If you’re thinking about putting them to use in a commercial kitchen, there are so many possibilities in front of you! However, you’ll of course want to make sure installation goes smoothly and commercial standards are met.
Here is our brief guide on stone countertop considerations for your commercial kitchen:
1. Consider Design Standards for Commercial Kitchens
There are a variety of resources available to assist you in determining how to design your commercial kitchen. Before you order a countertop, review the Food Code of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It may help establish a couple of essential concerns. Whatever countertop you choose, chances are it will need to be washable, durable, and legal to be used in commercial spaces.
A formal and legal business structure is required since, as a foodservice operator, you are subject to specific regulatory requirements. It is your responsibility to determine what they are.
They should be considered early on, regardless of whether they originate at the state level or from a more local governmental entity. Begin during the design phase of your project. You may start by contacting your local authorities to find out about any relevant commercial kitchen design standards that may exist. They should be able to lead you in the direction of helpful information and other helpful people.
2. Select a Material That’s Easily Cleaned
Even a seemingly innocuous phrase such as “easily cleanable” is given additional significance by the Food Code. It turns out that the definition calls for a surface that allows for efficient removal of dirt by conventional cleaning techniques. Fortunately, you can clean most stone countertops with standard cleaning techniques. However, be sure to check with your stone expert to ensure that this is the case before proceeding.
You’ll likely be given special cleaning instructions for surfaces that come into touch with food. Once you’ve determined what they are or at the very least have a general notion, you’ll want to use that information when making your countertop decision.
3. Look For a Long-lasting Piece
If your work surface is exposed to heavy usage regularly, it must be both long-lasting and resilient. However, the kind of job you’re performing may have an impact on how durable you need it to be. Consider the difference between the effects of continuous cutting and the effects of measuring and tamping espresso. Determine your needs concerning the work you’ll be doing on a surface due to this discovery process.
4. Determine Which Area of Your Commercial Kitchen You Want to Highlight
It’s important to note that the word “kitchen” may refer to a variety of different things depending on how you’re interpreting it. So, let’s suppose you decide not to utilize a specific soft natural stone since it would be a poor choice for a food preparation area. However, this does not rule out the possibility of it being implemented in other scenarios. Perhaps you’ve decided that it would look great on a bar top near the food preparation area for purely aesthetic reasons.
5. Consult with the Professionals
In addition to the Food Code, you may seek advice from local authorities, an experienced commercial builder, or your stone expert for further specifics on your project. They may have placed a stone in other business establishments. As a result, they may already have a well-developed understanding of what is permissible in your kitchen. Furthermore, they may be aware of more than just what is permissible but also what is desirable.
Consider Hawk Industries for your Commercial Kitchen Countertops!
Before placing an order for a countertop, creating a well-thought-out kitchen design is beneficial. An optimized restaurant kitchen design may assist in making your workers’ tasks simpler, increasing the efficiency of your kitchen flow, and even reducing the likelihood of accidents.
If you are looking for the best kitchen countertop installation provider for your business, Hawk Industries is a top choice! We are your professionals, with a long experience of providing excellent customer service in the commercial industry. Make an appointment today to see our showroom.
