Help...greasy Residue...dishes/utensils...commercial Kitchen
Business By 4Gifts4Lisa Updated 25 Feb 2010 , 7:26pm by KHalstead
I own a retail cake supply shop, and a large part of my business is teaching classes. For that reason, I have a small, but still legal, commercial kitchen. I use a three compartment sink for my washing needs (no commercial dishwasher). I can NOT get the greasy residue/slime off my stuff. Additionally, all my cookie cutters and tips rust (I believe b.c I am required to let them air dry?). Here is my routine...please advise if you have ANY tips or cleaning product recommendations:
1. Scrape off any extra gunk (buttercream from mixer blade, etc)
2. Wash in HOT water with Dawn detergent (and the water is HOT...I cannot stick my hand in it...at all...without heavy gloves)
3. Rinse in same hot water, second sink compartment
4. Sanitize in third compartment, same hot water, with a splash of bleach (I have also used the quats but did not notice a difference)
5. Air dry on rack (for my tips I have a wooden thread holder I got from WalMart...probably not "legal" though)
Grease is clinging to everything. Please help.
soap ratio may be off. A squirt in your home kitchen sink is way different than the amount you need in a commercial sink, which tends to be bigger and deeper.
I had Eco-Lab set up automatic soap dispensers in my kitchen so all I had to do was push one button and the water & soap were disbursed in the proper ratio.
At the hotel I'm now working at, someone made a sink of water last night and it had 14 soap bubbles floating on the top. I had to let the water out and remake it using WAY more soap than she did.
Sometimes we get in the habit of "knowing" how long to squeeze the soap bottle without really looking at how much soap we are using.
You should have a HUGE pile of soap bubbles in your water. If you find it hard to easily rinse off all of the soap, then you have enough. If it rinses off really quick and easy, you don't have enough soap in there.
Dawn will cut anything, so I think it's not enough soap.
Mike...it melts in the water; the tank is set to 120, I believe. It might be higher. The problem is when it dries, it re-solidifies.
Debi I think you may be right. I do have lots of bubbles, and when they go I change out the water, but I never have a problem rinsing off the soap. I'll try doubling my Dawn and go from there.
When I worked in the bakery I was the only one who could get grease free utensils when they dried.
First, I would spray the stuff down with HOT water. I never checked the temp, I just turned the hot water on full blast. I used the hand sprayer to remove ALL bits of cake/frosting/whatever. Then once they were visibly clean, I would put them in soapy water and give them a quick scrub down. Rinse in hot water, sit in sani water for at least 1min. The sani water wasn't hot, but not cold. Just kinda lukewarm. Lay out the utensils on a tray with paper towels, put away in the morning.
Not sure about the rusty tips though. We didn't have a special rack to dry them on, so I just laid them on another tray with paper towels. I made sure they were on their sides, not standing up because water could get trapped in there. Also made sure none were stuck together. Somehow we always ended up with some rusty ones though and our supervisor just said to throw those away and let her know so she could order some more.
EDIT: forgot about this. I don't know if it would help you out but I've heard of some people who put the tips in a saucepan of water and boil the water for a few minutes on the stove. They'll set it on the stove, go about the other cleaning duties and when they're done, they take the pot off the stove, rinse and wash as usual. No grease. But if you don't have a stove in your kitchen then that doesn't help! 
Here is another suggestion. Take a paper towel and wipe off any greasy things, like beaters, spatulas etc. before they hit the soapy water. Also, you may have what we call in the mid west as "hard" water and a water softener will keep your soap working more effectively. You can even rent an inline tank that Culligan would change out every month or two. Good Luck. I know in my kitchen, I can tell the minute the softener has run out as soon as I draw the dish water.
I always put my metal cutters in a warm oven for a few minutes after I wash them - the heat evaporates any water, and they don't rust.
I use a commercial grade dish soap that is intended for greasy items. Never have a greasy residue unless there isn't enough soap.
As far as the rusting goes, Wilton tips should never rust and if they do they should be returned. I suspect that you may also not be using enough sanitizer. If the proper amount is used, the items should air dry faster than if nothing was used. Do you use test strips to ensure the proper sanitzer ratio?
I have no clue about grease residue.
My teacher told us if we use detergent with citrus flavoring as ingredient, that will cause wilton tips to change color and look nasty (I am not sure if it is rust).
I changed my dishwashing liquid, and also I dry the tips after washing them on cup warmers. No more nasty tips... HTH
stick all the greasy stuff in a bucket in the sink....run the hotest water in the bucket...just let it run for a few minutes, and overflow in the sink...let that set awhile...dump it out and do it again...then wash stuff.
i have to wash a bunch of bags every week....i rinse them 3 times before i wash them
I'm wondering if it isn't your final rinse causing you trouble. You say a "splash" of bleach--it's important you get the right amount of bleach for the amount of water you are using in that last rinse. Too much bleach (even if it seems like a teeny amount) will leave a greasy feeling residue. Are you testing the final rinse sink with a strip? I don't use bleach but a sanitizer in my final and like it MUCH better.
I rinse off everything with really hot water first. Then get my sinks filled and wash away. But like indydeb said, make sure there is enough soap in the water.
Hey lisa! Ironically, I ran into something at the hotel tonight that made me look up this thread. Is your "greasy" dishes .... does it have a white film to it also ... not just greasy, but greasy white in color?
Here's why I ask: Someone made the sanitizer sink of water, using bleach, and they poured more than they usually do. I asked where the strips were so we could test the water and no one seemed to know (yeah, it's on my list to "discuss" with the hotel manager! 
). As I was doing dishes, the dishes were coming out of the sanitizer sink with this white greasy film all over them! They were rinsing out of the middle sink just fine .. but the 3rd sink was the problem.
I let the water out of the 3rd sink and there was this awful white greasy film all over the sink.
What's odd is I hadn't been washing any dishes that had a lot of grease on them. So I'm wondering if the bleach/water ratio would cause this?
In my comm'l kitchen, I had EcoLab set up the automatic dispensers so I never had to measure soap or sanitizer. can anyone tell me what the correct bleach to water ratio should be? Thanks in advance!
Debi, YES, I am noticing the greasy/whitish residue in the third sink. I use bleach, and I do have the test strips and use them. I am wondering if I should go back to the quats...I used it before, it was just easier for me to grab a bottle of bleach at WalMart.
The kitchen that I rent has a three sink method...soap, degreaser and sanitizer and I never have any greasy issues. They actually have it in a pump situation where there are 5 gallon drums under the sinks and tubes that go up to the faucet to mix with the hot water. And, yes, we, too use only hot water and dish gloves.
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