Some people are scared of the monster under the bed; we’re more concerned about what’s lurking in the shadows inside foodservice kitchens. Cross-contamination, wasted food and creepy critters could be running rampant in your walk-in unbeknownst to you. We’re digging deep into the lost corners of your rusty shelving to show you the scariest things hiding in your kitchen and how to get rid of them without having to perform an exorcism!
1. Dangerous, unhygienic metal speed racks
Metal speed racks have been a kitchen staple forever. Despite becoming grimy, corroded and broken, they serve an essential purpose and up until 2018, there simply weren’t any better options on the market. After years spent in kitchens and speaking with chefs, we knew there had to be a better way. We designed the Ultimate Sheet Pan Rack be everything traditional speed racks aren’t.
- Rust-free: Made with the same durable composite plastic materials as Elements XTRA Camshelving®, our rack has a lifetime warranty against rust and corrosion.
- Molded-in Rails: The Ultimate Sheet Pan Rack has no crossbars, screws or welds–eliminating any potential points of weakness.
- Corrosion-free Casters: Plastic casters with a centered stem provide greater stability and won’t corrode and rust inside coolers, freezers or environments where moisture is present.
2. Cardboard boxes of produce
The cardboard boxes holding the produce in your kitchen have seen some things—and none of them are good. During their travels, they likely picked up some sinister hitchhikers along the way. When you bring them inside your storage spaces, they make themselves at home! Avoid inviting creepy crawlies into your kitchen by immediately taking produce out when it’s received and storing it in Camwear® Food Boxes instead. Use these food safe containers to easily check inventory while decreasing your risk of contamination when using a lid.
3. Rusty Shelving
Rusty shelving is the devil you know, and it’s good at convincing you that it’s not that bad. Unfortunately, it really is that bad, and for a number of reasons. Keeping your storage spaces clean is imperative and rusty shelving makes that nearly impossible. When employees try to clean rusty shelving, they have a labor intensive process ahead of them that includes taking everything off the shelving, dragging it outside and pressure washing it to the best of their abilities. There is truly no way to thoroughly clean rusty shelving, so eventually you have to get rid of it and buy more. It can feel like an endless cycle, until you get Camshelving.
Camshelving Premium Series is made of smooth composite plastic wrapped around solid steel cores that will never rust or corrode and is designed to truly last forever. Shelf plates lift off to be run through a dishwasher while shelf traverses can be easily wiped clean with a cloth. The difference is palpable!
4. Mummified Food Pans
In some kitchens, it’s Halloween every day! When we see a shelving unit holding dozens of plastic wrapped food pans, we can’t help but let out a shriek. Using plastic wrap instead of a lid does a disservice to your food, your storage and the environment. If plastic wrap is barely covering a food pan, it leaves it susceptible to cross-contamination. Even if it’s completely mummified, you can’t safely stack them, so you either lose storage space or have them stacked precariously waiting for an accident to happen.
Simply using a Cambro Lid on your food pans solves all of these problems. Food is properly covered, pans can safely stack and storage space is used efficiently.
5. Cracked Deli Containers
No haunted kitchen is complete without cracked deli containers on the precipice of being thrown into the trash. We know chefs and deli containers go together like Morticia and Gomez, but delis have some toxic behaviors you are ignoring. Have you ever ruined a sauce because you accidentally broke a deli container? After a couple uses, deli containers start to smell, and when they’re stored in cold temperatures, they can become cracked and broken down. And worst of all—many foodservice operations throw away thousands upon thousands of deli containers each month.
CamSquares® FreshPro Minis were created to be a sustainable alternative to deli containers. Made with a translucent material that is easy to clean, CamSquares FreshPro Minis withstand temperatures -40°F to 160°F (-40°C to 70°C) and are acid, stain and odor resistant. With CamSquares FreshPro Minis, you never have to throw away a deli container again.
6. Tape-Covered Food Storage Containers
Labeling your Cambro food storage containers with tape invites a host of spine-chilling problems into your kitchen. For starters, most containers are marked with only a name and a date—but is it the dreaded expiration date or the day the food was prepared? The mystery can lead to perfectly good food being needlessly sacrificed to the trash bin, much like victims in a horror story.
But the real terror lies in the tape itself. In the damp, steamy corners of the kitchen, tape becomes a breeding ground for sinister bacteria. Over time, it loosens, giving these microscopic monsters a place to fester and multiply. While the tape clings to the outside of containers, cross-contamination can still strike from the shadows, turning your kitchen into a haunted house of hygiene horrors.
StoreSafe® Food Rotation Labels are a food safe solution for clearly labeling containers. StoreSafe labels are printed with lines for the item, prep and expiration dates and an employee initial to eliminate any confusion. Plus, StoreSafe labels are biodegradable and 100% dissolvable in the dishwasher, so you’ll never have to worry a sticky residue being left behind.
7. Dented hotel pans
Don’t let devious dented hotel pans turn your kitchen into a nightmare! Those sneaky dents can wreak havoc, throwing temperature control into chaos in your steam tables and unleashing a curse of unidentifiable madness in your storage. Thankfully, our High Heat H-Pans™ were made to banish these kitchen problems! Safe in temperatures ranging from a bone-chilling -40°F (-40°C) to a blistering 375°F (190°C), these supernatural pans are impervious to dents, chips and warps and are transparent enough to see what’s inside without having to remove the lid. Unlike their ghastly metal counterparts that quickly lose their gleam, High Heat H-Pans ensure your food stays at the perfect temperature and stack like a dream.
Don’t let your kitchen become filled with creatures that go bump in the night. With a few strategic upgrades and proper maintenance, you can banish these skulking threats and keep your foodservice operation running smoothly—no supernatural intervention required!
AUTHOR: ADRIANA COCHRAN IS THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT CAMBRO.
