Daily Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.