I hope restaurant staff will share their kitchen experien
ces, good or bad with me and my blog.My first post is on cleaning a grease trap.
The grease trap design has technically not changed in 100 years. The design of a conventional grease trap allows for up to 85% of the grease in the wastewater to bypass the unit. Sadly 15% of the grease is ending up in the sewer or septic system. The reason that grease traps give off a rancid odor is that rotting food particles along with rotting fats, oil and grease are stored in a conventional grease trap. The rotting grease is called Brown grease. They are typically pumped out at best every 3-4 months. Most grease traps are poorly maintained.
Through my work, over the years, I have had the pleasure of smelling many rancid grease traps. My first job was at a private golf club in Toronto, Canada. Being the new dishwasher, I worked near the grease trap. It always smelled. About ten years later I was dating a women that owned a fish and chip restaurant. Being the nice guy, I would help out doing the dishes on the very busy Good Friday's. (2 I think). I would always ask, "What the hell is that smell". I would get the response, "Oh that ....the fn grease trap". I never thought much more about it until I started marketing an automated grease recovery device. ( Goslyn at http://www.greasetrap.ca/ )
I thought to myself how about all those poor son of a guns that had to clean out a grease trap. I have never cleaned out a grease trap by hand. I cant imagine what the experience would be like. I have seen a few people actually gagging upon getting near some of the grease traps that we have replaced with grease recovery devices. (GRD)
I always wonder do many restaurants allow employees to still clean these things out by hand? If so, how do you dispose of this awful brown grease?
