From commercial refrigerators to walk-in cold rooms, whatever cooling system you choose to operate in your commercial kitchen rental, it should be consistently well-maintained and highly organised.
We know dark kitchens are busy and often high-pressure environments, so it can be easy to overlook something that can seem trivial like cold food storage, so we’re hoping to make it a bit easier for you.
We previously came to you with some of our cold room organisational tips, but guess what? We’ve got some more!
We’ve gathered some of our favourite, time-efficient and easy to maintain organisation and storage ideas to keep your food delivery kitchen and more specifically, your cold storage room, in ship shape!
Why you should keep cold food storage well organised
Cold rooms and commercial refrigeration are key components of food safety in your business, whether that’s a restaurant, delivery only business or running a street food truck; so it must remain sanitary.
Not only this, highly organised cold rooms are a magical creator of space and they help to refine your operations, among other amazing benefits. Here’s a small glimpse at some of our fave benefits:
- Maximises fridge (and kitchen) space
- Encourages food safety and hygiene
- Easier to find stock in a rush
- Makes your life easier!
- Prolong the life of food
- Helps prevent cross-contamination
- Adequate stock rotation
- Avoids food wastage
Cold room storage ideas
Magnetic Containers
With a cooling system as large as a walk-in cold room, there’s no way you need to use hanging fridge baskets or magnetic containers, right? Well actually, they can be quite a game-changer!
Attaching magnetic containers to the interior of your unit or its shelving won’t add a substantial amount of extra storage space to your cold room but they are great for holding smaller items that can sometimes become lost in the chaos produce. You no longer have to rummage around in a panic, searching behind food items to find small ingredients. You can now find them at eye level, which helps you when you’re in a rush and also prevents food wastage or over-ordering if you mistakenly think you have run out.
Using a Food Inventory App
Accurately tracking the stock in your walk-in refrigerator with a food inventory app allows you to monitor expiry dates and inventory levels. Food stock apps help to limit food wastage of perishables, such as fruits and vegetables, and it is easy to keep track of ingredients to make sure you never run out.
With some of the more advanced apps, there is an option to blackout any items that a customer is allergic to if they flag it during their order. So can have peace of mind that you are full food safe and no sneaky allergens are going untraced; it is also beneficial to guarantee 100% vegan meals when ordered.
Make Use of Mason Jars
Mason jars. Yes, we’re suggesting something that might seem so glaringly obvious to some, but not to others. Storing food items in mason jars allows you to ditch the bulk packaging, and arrange your shelves more effectively while keeping food equally preserved.
Another benefit of glass mason jars for perishables or dry foods means you can quickly spot the condition of food items and also check the stock level, unlike when it’s stored in opaque packaging.
There’s also a sustainability element to using mason jars, you can often buy special “refill” or package free grains, for example, helping you to cut the amount of plastic waste in your commercial restaurant kitchen.
