Daily routine in the café: cleanliness and hygiene

You, as a café operator, are legally obliged to establish HACCPprinciples for your establishmentprior to commencing operations . The abbreviation HACCP is based on the English words Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. Hence, it refers toHazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. When implementing HACCP in your café, you are basing it on the production processes that will becarried out during daily operations. You think about the steps of these processes, understand the risks they may entail, and create control points to avoid these risks.

HYGIENE FIRST

The content of your HACCP depends on what you will be selling and processing. If you have a smaller coffee stall, a simpler version of HACCP covering the necessary hygiene requirements will be sufficient. In the case of a large restaurant, you will need a full HACCP. You can ask yourlocal health post for helpin drawing up this document , or you can use the services of professionals who deal with HACCP.

WHAT IS HACCP

Practically, HACCP means being aware of how, what and where we work. Thinking about the moments that may mean the product going to the customer is spoiled and preventing our guest from being in a health hazard because of a bad or poorly processed product.

Dangers that can put your customer at risk may have:

Biological (microorganisms, viruses, parasites, pests) ,
chemical (toxins and contamination)
or physical in nature (foreign objects) .

Once you are aware of these hazards, determine when the risk of spoilage of your product is highest - the critical points - and determine how to control the product to avoid these hazards.

HYGIENE IN PRACTICE

Put your established HACCP into practice and require your employees to follow it. This means that the normal workload of café staff is not just about making coffee and interacting with customers. It includes tasks that are based on HACCP, i.e. maintaining a clean and hygienic establishment - your café .

The work in a café is largely made up of activities involving cleaning and caring for the café's raw materials and equipment. In addition to the ongoing washing of used utensils, it is important to wipe down table surfaces, the bar and areas where drinks and snacks are prepared. Also areas where raw materials are stored. Typically bar fridges. Theoverall cleanliness of the café should not be forgotten, as should dirty tiles or hard-to-reach areas.

PROPER STORAGE

Once you accept, purchase, new ingredients, the responsibility for their "condition" is yours. Do not purchase or accept raw materials in damaged condition, with worn packaging. Store them where they belong as quickly as possible. Make sure thatthe storage location matches the requirements of the raw material, for example, that the refrigerator has not stopped cooling, which could cause themilk to sour quickly. When replenishing ingredients and products, follow the FIFO - First In First Out system. That is, older goods should be at the front of the shelf (store, fridge) to be used first in operation. Keep an eye on theexpiry date on raw materials and throw away the expired ones immediately. Keep unpacked raw materials in suitable containers, sealed and date stamped.

CLEANLINESS OF PERSONNEL

In addition to the handling of raw materials, regular hygiene checks will certainly be of interest to staff. That is, whether they are all fit to work in the catering industry. Therefore, have copies of all your staff' sfood licenceson hand in the café . Employees themselves shouldlook clean and observe personal hygiene, especially when it comes toregular hand washing and disinfection. Despite keeping their hands clean, café staff shouldminimise touching the product or utensils intended for the customer.

In some cases this is logical. For example, scooping a cake or other dessert with a scoop or other utensil designed for that purpose and not with your bare hand. Just as you serve a glass of wine held by a stem, coffee deserves to be served neatly and hygienically. Therefore, hold the cup by the handle, which is designed for gripping, and do not touch the place where the guest puts his mouth when drinking, i.e. the top of the cup.

CARE OF CAFÉ EQUIPMENT

Inaddition to the general environment, raw materials and staff, thecleanliness of the equipment used in the work is also important for hygiene reasons . The most important tools in a café are the grinder and the coffee machine. They are the main machines that allow the preparation of coffee - the most important product of the café. Thebarista cleans the coffee machine during his entire shift. He continuously cleans the levers, strainers and flushes the showers in the machine heads. After each whisk, cleans and blows out the steam nozzle. He also cleans the drip section of the machine.

Aroutine "bath" of the coffee makercomponents occurs every evening . Thebarista cleans the coffee machine heads by backwashing using blind sieves and cleaning chemicals. Hemechanically cleans the coffee residue around the seals. Hecleans the coffee machinenozzles using the correct milkway cleaning chemistry . breaks down the leversand strainers and leaves them soaked overnight in abath of coffee chemistry. In the morning, the barista removes the levers, washes and folds them. He starts the machine and sets about making the first espresso.

When cleaning the machine, be sure to clean the drip tray and the loger residue lodged underneath it at the mouth of the waste hose.

MAINTENANCE OF YOUR COFFEE MACHINE

Once in a while, depending on the use of the coffee machine, you should also disassemble the shower heads and clean them thoroughly. If the shower head or gasket has deteriorated, replace them withnew ones. Also keep an eye on the steam nozzle tips and seals. Despite using water filtration, it is important to descale the machine regularly . If you don't know how to take care of your coffee maker this thoroughly, don't be afraid to contact us. We can help you get your coffee machine back in shape.

HOW TO CLEAN THE GRINDER

Aclean coffee machine comes with a clean grinder. It tends to get (poor) neglected a lot. The grinding gear is hidden away so it's not so obvious. The coffee shop staff doesn't really pay much attention to it and just sweeps the coffee from around it. If such an ignorant barista would take a closer look at the grinder, he would find out the repulsive truth about his grinder. About the rancidity of the coffee fats on the hopper walls, about the sediment and old coffee in the bowels of the grinder. Coffee, like any other natural raw material, is affected by oxygen, aging, deterioration, and as it ages, it encourages the growth of microorganisms that make their way into the guest's cup with the next grind.

Yet all it takes is a few extra steps to keep the grinder grinding happily for years and the coffee not only a health-friendly beverage, but one that tastes delicious. Dirt in the coffee machine and grinder affects the taste of the coffee itself. At the end of a shift, the grinder hopper should be wiped and degreased and the interior of the grinder cleaned. For this you need a brush and a vacuum cleaner. Make a note of the grinding coarseness setting and remove the top grinding stone. Use the vacuum cleaner to vacuum up the coffee residue, using the mechanical cleaning brush to help you. Do not forget to vacuum the outlet of the grinder where the ground coffee falls out.