The festive season is a time to be celebrated by your catering business; an inundation of merry revellers more than happy to part with their cash in the name of good cheer. The steep rise in demand, however, runs the danger of overburdening your ovens, slicers, mixers and heated presses.

Preventative maintenance can mean the difference between happy holidays and a nightmare before Christmas. LLK’s little helpers- aka. our team of catering equipment engineers, have thoughtfully prepared little parcels of wisdom in the form of their top equipment care tips that they would love to share with you.  Without further ado, here are LLK Service Engineers’ 12 Tips for Christmas;

On the first day of the Christmas rush, make sure your Christmas turkey is cut super precisely by sharpening your slicer. Use the stones that sit atop the blade to do this (if these need replacing, we’re all stocked up!). Check out this simple how to video showing exactly how to keep your slicer’s performance ‘sleigh’ing.

On the second day of the Christmas rush, when oiling your Heated Press’ plates ready for pressing, make sure you wipe the excess oil off using some paper towel- this prevents the oil from burning onto the plate and ‘Claus’ing unsightly stains (though watch out for burnt fingers- ‘elf’ and safety first!)

On the third day of the Christmas rush, turn the lights off in your oven before doing your daily burn off; the cleaning procedure wherein you whack your ovens heat up to 400 degrees Celsius, turn it off and leave it to cool overnight and sweep away the charred bits in the morning with an oven brush and vacuum any debris). This will prolong the life of your bulbs and keep your oven lit up like a Christmas tree year round!

On the fourth day of the Christmas rush, check the maximum load of your mixer before stuffing it like a stocking. Matching your increase in demand by overburdening your mixer can burn out the motor and result in a costly repair. Invest in a heavy weight mixer that can take on the challenge of a heaving restaurant with ease.

On the fifth day of the Christmas rush, ‘ho ho ho’-ld the water when cleaning your slicer. Water will interfere with the bearings in the slicer, causing highly disruptive breakdowns during your busiest period. Instead, we recommend you use specialised food machine oil to clean your kit(again, we are stocked up with this so you can get your bottle with us).

On the sixth day of the Christmas rush, remember to totally cover your snowballs- SORRY, doughballs- in flour prior to flattening on the Heated Press. Forgetting this tip will result in sticky plates which take plenty of precious time to clean- oh deer…

On the seventh day of the Christmas rush, ‘spruce’ up your oven’s stone base with a wire oven brush NOT water. Much like how potholes are created in roads, water will crack your brick over time which means putting your pizza output on pause until a pricey repair has been performed. ‍

On the eighth day of the Christmas rush, oil the runners which your planetary mixer’s bowl sits on to keep it running smoothly. ‘Yule’ thank us later!

On the ninth day of the Christmas rush, ‘rein’ in using acidic foods on your slicer as the acid presents a double threat: it will corrode the parts it comes into contact with, plus the liquid can cause damage to the inner workings of the machine.  

On the tenth day of the Christmas rush, operate your Heated Press carefully using just 2 fingers. Allowing the festive stress to get to you and taking it out on your Press will only result in a broken guard and a lots more problems!

On the eleventh day of the Christmas rush, maximise your pizza oven’s capabilities. If your regular oven is jam packed full of dishes for a party of 20 on a work’s Christmas do, why not allow your pizza oven to take on some of the workload? A Cuppone pizza oven is capable of cooking steak, veggies, fish, lasagne and so much more than just delicious stone baked pizza.

On the twelfth day of the Christmas rush, give your equipment the gift of a thorough service with an experienced professional. This will guarantee you peace of mind that your commercial kitchen is fighting fit for the festive season. To book in for a service with our a member of our team of catering equipment engineers, call 0161 696 0052 or email service@linda-lewis.co.uk!