How To Choose A Dishwasher For Your Care Home or Restaurant

Shopping for a new dishwasher for your care home or food service establishment can be overwhelming. Visit any appliance store, distributor or manufacturer, and you will find a lot of models of the same size with similar finishes and features. Luckily, similar visible features belie radical differences from brand to brand. Dishwashers have become more feature-rich than ever, so if you know the factors to consider when buying one, you can narrow down your options and find the equipment that best suits your needs. Here’s what you need to consider before making a purchase.

1. Cost

Whether you’re running a care home or a restaurant, having a price range in mind will help you narrow down your options. You should find a balance between your budget and needs. For a smaller foodservice establishment, an under-counter dishwasher can do the trick. For a cafeteria serving a large care home, buying under-counter equipment instead of a door type or conveyor machine can spell a disaster.

Besides upfront cost, you’ll have to consider installation costs and energy and water use. You can find a model that conserves water and energy if you want to save money over time, but it will probably cost you more in the long run. If your ware-washer offers a small capacity or is too slow, your customers can cost you more than the upfront cost of more expensive equipment.

2. Speed and capacity

Since commercial kitchens move faster, you need to clean your loads faster than a residential appliance can manage. Thus, it’s crucial to choose robust, easy-to-use commercial equipment that can quickly, thoroughly, and hygienically clean many items.

3. Temperature

Commercial ware-washers fall in low-temperature and high-temperature categories. High-temperature equipment uses heat to sanitize dishes, reaching 180° Fahrenheit to guarantee the recommended level of thermal disinfection and prevent cross-contamination. Low-temperature dishwashers cannot get to these temperature levels, so you must use chemicals to sanitize your dishes. Although high-temperatures cost more upfront and consume more energy, the dishes dry faster, and you’ll not need to buy sanitizing products regularly.

4. Space

Designing and planning commercial kitchen spaces can be overwhelming. Besides the practical concern of whether the commercial equipment will fit, you also need to consider if where you’ll place it will affect how people work in the kitchen. You should choose equipment that will allow you to scrap and rinse in one area to save time, reduce the risk of re-contaminating the cleaned items, and eliminate the need to carry dishes around the kitchen after a wash.

5. Cleaners

In a commercial care setting, you need high-quality cleaners, detergents and chemicals that improve your dishwasher’s performance and give you the best results. Chlorinated detergents can act as sanitizers to guarantee hygienic results. The auto-dosing feature will help you ensure you use the correct amount of chemicals every time you wash.

Clean and hygienic dishes, silverware and glassware aren’t optional for any nursing home, and you cannot afford to spend much time cleaning those dishes. Choosing the right commercial ware-washer can help make your kitchen efficient and serve your customers quickly during a rush.

Reach out to Sani Wash today for more information and assistance!