A practical job aid for kitchen managers and supervisors. Daily, weekly, and monthly checks that prevent the equipment damage we see most often. Print on A4 and post in the kitchen.
This protocol exists because most equipment damage in restaurant kitchens isn't caused by faulty equipment — it's caused by routine work that didn't get done. A condenser coil that nobody brushes. A drain line that nobody clears. A burner with a yellow flame that runs hot for six months until the cap cracks.
The protocol below is a complete daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance routine for a small or mid-size restaurant kitchen. The print version (top button) gives you a single A4 page you can laminate and post in the kitchen. The refrigeration temperature log is a separate sheet — one per equipment piece — designed to be printed in multiples.
If anything breaks despite the protocol, our service contact is at the bottom.
All fridges, freezers, walk-ins, display chillers. Target: chillers ≤5°C, freezers ≤-18°C. Log at start and end of every shift on the temperature log (one sheet per equipment piece). If any unit reads above target for two consecutive checks, escalate.
Refrigeration failure is the highest-cost type of damage in any kitchen. A single warm overnight spoils thousands of dirhams of stock. Logging makes the problem visible early, before the unit has fully failed.
Every burner should light blue and steady. Yellow or orange flame means blocked ports, dirty cap, or a ventilation issue. Don't use the burner until it's fixed.
Yellow flame produces carbon monoxide and runs the burner hot enough to crack the cap over time. Catching it early is a 30-second daily check that prevents a major callout.
Daily. Old oil smokes, ruins food flavour, and burns out heating elements faster. Replace based on visual + colour test, not on a calendar.
A fryer running on tired oil works the heating element harder. Most premature element failures we see come from a fryer that wasn't filtered for weeks.
Visible grease accumulation = remove and clean immediately. Don't wait for the weekly deep clean.
Built-up grease on the hood is the #1 commercial kitchen fire cause. Civil Defense inspectors check for it. The daily wipe keeps the weekly job from turning into a week-long job.
Hot water + a small amount of sanitiser down each floor drain.
Daily food-debris buildup blocks drains within a week. A blocked drain causes wet floors (slip risk), pest issues, and standing-water smells reaching the dining room.
Combi ovens, fryers, salamanders, hot displays. Reduces wear, electricity, and overnight risk.
Equipment left on overnight wears faster, costs more to run, and adds avoidable fire risk during unstaffed hours.
Wipe and check for tears.
Cold-air leakage = compressor overworking = early failure. Torn gaskets get progressively worse and are inexpensive to replace before they kill the compressor.
Wipe pans, run hot water + a teaspoon of bleach down the drain.
Water pooling in or under a fridge = clogged drain line. Missed = ice buildup on the evaporator → eventual evaporator damage and a five-figure repair.
Use the manufacturer's descaler — never substitutes.
Dubai tap water builds mineral scale fast. Scale insulates heating elements, drops cooking performance, and shortens equipment life.
Lift caps and heads, scrape carbon and food debris from ports with a soft brush or wooden skewer (never wire). Dry fully before reassembly. Reseat caps fully.
A tilted cap is the cause of half the "broken burner" callouts. Carbon buildup blocks orifices, causes uneven flame, and creates hot spots that crack the burner head.
Open the sump. Remove debris. Run a descaler cycle. Pull spray arms and clear nozzles.
Food debris in the sump kills the pump. Dubai water scales the heating element. Blocked spray arms = poor wash + extra cycles. Ten-minute weekly job replaces a major pump callout.
Per manufacturer's procedure. Sanitise the bin.
Slime buildup causes off-flavour in drinks and contamination risk. Regulators take it seriously.
Unusual noise, vibration, or weak pull = grease in ducts or motor wear. Don't ignore.
Hoods don't usually fail suddenly — they degrade audibly first. A weekly listen catches problems before the hood stops pulling air during service.
Combi oven hinges, mixer locking mechanisms, slicer guides, cart wheels.
A stiff hinge or loose guide tells you wear is happening. Five minutes of food-grade lubricant a week extends working life across the kitchen.
Vacuum or brush behind/under each unit.
The single biggest reason refrigeration runs hot then fails. Choked condensers can't dump heat, the compressor works overtime, and you lose the unit early.
Combi ovens, steamers, fryers, refrigeration thermostats. Use a calibrated probe thermometer.
Equipment thermostats drift. A combi reading 180°C while actually running at 200°C burns food and cuts element life.
Brush soapy water onto every gas hose connection and shutoff valve. Bubbles = leak. Shut the gas off at the main and call a licensed gas technician immediately. Do not relight.
Gas leaks rarely smell as strongly as people expect. Soap-water test takes ten minutes and is the most reliable check a non-specialist can do.
Look for discoloration, scorching, loose plugs, frayed cables. Anything suspicious = call your AMC provider or a licensed electrician.
Electrical fires usually announce themselves visibly long before they start. Untrained eyes can spot the obvious signs — discoloured plug fronts, melted insulation. Don't rely on luck.
Dubai Civil Defense expects commercial hoods cleaned every 3–6 months depending on cuisine type. Keep dated records.
The visible parts of the hood are only part of the system. The duct work behind it accumulates grease that you can't reach without dismantling — and that's where most kitchen fires start.
Stock common consumables on-site: water filter cartridges, dishwasher spray nozzles, fridge gasket strips, combi oven water filters.
Most callouts get delayed because the part isn't there. A small spare-parts shelf turns a two-day equipment outage into a two-hour fix.
Item 01 above ("Log cold storage temperatures") needs a place to record. Print one log per equipment piece — fridge, freezer, walk-in, display chiller — and post each near the unit. Whoever's on shift writes the AM and PM readings by hand.
Cleresdyne services commercial kitchens across the UAE — fit-out, equipment, fabrication, and maintenance contracts. Whether you're already on AMC with us or calling for the first time, we'll get someone to your kitchen.