Kitchen Closing & Cleanup Checklist
Cooking Equipment Breakdown
Pour drained oil into the rendering tank out back and note the gallon level. Mahoney/DAR/Restaurant Technologies pickup is scheduled when the tank reads above the fill line — flag the GM if the tank is full so a pickup gets scheduled before next service.
Line and Prep Surfaces
Pull all sixth-pans and cambros from the wells, transfer leftover product to labeled deli containers with date and use-by, and run inserts through the dish pit. Wipe wells, lowboys, and reach-in handles with quat sanitizer at 200-400 ppm.
Color-coded boards (red meat, green produce, yellow poultry, blue seafood) get scrubbed with hot soapy water, rinsed, then dipped in sanitizer for at least 30 seconds. Stand vertically to air-dry — stacking wet boards traps moisture and grows bacteria.
Test the third-bay sanitizer with a quat or chlorine test strip before final wash-down. Quat: 200-400 ppm. Chlorine: 50-100 ppm. Log the reading on the sanitation form for the inspector.
Walk-In and Dry Storage
Cold-holding requires 41°F or below. Use the calibrated probe thermometer, not the unit's display dial. Record on the cooler temp log; gaps in the log are a critical violation in most jurisdictions.
If the walk-in is reading above 41°F, do not assume the gauge is wrong. Move TCS items to a working unit, call the refrigeration vendor for after-hours service, and document the discovery time. Product held above 41°F for more than 4 hours must be discarded.
Front-rotate everything by use-by date. Anything past date goes in the waste log with weight and reason — do not just trash it silently, the GM uses the waste log to spot prep over-production and theft patterns.
Dish Pit Shutdown
Drain the wash and rinse tanks, pull and rinse the scrap screens and curtains, and wipe the wash arms. Once a week (Sunday close), de-lime per the Hobart/Jackson manual; mineral buildup is the most common reason machines fail to hit final-rinse temp.
High-temp machines need 180°F at the final rinse (use the thermolabel or built-in gauge). Low-temp chemical-sanitizing machines need chlorine at 50-100 ppm at the rinse arm. Log the reading.
Floors, Walls, and Hoods
Take rubber mats out back and hose them down — never leave them stacked wet on the line. Degrease the floor under the fryers and grill where slip-and-fall risk is highest, then mop with a fresh bucket of disinfectant.
Dry P-traps let sewer gas back up into the kitchen overnight. A gallon of water per drain at close is the cheapest fix for the morning smell complaint.
Trash and Closing Sign-Off
Lid down, cage locked, no bags on the ground — open trash is the #1 attractant for rodents and the fastest way to fail your next health inspection. If the dumpster is full, call the hauler before you leave so it gets serviced before tomorrow's prep delivery.
Closing manager walks the line, verifies all stations are broken down, lights and gas mains are off, back door is locked, and signs the closing log. Anything not completed gets flagged for the opening manager so it doesn't get buried.