If you operate a small restaurant, organizing the inside of the commercial refrigerator in your establishment will help your business run more efficiently and will ensure that fresh ingredients are on hand whenever you or your employees are preparing meals for your patrons. The following strategies will help you keep the refrigerator and its contents organized and will make life easier for you and your kitchen staff.

Use Uniform Storage Containers

Purchase several, uniform storage containers with lids to store food items. After food purchases are made, open each package that they came in and place them in separate storage containers. Label the outside of each container with the name of the product that is inside of it and the date that it was purchased. The storage containers will help keep items fresh because they are sealed, and they will fit neatly inside of the refrigerator, eliminating spills.

The containers will also prevent you from needing to open cartons that contain a lot of packaging when it is time to prepare a meal. You and your employees can simply pop off the top of each storage container that is being used, take out the amount of food that is needed, reseal the containers, and slide them back into their appropriate spots inside of the refrigerator.

Rotate Food Items

Get into the habit of rotating food items inside of the refrigerator whenever new ingredients are purchased and being placed inside of it. Move items that are in the back, closer to the front before setting the new purchases inside of the refrigerator. Place the newest items in the back. Continue rotating food in this manner whenever food is bought for your restaurant.

It will be much easier for you and your employees to grab what is directly in the front and you won't have to worry about any of the ingredients being overlooked and spoiling. Practicing this tip will eliminate confusion, and each person who works at the restaurant will not have any questions about which ingredients to use when it is time to prepare a meal.

Set Aside Time To Clean

Although your food items may be neatly stored and labeled, the refrigerator still needs to be cleaned out and inspected from time to time. If you run a busy establishment, some foods may be overlooked and have been sitting inside of the refrigerator for too long. Set up a time each week to clean out the refrigerator. Toss out old ingredients and clean the containers that the food items were stored in.

Set up an area inside of the kitchen to stack the clean containers so that they are ready for use when new food is purchased. To make this chore fair to everyone, create a rotating schedule with your employees so that each person gets a turn to handle the cleaning responsibilities.

Once you and your staff get into the habit of using these tips, they will become second nature and the inside of the refrigerator will remain organized.

For more information about commercial refrigerators, contact Hy-Point Restaurant Equipment & Supplies Inc. or a similar company.