Food-service deep cleans — restaurants, cafeterias, food prep
Lesson 3 of 5 in Specialty Cleaning — Healthcare, Food Service & Post-Construction · 22 minutes
Cleaning a kitchen at 11 p.m. when the restaurant closes is a different beast: hot equipment, grease, food code, and tight time windows. This lesson covers the standards (food-grade chemicals, the wash-rinse-sanitize cycle, public-health inspections).
What you'll learn
- Apply the wash-rinse-sanitize cycle correctly
- Use food-safe chemicals (avoid contamination)
- Identify the high-risk areas inspectors check
- Work safely with hot equipment and grease
From the lesson
Food-service deep cleaning is governed by provincial food-safety regulations and inspected by public health (in Ontario, by Toronto Public Health, Peel Public Health, etc.). Restaurants and cafeterias are inspected unannounced; bad cleaning can shut a business down for days. This makes the deep clean both technically demanding and time-pressured. The work pays $20-$28/hour with experience, especially in commercial kitchens, and overnight shifts often command a premium.
1. The wash-rinse-sanitize cycle
Every food-contact surface in Canada must be cleaned in three steps:
Wash: Detergent and water remove dirt, food residue, grease. Surfactant-based.
Rinse: Plain water removes detergent residue.…