Plate warmer | tcbsopsite

Use of Plate warmer

The plate warmers are an important piece of equipment for the buffet as they warm the plates, this is important to the quality of the food eaten by the customers to ensure the food remains warm as taken form the buffet and transported to the tables to eat. Many customers will also ask for and expect warm plates and this forms part of their happy dining experience.

The plate holding cage will lift out of the unit buy grasping the steel top rim and lifting straight up (ensure no plates inside), the element and bottom of the encasing unit is now exposed for cleaning with a hoover.
On the top sides of the plate holder cage you will see that each plate warmer is equipped with 24 springs total. This is the required amount to balance 75 plates. All the springs are furnished in this equipment when the unit leaves the factory. You may reduce the quantity of springs to meet your requirements, however, please ensure there are still enough present to support the amount of plates you wish to store. If you wish to release any springs, please release them from equal sides, usually we will release 3 springs from all 4 sides making a total of 12 springs removed, keep these springs for use at a later date if the used springs start to become stretched and weak and need replacing.
Always check for faults before operation and report any faults that appear throughout the day immediately to supervisor.
To switch on the machine, ensure switched on at the wall and then flick the switch on the top corner of the plate warmer when on a green/yellow light will in some cases light up
Fill the plate warmers for the bottom to the top, lift out the hot plates form the bottom taking care as they may be hot using 2 clean clothes to hold the plates, then fill the bottom with the one ones, check the now top plates and below to ensure they are not too hot for the customer to hold, if they are found to be too hot take these hot plates away on a trolley to cool before bringing back out later.
In case of emergency, please turn off the power switch and unplug the machine.
When the plate warmer is switched on and in operation, be careful of hot components.
Ensure the arms of the plate warmer are in position firmly to hold the plates in a central position
Do not over fill the plate warmers this will stretch the holding springs, put pressure on the holding arms and simply not heat the plates if they go higher than the top of the plate warmer.
Do not place paper napkins anywhere near the plate warmers or in a location where they may blow in as they will set on fire if they fall down to the element at the bottom
Ensure to switch off and allow to cool before cleaning
Ensure signage is displayed warning of hot plates
When carrying plates to re-fill the plate warmer ensure to always transport with a trolley and never attempt to carry stacks of plates.

Cleaning Plate warmer

The plate warmer needs to be kept clean by wiping the surface throughout the day, and the inside needs to be regularly cleaned at a minimum of once per week depending on the location and if a lot of food falls down it could be much more often.

When wiping the surface rim use only a damp cloth and be aware of the electric power switch do not get this wet or inadvertently switch off if is needed to be on.
Ensure plate warmer is switched off and has allowed to cool before attempting to clean inside
To gain access to clean the inside bin of the warmer lift, by grasping two sides of the rim and pull the internal plate holding cage straight up and out (ensure there are no plates inside)
The inside of the holding bin can now be accessed any large debris can be reached inside to be removed via a pair of tongs
The bottom can be hoovered out to remove small food particles etc
Pay attention to clean the base of the plate holding cage before sliding back into the base
Do Not use any water to clean the inside of the plate warmer
Do Not use any abrasives or scourers to clean the plate warmer
Ensure to fit cage correctly and take care not to break power switch when sliding back on and over it.

Maintaining Plate warmer

In order to prolong the life of the plate warmer and ensure it continues to work efficiently the following procedures should be followed:

Regular checks to ensure no build-up of food has collected in the bottom as this can damage the element and could pose a risk of catching fire
Switch off machine and remove paper napkin straight away if they fall in or else they will go on fire.
The plate warmer will need deep cleaning and hoovering out the bottom minimum once per week
Always check for faults before operation and report directly to supervisor
If the plate warmer is heating the plates too hot control by switching off and on manually to control the temperature or alter the thermostat control dial if present if no dial also report to supervisor to report to maintenance as a fault.
Ensure the arms of the plate warmer are in position firmly to hold the plates in a central position
Do not over load the plate warmer past the top rim
If the spring mechanism is getting weak change the springs with the ones first removed when fitting.

Health & Safety of Plate warmer

The safety aspects of the plate warmers need to be followed to avoid any risk of injury:

Always check for faults before operation and report any faults that appear throughout the day immediately to supervisor.
Fill the plate warmers for the bottom to the top, lift out the hot plates form the bottom taking care as they may be hot using 2 clean clothes to hold the plates, then fill the bottom with the one ones, check the now top plates and below to ensure they are not too hot for the customer to hold, if they are found to be too hot take these hot plates away on a trolley to cool before bringing back out later.
In case of emergency, please turn off the power switch and unplug the machine.
When the plate warmer is switched on and in operation, be careful of hot components.
Ensure the arms of the plate warmer are in position firmly to hold the plates in a central position
Do not place paper napkins anywhere near the plate warmers or in a location where they may blow in as they will set on fire if they fall down to the element at the bottom
Ensure to switch off and allow to cool before cleaning
Ensure signage is displayed warning of hot plates
When carrying plates to re-fill the plate warmer ensure to always transport with a trolley and never attempt to carry stacks of plates.
If plates are getting too hot in the plate warmers report to supervisor who in turn will call maintenance to try to fit a thermostat, in some cases this may have been fitted and your supervisor will show you the location of the controller. In these instances, ensure to remove the too hot plates and switch machine off for short periods to manually control the heat of the plates.
When cleaning DO NOT use abrasive cleaners or pads.