How to Select and Maintain a Walk-In Cooler

With restaurant equipment technology continuing to improve, you can only assume that this applies to walk-in coolers, as well. In fact, there isn't a lot of news to report on these kitchen workhorses. But as the old saying goes, sometimes "no news is good news."

For the startup restaurateur, the real story is the basics, like how they're made, how they're used, and how they're installed and maintained, particularly if you are a first-time buyer.

A walk-in is not just a walk-in is not just a walk-in. Which one you choose depends on your application. As with all restaurant equipment, institutional foodservice operations are not the same as restaurants. If you walk into a gas station that sells alcohol, it has a beer cave, which means it has a reinforced floor and walls because people are typically slamming things around and you want a little more protection. The same applies to the floor. If your restaurant changes out beer kegs on a routine basis you have all the more need for reinforcement. If your operation isn't as "slam, bam, thank you ma'am" as these operations, you might not need this level of bomb-proofing.

..The first sign that someone knows what he's doing when you walk into a kitchen is that the cooler and kitchen floors are the same material and elevation. If it isn't, somebody doesn't know what he's doing. --Foster Frable, FCSI - Clevenger Frable La Valle

A typical full-service restaurant that serves alcohol is probably going to have three compartments: frozen, cooler and beer cooler.

Keep Your Cool, Say Chain Managers

"Maintain the refrigeration," says Debbie Ferris, project manager for Family Sports Concepts Inc. in Tampa, Florida, the operator of Beef 'O' Brady's, a 210-unit chain. "Keep that in check, and make sure there are no leaks. If a walk-in is properly installed, and you bought a quality box to begin with, other than keeping it clean and maintaining the refrigeration, there is not much to do."

"Just make sure the doors are closed as much as possible by limiting in-and-out time," says John Chemchick, manager of a TGI Friday's unit in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, owned by Metz Enterprises. To accomplish that, he works hard to impress upon his staff the need to "try and grab as much of what you can the first time in, as opposed to making many trips back inside. Try and take exactly what you need out of the cooler," he says.

Chemchick's Friday's unit has three walk-in coolers: one each for food and bottled and draft beer inside, and a third outside for beer kegs. Employees monitor temperatures four times a day, he says, "and if we notice a problem we call up our repair people and get help." As for cleaning, he says, "We keep up on it regularly, because if not it's a real nightmare."

Used walk-ins are an option, though not necessarily a great one. It happens every day, says Scott Mallernee, product manager for manufacturer Manitowoc Co. Inc.'s Kolpak division in Parsons, Tennessee. "You see a restaurant opening, and for every one that opens there is one that closes. A lot of guys outgrow their location, so what they will typically do is disassemble their walk-in, move to a new location and take their walk-in with them."

"You could buy a used walk-in box if it's in good shape," Ferris says. "What I would warn against buying ever is used refrigeration. You don't know how it was maintained, or if there are any issues with it. Most people who sell used refrigeration do not offer more than a month's warranty on it. Why spend the money on that when you can buy something new on which you're going to get five years on the compressor and at least a year on the parts and labor? Some manufacturers actually offer two."

If a walk-in doesn't maintain its temperature, the operator loses money, food quality, and possible customers. You want to make sure the door hinges are functional and that you're getting a good seal on the door. That's where you lose your energy. You have to make sure the gaskets are not broken, ripped or torn, and replace them regularly. Make sure all of your seams are caulked; you can even use an insulating tape if you have to. You wouldn't go off and leave it open intentionally, would you? Of course not. Well then, if your closer isn't working and you're not getting a good seal, in essence you're leaving it partially open.

Recording and Thinking