Daily Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

End-of-shift cleaning and sanitation routine for a restaurant kitchen, run by the closing manager and BOH crew. Covers cooking stations, walk-ins, dish pit, floors, and the safety walk that leaves the line ready for tomorrow's open.

Use this workflow
1

Cooking Stations

  1. Break down and degrease the flat top

    • Scrape the flat top while still warm, then apply degreaser per the manufacturer's dwell time. The line cook on grill station owns this; skipping the dwell is the most common reason carbon builds up week over week and the salamander starts smoking on Saturday lunch.

  2. Filter the fryer oil and check clarity

    • Filter at end of shift and log the date. Record whether the oil is clear, hazy, or needs replacement tomorrow — dark/smoky oil throws off fry color and shortens shelf life of the next batch.

    Collects list
  3. Sanitize prep surfaces and cutting boards

    • Wash, rinse, and sanitize each station's prep table and color-coded boards. Allergen-dedicated boards (purple) get washed separately to prevent cross-contact — never in the same sink water as raw protein boards.

  4. Restock line stations to par

    • Refill backups against the prep sheet so AM prep walks into a stocked line. Note any 86 items so the sous chef can adjust tomorrow's prep list.

2

Refrigeration and Storage

  1. Log walk-in and reach-in temperatures

    • Walk-in cooler must read 41°F or below; freezer 0°F or below. Record the actual reading on the temp log — not a checkmark. The log is the only defense if a guest complaint or health-department visit lands tomorrow.

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  2. Call the refrigeration tech

    • Walk-in is out of range. Move TCS items to a working unit, mark held items with a discard time using the 4-hour rule, and call the after-hours service line. Document the move and the call on the temp log.

    Collects text
  3. Rotate stock FIFO and pull expired items

    • Walk every shelf. Pull anything past its use-by date into the waste log — don't leave it for the AM prep cook to find. Dated items moving to the front, fresh deliveries to the back.

  4. Cover, label, and date all open containers

    • Every cambro and sixth-pan gets a date sticker with prep date and discard date. Uncovered or unlabeled items are an automatic health-inspection citation in most jurisdictions.

  5. Wipe walk-in shelving and gaskets

    • Door gaskets harbor mold and degrade quickly when left dirty — failing gaskets are why a 38°F walk-in starts creeping to 44°F. Wipe gaskets with sanitizer, not just the shelves.

3

Dish Pit

  1. Test three-bay sink sanitizer concentration

    • Use a test strip on the sanitizer bay. Quat sanitizer should read 200-400 ppm; chlorine 50-100 ppm. Record the actual ppm — health inspectors will ask for the strip log, not just whether you tested.

    Collects number
  2. Run final dish-machine cycle and check temp

    • High-temp dish machines need a final rinse of 180°F at the manifold (160°F at the dish). Low-temp chemical machines verify with a sanitizer test strip on a plate. Note any low temp on the maintenance log so the morning manager can call service.

  3. Stack washed dish, glass, and flatware

    • Inverted on clean racks, off the floor, away from splash zones. Glassware to the bar transfer area, flatware rolled if servers' opening side-work calls for it tomorrow.

  4. Refill detergent and replace dirty rags

    • Detergent and rinse-aid jugs topped, cleaning rags into the dirty-linen bag, fresh rags staged for tomorrow's open. Scrubbing pads replaced if shredded.

4

Floors and Waste

  1. Sweep line and prep area floors

    • Pull mats, sweep under equipment legs, hit the corners by the fryer and grill where grease debris accumulates. Mats go to the dish pit for hose-down before the mop step.

  2. Mop with degreaser per dilution chart

    • Follow the dilution on the bottle — over-concentrated degreaser leaves a slick film that turns into a slip hazard at AM open. Two-bucket method: one wash, one rinse.

  3. Empty trash and break down cardboard

    • All bins to the dumpster, fresh liners in. Cardboard broken down to the recycle pickup area — leaving full boxes by the back door is a pest-control finding waiting to happen.

  4. Sanitize trash receptacle bodies

    • Inside and outside of the can with sanitizer. The smell test isn't enough — fruit fly and roach activity traces back to bin grime more than any other source.

5

Closing Safety Walk

  1. Inspect hood, suppression tag, and extinguishers

    • Confirm the Ansul / fire-suppression tag is current (semi-annual inspection) and the K-class extinguisher by the line shows pressure in the green. Expired tags are a fire-marshal citation and can void liability coverage.

  2. Log any equipment issues for AM repair

    • Walk-in compressor cycling oddly, fryer thermostat drifting, dish-machine wash arm clogged — note it now while it's fresh. The morning manager calls service before service starts, not at 11:30 on a Saturday.

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  3. Submit the work order to maintenance

    • Log the issue in the maintenance system (R365, MarginEdge ticket, or the shared maintenance email) so the AM manager has a ticket waiting at open. Include photos when relevant.

  4. Restock first aid and chemical caddy

    • Bandages, burn gel, and gloves at par in the FA kit; sanitizer, degreaser, and glass cleaner staged for AM. Chemicals stored below food and labeled per OSHA HazCom — never in unmarked spray bottles.

  5. Manager sign-off on the closing log

    • Closing manager signs the log confirming temp readings, sanitizer ppm, and fryer/oil status are recorded. The signature is what makes this an audit-ready record rather than a wishful checkmark.

    Collects signature