Commercial Dishwasher: Preparing Dishes For Washing

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Knowledge Guide

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Preparing Dishes For Washing

Food bits and other debris should be removed from dishes prior to washing in order to maximize the effectiveness of your dishwasher. The most efficient way to accomplish this is to use a pre-rinse assembly.

Pre-rinse assemblies are a powerful spray valve mounted on a free swinging, upright hose. Kitchen staff simply depress a lever and wash down dishes before they go into the dishwasher.

Pre-Rinse Assemblies

Pre-rinse assemblies also use a lot of water. New low-flow spray valves can halve the amount of water used by a pre-rinse without sacrificing any performance. Look for low-flow spray valves with a 1.6 gallon per minute (GPM) rating or less.

Dishes should also be stacked into a dishrack to maximize their exposed surface area so they can be cleaned effectively. Most commercial dishwashers are designed to accommodate a standard full size 20” x 20” dishrack. Half racks are also available for smaller units.

Dishwashing racks come in a few standard types:

Peg racks hold dinnerware, pots, pans, and lids upright for washing
Flat racks are ideal for washing flatware and have a flat bottom made of tight lattice to prevent pieces from falling through
Flatware baskets are half rack sized and hold flatware upright for washing
Glass racks have multiple compartments for glassware and optional extenders that allow you to stack rows on top of each other

Some other useful dishrack accessories include a dolly for convenient moving of stacked racks and a dishrack hold down grid that fits into a rack and prevents lightweight items from getting blown out by dishwasher jets.

Scale Inhibitors
A scale inhibitor is a type of water filter that removes minerals and sediment from tap water. These elements in the water build up in the dishwashing unit (especially the spray nozzles!), increasing the likelihood of maintenance problems and shortening the unit’s useful life. Unfiltered water also leaves streaks and spots on glass, dinnerware, and flatware.

Scale Inhibitors

The two most common places to install a scale inhibiting water filter are:

On the water line going into the dishwasher
On the main line that supplies your restaurant with water. This option has the added benefit of removing scale and debris for the water headed to other important restaurant equipment like ice machines and coffee makers.