’s location, you need to move all the appliances. This can be a big deal if you have a giant commercial stove or dishwasher. With this in mind, you want to be as safe as possible when moving your restaurant equipment. The first thing you do is to ensure to unplug all the appliances, be it stoves, refrigerators, sinks, or dishwashers, before moving them.
No matter what kind of restaurant equipment you’re moving, make sure to unplug it before you start the work. This way, in case water spills or electricity gets turned on, there will be no sparks, and no one will get hurt in the process of moving your business’s most valuable assets.
Lift Carefully
When you’re moving all the stuff inside a restaurant, several kitchen appliances need to be handled carefully. The most fragile is the glassware, which will shatter if it’s dropped or roughly handled. But other appliances and equipment can also be damaged, including some that are more durable, such as the refrigerator. Therefore, you need to handle this equipment with care. Because of this, you must carefully lift all the kitchen equipment when moving to prevent causing any damage to them.
Moving huge kitchen appliances such as the refrigerator or stove isn’t easy. Because of this, it’s best to use specialized tools such as trollies and forearm lifting straps even if you have other people helping you out. You can only be assured of your safety and that of your restaurant equipment from damage when moving them, regardless of their bulky weight.
Properly Wrap All The Kitchen Equipment
When moving kitchen appliances, you need to take great care to prevent debris and dust from finding their way into the equipment, causing damage. Aside from this, you also have to worry about scrapes on the exterior surface. They are due to friction between the appliance and packaging boxes or the walls and floor.
With this in mind, it comes in handy to have a wrap that offers your kitchen equipment extra protection. Things that can do a great job reducing friction should be anything soft. You can use a blanket, or plastic moving wrap, to cover the floor underneath where you’re moving things around. This will also help prevent scratches on the floor and protect it from potential damage during the move.
Always Clean The Equipment Before Packing
When moving restaurant equipment, you must clean the kitchen appliances as thoroughly as possible before you pack them up and move. This includes everything from the refrigerator and freezer to the stove and oven. This is important and necessary to remove any stains or discoloration caused by spills or splatter that might remain on these surfaces.
But before you can even start cleaning your restaurant appliances, first make sure to remove any food that might be inside. You must do this or else the food will spoil and could lead to a possible and unnecessary mess. Cleaning your restaurant equipment is also essential because it removes any odor that might remain in the kitchen appliances after use. Remember, you don’t want to end up with a freezer full of spoiled food because you didn’t take the time to clean out your equipment properly.
There are a couple of suggestions you should consider when cleaning and preparing your appliances. They include;
- If you have a dishwasher, empty it and leave it empty until the day you’ll be moving.
- Make sure all the garbage disposal units are empty as well. This is because food particles inside will more likely find their way into walls and floors. Therefore, giving them plenty of time to dry out is a good idea before moving day.
- Remove any ice from your refrigerator or freezer to prevent the ice from melting and seeping into the walls.
- Acidic materials like tomatoes and citrus juices can damage stainless steel over time. Ensure such items aren’t on or in the equipment when packed up and moved.
- Clean any grease traps, strainers, or other removable parts from your dishwashing machine. Make sure that you remove all food debris from these places.
Takeaway
Moving restaurant equipment can be a daunting task. However, by performing it with care and precision, you’ll be able to save time and money. With that said, remember to follow the several tips discussed above. These tips help you to have a safer and easier time moving restaurant equipment.
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Author Bio
Linda Brown is a restaurant owner who’s been in the industry for more than 15 years now. She enjoys sharing her expertise and experience amassed over the years by writing guest blog posts and blogging to help out aspiring and startup restaurant owners. During her free time, she loves spending time with family and partaking in outdoor activities.
