Commercial Kitchen Layout Design Tool

Designing a Commercial Kitchen

The key to your success as a restaurant or food business is your kitchen design principles.

A strong design and carefully planned layout will make your kitchen run smoothly and efficiently, so everything must be planned long before you open for business and serve your first customer.

The golden triangle myth suggests there are three key factors, but the truth is there are five principles to the optimum restaurant kitchen design:

• Storage: Ingredients must be kept fresh, free from contamination and at the right temperature
• Food Preparation: It's vital to segregate different types of food during prep
• Meal Cooking: The cookline is the heart of the kitchen. Location of cooking equipment is vital to a smooth operation
• Service: Efficient kitchen design means front-of-house staff have easy access to the pass
• Cleaning and Washing: Plates, glasses, cutlery etc need to be washed ready for re-use

It's important that your kitchen flows. Your staff will need space to move around and have easy access to most-used points, such as cleaning stations.

These in-depth commercial kitchen design guidelines will put you in a great position to ensure your business gets it right first time.

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Commercial Kitchen Layouts

 Commercial Kitchen Layout Considerations

Plan your workspace dimensions carefully.

You'll need to make provisions for space between pieces of equipment, in front of equipment including opening doors, as well as factoring in space for staff to walk freely around the kitchen. Your restaurant or food business will depend on you getting this right.

Ergonomics:Efficiency is the order of the day when it comes to kitchens.

Whether it's a multi-functional machine saving you valuable space, or a machine that requires little energy, streamlining is important. One area this comes into play is minimising the amount of movement staff are required to undertake when going about their daily business.

Equipment should be strategically placed so that staff can take as few steps as possible, with minimal bending, reaching, walking or turning. For example, a salamander grill should be near your main oven range, and your fridge, freezer and blast chiller should be close together for fast access to refrigeration.

Creating an energy-efficient kitchen saves you money. Refrigeration and cooking equipment should be kept apart to save your refrigeration unit from overworking. Cooking equipment should also be strategically placed to promote the ventilation hoods' efficiency.

Be flexible. In the food industry, trends change quickly and what's working today might not work tomorrow.

Perhaps your chef moves on and the new one wants to change the menu – you want a design that can accommodate different styles easily. Include quick disconnects for your gas cooking equipment for optimum mobility and easy cleaning.

Commercial Kitchen Design Layout Options

There are a few options for the layout of your commercial kitchen, it'll generally come down to your personal preference and how you like your kitchen to be organised.

Your options are:

• Island style
• Zone style
• Assembly line

Island style

An island-style kitchen features one main block in the middle of the main space.

Usually the cooking equipment is in the middle, with food prep, storage and kitchen-to-serve transition areas on the outer walls. Sometimes this is reversed, with prep equipment in the centre and cooking equipment found at the perimeter.

Zone style

In a zone-style layout the kitchen is divided into different sections.

There are sections for food prep, for cooking, for refrigeration and ice machines, for sanitation and ware washing as well as a section for kitchen-to-server transition.

Assembly line

This is ideal for restaurants producing large quantities of the same food, such as pizza places or sandwich shops.

The kitchen is laid out in order of use and equipment is set up in a line, creating a conveyor belt-style operation. A pizza shop, for example, can start with the refrigerator, moving to the dough-shaping area, to the pizza prep table, then to the gas deck oven, and eventually the warming and holding station or into a pizza box.

Knowing what you'll be serving and having a clear idea for what you want your business to be will help you decide which layout is best for you.

Temperature control

A critical element of a working kitchen is temperature control. You're legally required to include adequate and effective ventilation – and it's also in your best interests to keep staff happy and your equipment running smoothly.

Kitchens can get incredibly hot, and to keep staff safe as well as comfortable, heat must be reduced. Include extraction and ventilation systems above combi ovens, fryers and all gas appliances to remove excess hot air and freshen up your kitchen.

This also helps keep staff comfortable during their long and busy shifts, ensuring morale and productivity doesn't reduce!

TIP: Storage for clean crockery should be located near the washing up station to minimise movement around the kitchen.

Food Prep

Food preparation should be positioned between bulk storage and the cooking area to ensure the correct flow is achieved. Where possible and when space allows, preparation should be segregated into different processes such as:

• Raw meat and fish prep
• Vegetable prep
• Prepared or ready cooked prep
• Poultry prep
• Pastry and dessert prep

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are increasingly keen on segregation. They like to see kitchens divided up into clearly defined areas for food prep, and you're advised to contact your local EHO so they can inspect your plans/new designs. They can offer their views and suggest any changes, such as whether there are enough hand sinks, for example.

These recommendations can prove invaluable to getting your commercial kitchen design right first time, saving you money and time in the process.

If necessary, consider chilled preparation areas for high-risk food environments. In smaller establishments where segregation is not possible, stringent regimes must be employed to ensure segregation of processes, making sure utensils and tables are suitably sanitised between processes. In addition, consider adequate refrigerated storage for prepared food.

Always keep prep areas away from the main cooking area. Having as much 'put down' space for chefs opposite or in close proximity to the cooking equipment is really important.

Whilst in a kitchen there is a 'bulk' stores area, it is vital to consider localised refrigeration. A combination of various types of under counter refrigeration can be allowed for in the design.

These types of fridges are commonly known as 'day fridges' and allow kitchen staff to take stock up the local refrigerator prior to prep starts from the main walk in fridge or freezer.

This provides a much smoother and efficient operation which cuts down on unnecessary traffic and crossover within the kitchen. In a small kitchen, these types of equipment placement are paramount to making the space work efficiently.

Sinks

Prep sinks should be provided in areas such as fish or meat prep plus veg prep.

Remember that crossover of raw product is a major issue and proper segregation of these processes should be considered. As well as preparation sinks there should always be a dedicated pot wash sink used solely for this purpose.

EHO require you to also have dedicated hand wash basins, along with adequate soap and hand drying facilities available at key points around the kitchen. To summarise key items to incorporate into preparation areas:

• Prep tables
• Under counter refrigeration
• Prep sinks (segregated)
• Pot sinks
• Hand wash facilities
• Wall shelves (wherever possible)

TIP: A heated kitchen can also affect equipment. Equipment such as fridges can lose effectiveness if the atmosphere is too hot. Polar is a renowned refrigeration brand that makes equipment you can trust to handle the heat in the kitchen, reliably keeping your ingredients at the perfect temperature.

Article: See our guide on Mental Health in the Hospitality Industry to understand more about keeping your staff engaged.

Kitchen Flow

It's essential to pre-plan how traffic flows in your kitchen.

From delivery and cooking to serving and washing, there is a process you must plan for. Mapping out your kitchen with these steps in mind minimises basic errors, for example your servers having to carry dirty plates back through the cooking area and disrupting the chefs.

Visualising how every aspect of the food service process will play out in reality is key to getting things right first time.

1. Goods in (delivery)
2. Storage: Cold or Ambient
3. Preparation
4. Cook
5. Service
6. Dishes return from dining room

Once dishes are returned, the washing up process begins:

• Crockery is scraped into either a bin or a waste disposal unit
• Baskets are loaded with crockery and pre-rinsed using a spray hose
• Baskets are then left to air dry on basket runners or placed onto an open rack. It may also be placed in a dedicated crockery store
• Clean crockery is then usually stored in the hot cupboard in the pass area

Prep, Cook and Dishes Return should be separate and never cross over in the flow design of a commercial kitchen

Knowing your menu will enable you to buy-to-fit, cutting down on unnecessary equipment which will save you space as well as money.

Spatial Planning

Smart commercial kitchen design is essential for efficiency, safety, and revenue. The first rule of designing a kitchen is to assess the following things:

• How much space is available?
• What is the menu?
• How many staff?
• How many covers?

Designing the correct facility that meets all of your requirements involves the marriage of all these things. Normally there is always a wish list that you will want to achieve but then in most cases, reality kicks in! This is normally either spatial restrictions or budget!

In simple terms the process works like this:

• The menu dictates the catering equipment and processes required
• The intended covers in conjunction with this dictate the staff required
• The staffing numbers dictate the working and circulation space
• The resulting size of the kitchen dictates the front of house area

This is when the delicate balancing act is performed between the front of house and the back of house areas. This can involve reducing the kitchen footprint by removing equipment, changing the sizes of equipment or indeed by changing the operation slightly. It can also involve rethinking the style of seating that you are using within the restaurant.

Remember, food establishments aren't just a front-of-house dining area and a back-of-house kitchen. You must factor in space for staff changing rooms and managerial offices, as well as separate areas for toilets, chemical storage, waste storage and any other activities that may contaminate food or food prep areas.

• Allocate up to 1200mm in front of storage areas with a sliding door
• 1200mm x 1200mm in front of other rooms with swinging or folding doors (such as service doors or dining rooms)
• 900mm between work surfaces

Delivery

Delivery vehicles must have adequate access to the premises. The route through to the catering area must not impede on any area customers may be found, such as a corridor, where there is a risk of public liability. The place where goods enter within the kitchen must not interfere with the flow of the kitchen or impact service.

• Location of goods received should be as near as possible to the delivery point
• Adequate room to allow catering staff to enter and exit the kitchen without being impeded by trolleys and crates (Health and Safety)
• An allowance of racking and table space as a minimum
• Allowance for scales (if required)

Consider what produce will be delivered and how often. Whether it's entirely fresh produce or perhaps a mix of fresh, pre-prepared and frozen, this will determine what equipment is needed as well as have a bearing on storage and prep storage.

When a delivery is received, it is usually weighed instantly to let chefs know if the order is the size it should be. The last thing you need is to get to Friday and discover you've run out of food just in time for a busy weekend, so weighing the delivery is a simple way to make sure you're set for the week.

You need heavy duty weighing scales that will be large enough to take the weight but also be convenient enough for easy storage. Choose from either analog or digital scales.

TIP: Ideally your delivery point will be in an area that does not require delivery personnel to enter the kitchen and food prep areas. This helps with hygiene as well as ensuring kitchen work flow is uninterrupted.

Commercial Kitchen Storage

Types of storage include:

Refrigerated Storage: Space permitting, a walk-in cold room is the ideal that most chefs and operators require. They allow a lot more storage space which can often mean cost savings due to bulk ordering on key ingredients. They also allow easier access to goods and produce which speeds up operation but also allows easier management of use-by dates and product cycles, ensuring that quality of product is never in question. In cases where space is limited, refrigerated cabinets are sometimes the only option.

Freezer Storage: The preferred choice would be a walk-in freezer store but when designing smaller environments this is normally one of the luxuries to be sacrificed. Walk-in freezer stores differ from cold stores in the fact that they need an insulated floor to maintain its optimum temperature. This is achieved by having either a raised floor creating a step into the room or by creating a recess in the slab so that the finished surface of the freezer room can be flush with the surrounding floor heights, thus creating the ability to roll in trolleys directly. In a lot of cases, freezer storage capacity is created using upright standalone cabinets, especially where space is at a premium.

Dry Storage: A lockable dry storage room is a must in a kitchen environment and houses all of the ambient goods that are used – whether it's tinned or canned goods, spices or fresh produce. Similar to the freezer room, when you are designing a smaller environment and space is limited, then lockable wall cupboards and four-tier rackings are viable options.

Non-Food Storage – Non-perishable and disposables: This can be napkins, paper cups, paper plates, till rolls, order books or anything similar. It's never a large space consideration but it's something you have to plan for.

Crockery Storage: Allocation of adequate space for crockery should be in an area that is clean and free from grease, water and dirty items. It's normally located near to the exit table of the dish-wash area and nowhere near a pre-rinse spray. In larger facilities, incorporate a separate crockery store due to a kitchen's air pollution. In most cases, the crockery is redistributed into the pass area, ready to be re-used. To minimise movement around the kitchen, crockery should ideally be stored near a washing up facility.

COSHH Storage (Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health): An important part of any commercial kitchen is the chemicals and equipment used to keep it clean and hygienic. A lockable COSHH room with a bucket and janitor's sink is again ideal. However due to limited space in the average commercial kitchen, this is normally replaced by a lockable metal COSHH cabinet.

Remember that cleaning and sanitation chemicals cannot be stored above food, food equipment, utensils, dishes, or disposables such as cups or plastic cutlery.

Other storage requirements to keep in mind are staff lockers, returned and recalled food, packaging material and general waste.

TIP: Wherever possible, bulk storage should be as near as possible to the goods received area to allow easy dispersion of goods to their storage area without interfering with other catering operations. The amount of storage required for a kitchen should never be underestimated.

Commercial Catering Equipment Grouping and Positioning

Kitchen Equipment Grouping

The type of restaurant, size of your budget, the menu and the amount of space you have will all play a role in determining what equipment you need to purchase and how it's laid out.

Each piece of cooking equipment (aside from microwave ovens) must be placed under a ventilation hood which ensures your kitchen is free from cooking effluent, heat and moisture.

Catering Equipment Positional tips

• Separate fryers from other cooking equipment to prevent oil splashes and splatters. Place a small commercial work table or fry-holding bin and heat lamp between.
• Isolate your simmering/boiling liquids by keeping steam kettles, tilting skillets and stock pot ranges near one end of your cooking block.

All cooking equipment should be under a suitably ventilated canopy with appropriate overhangs to all sides. Canopies should have removable and washable filters to alleviate grease and particle build up. It is also advised that, in particularly greasy environments, carbon and grease filters be placed in the ductwork also. Extraction systems need to be calculated on the cooking equipment beneath it, especially when gas equipment is involved.

Access panels to all parts of the ductwork is also required for maintenance. All extraction systems need to meet the current requirements of the Health and Safety executive.

The size and specification of the ductwork and fans will be calculated from what equipment requires extraction and also the distance between the canopy and the final extract point from the building.

Article: Find out our top tips on How to Budget for Catering Equipment.

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Materials and Pipe Work

Materials

Having a kitchen which is easy to clean is essential. A dirty kitchen will not just run the risk of breaching hygiene laws, but it will also impact on the performance of your equipment – leading to wear-and-tear and eventual need for replacements.

Surfaces which will come into contact with food must not absorb grease, food particles or water. Stainless steel is the optimum material here, as it is durable and can withstand chemicals for easy cleaning.

It comes in various grades. Stainless steel must have a minimum grade of 304 to be used in a commercial kitchen. This is because it has a low content of iron and will not rust.

Iron and mild steel is not suitable for use in a kitchen. Generally, nor is timber. Plastic laminate and solid surface materials are suitable surfaces for food preparation. All surfaces should be non-porous (meaning liquid or air cannot pass through) and must be replaced when scratched or damaged.

Pipe Work

• Main pipe work within commercial kitchens should be 50mm
• Short connections of appliances to main pipe work should be 40mm
• Wash hand basin connections to pipes should be 32mm
• Pipe work should be a minimum of 20mm from walls to allow for clearing underneath
• All pipe runs should be provided with adequate supports
• The fitting of concealed pi es in block walls "by chasing method" must be authorised by a structural engineer to ensure wall integrity
• Extreme care should be taken to ensure walls are not chas ed too deeply on each side to accept services
• Connections from fittings should enter walls between 200mm-250mm from finished floor level

Cleaning and Waste

Commercial Kitchen Cleaning and Hygiene

Hygiene is of paramount importance and food premises must adhere to a high standard of cleanliness, ensuring there is no accumulation of food waste, dirt or grease. Nothing must compromise the safety of food and it's essential you purchase high quality cleaning equipment. Sanitiser should be used with a dry wipe and spray, and never put down the sink or drains.

Each prep area should have its own dedicated sinks and wash hand basins to prevent cross contamination – and these basins should be separate with a physical air/gap for further protection. Colour coding is an excellent method to combat cross contamination.

Walls and floors should be cleaned with a suitable cleaning agent to leave a pristine surface with all bacteria sufficiently removed. Sanitiser is not suitable for this.

Sanitiser is suitable for touch surfaces such as handles, table tops, doors, wash hand basins, switches and cutlery boards. Use a spray bottle and paper towels, making sure to remove all organic matter. Knives, cooking and drinking utensils should be cleaned in a dish/glass washer. Utensils used by multiple people should be sanitised after each use.

Wash hand basins must be positioned so that any water droplets falling from the basins don't come into contact with any surrounding work surfaces or places where bacteria can gather.

The water temperature in sinks in a commercial kitchen should be between 46°C-48°C for washing operations, and no less than 80°C when sanitising takes place at the sink. Space must also be provided for holding, draining and drying.

To dispose of waste water, such as from floor washing, a janitorial sink with hose connections must be provided in a separate room.

Dishwashers must operate with a wash temperature between 55°C and 56°C. The temperature for the final rinse, to provide thermal disinfection for the dishwasher, must be at 82°C or above for a minimum of 12 seconds.

TIP: Utensils which are used for eating or drinking and food contact surfaces must be sanitised to prevent food contamination.

Waste

Waste management is key to a hygienic operation. Waste that needs to be disposed of includes food wastage, grease, general rubbish and recyclables. Examples of food wastage include unsafe, unsuitable, recalled/returned, out-of-date and previously served food.

Waste facilities should be located at the food prep area, and near the washing area for the served-but-uneaten food.

These waste facilities are usually bins with lids lined with green bio-degradable bags. Bins must be easily accessed in all areas of the kitchen and be fitted with a secure lid.

If a room is used for waste collection, it should be away from food storage and prep areas due to risk of contamination. Recyclable materials such as bottles and cans are usually put into bins or crates in the kitchen and then moved to outdoor bins or a separate room for collection.

Any rubbish chutes should be made of stainless steel. Empty grease traps and arrestors should be emptied by a qualified person regularly.

Waste containers should be stainless steel, due to its durability, and clearly identified.

Waste storage containers must be kept separately away from food locations, with suitable ventilation and free from pests. You should ensure that water from cleaning exits through a drain into a grease trap and doesn't mix with other areas.

TIP: Food waste should be removed and stored in containers suitable for waste disposal services to handle. They must be easy to clean, prevent contamination and kept in good condition.

Kitchen Lighting, Walls and Flooring

Kitchen Lighting

The necessity for good lighting in your kitchen is obvious. However there are many things to consider to make sure you have right level of light; for example, your kitchen should be free from glare and reflections. You'll also need to make sure you choose the right bulb.

Consider: Natural light, required luminance levels (lux), surface reflections, emergency lighting.

The clear benefit of natural light is cost and efficiency, however as your kitchen will almost certainly be used late into the night, your main source of light will be artificial. Windows in the kitchen should preferably be less than 10 per cent of the total floor area, looking out to the sky or open spaces.

Give careful consideration to the positioning of windows and skylights to minimise glare. The recommended illuminance level for a commercial kitchen's general working area is 160 lux. For food preparation, cooking and washing areas the luminance should be 240 lux. Dessert presentations and cake decorating require 400-800 lux.

Light reflects off walls, ceilings, floors and surfaces. Colour, material and finish of these surfaces needs to be thought about, as the reflectance can be a factor in the luminance level of the area. Good visibility is paramount to a smooth-running kitchen.

Emergency lighting must be included to ensure patrons and staff will be safely evacuated if the situation calls for it. Emergency lighting turns on automatically from its own power supply whenever there is a power failure.

TIP: To ensure you're compliant with regulations it is recommended you consult qualified electrical engineers, designers and/or tradesmen.

Walls

Wall finishes must be resistant to grease, food particles and water. It must be smooth and even, with no exposed fixings, buckles or ledges. As hygiene is vital to a commercial kitchen, the wall surfaces must also be easy to clean.

Things to consider:

1. Ceramic tiles with anti-bacterial grout
2. Maintain a minimum 1200mm wide free-draining paved surface around the premises
3. Install fly screens where windows can be opened
4. Cover external vents with mesh
5. Seal the junctions of external walls and roofs

To ensure storage areas are free from pests you should inspect stock daily, exercise regular rotation of stock, as well as making sure store room racks are 600mm from the walls for easy cleaning and inspection.

Invest in insect control devices such as electronic insect killers placed at entrances to tackle the problem as it arrives. A filter should be fitted to ensure flies and insects don't enter the kitchen through ventilation.

Where food is likely to be dropped, insect baits such as cockroach baits will eliminate crawling pests – although they should not be placed anywhere where they can cause food contamination.

Commercial Kitchen Flooring

When considering surfaces for your kitchen floor, you must choose materials which have a non-slip surface. Appropriate surfaces include:

• Stainless steel with a non-slip profile and welded joints
• Ceramic tiles with epoxy grouting
• Steel trowel case hardened concrete with epoxy sealant
• Quarry tiles with impervious sealer
• Polyvinyl sheet or tiles with heat welded joints

It's important to remember that the junction of floor and wall surfaces can be a hot bed for contamination due to grease and dirt. Consider coving the junction to make it easier to clean.

TIP: Flooring must be easy to clean and not absorb grease, food, water, harbour pests and not cause water to pool.

Restaurant Fire Safety, Access and First Aid

Fire Safety

Fire hazards are real and every precaution should be taken to prevent fires and contain them when they do break out. It's vital to make sure you take fire safety seriously.

The most common cause of serious fires in commercial kitchens is over-heating of deep fryer oil. Therefore it is recommended that all extinguishers and blankets are suitable for hot oil fires and that they are serviced regularly by a licensed engineer. You want to be sure they are fit for purpose, lives may depend on it!

There is no set number in terms of how many fire extinguishers are needed as this depends on the size of your kitchen. They should be:

• Preferably placed near the exit route in a high-traffic area
• Easy to access
• 100mm high from the floor
• Kept within 2 and 20m from risk of cooking oils and fats blazes – ideally within 10m
• Kept within 40m from appliances at risk of electrical fires

Fire blankets are only to be used to extinguish small cooking and clothing fires. They must be either rectangular or square, with no side bigger than 1.8m and no smaller than 0.9m, and weighing no more than 10kg. It must be folded so that it can be opened in under four seconds, and inspected (along with emergency lighting) every 12 months. They must be kept in an obvious and accessible place. Generally, there should be one fire blanket per five fire hazards within the same area.

TIP: Emergency devices should be placed in different parts of the kitchen and should be serviced at least once a year.

Access

Your design must promote safe and convenient movement around the workplace, access to all parts of the workplace and safe emergency escape routes. Exits must be clearly signposted and free from obstruction in case of emergency.

One exit is required if a space is small enough so that any one point is a maximum 20m from an exit, otherwise two or more are required which comply with building regulations.

The escape route must have 2000mm of space vertically and 1000mm horizontally, aside from doorways. Ensure vehicles cannot block exits, simply by placing suitable barriers.

Emergency exits must lead to designated safety areas.

Consider people with disabilities, ensuring safe and suitable access where reasonable.

First Aid

As per UK regulation, one basic first aid kit should be on site for every 50 staff working at any one time. For 50 to 100 staff, an occupational first aid kit is needed. Two kits are required if you have more than 100 staff.

First aid kits should be kept in an obvious and accessible place, ideally mounted on a wall. Kits must be on every level of a multi-level kitchen.

TIP: All staff must have a first aid kit within 100m of their regular work position.

One Size Doesn't Fit All

Of course, every kitchen is different and what works in one place might not necessarily work in another.

Everything boils down to your individual circumstance – the size and style of your building, planning permission, budget (Nisbets does offer a leasing option to keep start-up costs down), your menu and local area demographic.

Ultimately, your kitchen may have its own specific requirements, but this guide will get you on your way to a commercial kitchen design that will work for you.

Commercial Kitchen Layout Design Tool

Source: https://www.nisbets.co.uk/designing-commercial-kitchen

Posted by: penaectilow.blogspot.com

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