Employees may find meat slicers are hard to clean and sanitize, but that’s no excuse for skipping this task. Meat slicer cleaning does involve many steps, and the machine can be challenging to take apart, but sanitizing it regularly to prevent foodborne illness. Here’s how you can clean meat slicers in your food preparation area and keep consumers and employees safe.
How To Clean A Meat Slicer After Every Shift
Light cleaning should be done after every use of your slicer, at least once per day. If your team uses the slicer for more than four hours each day, trained employees should perform multiple light cleanings. Anyone handling the cleaning must have proper training, read the owners’ manual, and wear proper protective equipment such as cut-resistant gloves.
- Disconnect the machine from its power source and set the blade to zero.
- Wipe away large food pieces with a paper towel or cloth.
- Using a clean cloth, a food-grade cleaner, and hot water, wipe down the blade, carriage, food chute, product pusher, and product catcher parts. Take extra care to wipe down the nooks and crannies of your unit, looking at the manual if need be.
- Take another new, clean towel and rinse the areas with hot water, letting the slicer air dry before use.
It’s important to stress that those cleaning the machine should not use steel wool or abrasive sponges to clean any part of the slicer. These materials can scratch the parts, giving bacteria a hard-to-clean spot in which to grow and spread.
How To Clean A Meat Slicer At The End Of The Day
Deep cleaning your slicer is the key to preventing foodborne illnesses and must be done at the end of every day of use. While it involves taking apart the unit and cleaning all parts thoroughly, deep cleaning is an important task to complete at the end of every day:
- Disconnect the machine from its power source and set the blade to zero.
- Wipe away large food pieces with a paper towel or cloth.
- Disassemble the slicer according to manufacturer directions, removing the blade, product tray, carriage, and product pusher. Take all these parts to a prepared dish sink of hot water and detergent. (If your unit does not include a knife removal tool, read your owners’ manual for recommended ways to deep clean the slicer blade.)
- A deep clean will often include a more thorough wipe down of the blade with detergent and hot water, rinsing, and finishing with a sanitizing spray.
- Wash all parts thoroughly with hot water and soap. Rinse these pieces and spray them with a sanitizing spray. Let them air dry in their own area before reassembly.
Why Is It Necessary To Properly Clean Meat Slicers?
There are two simple reasons for thoroughly cleaning your facility’s meat slicer: a clean machine runs more efficiently and prevents foodborne illnesses from being passed onto the consumer. As with all proper cleaning strategies, there’s a side benefit: when you clean and maintain the meat slicer on a routine, your food processing facility will pass health inspections.
Any equipment that is well maintained will have a longer life. When you regularly clean and sanitize the meat slicer, you can make sure that it runs its best and with fewer issues. A well-run meat slicer will keep the operator safe, too.
It’s not something any facility that processes meat can afford to skip. Leaving a meat slicer for just one night without cleaning can cause the build-up of food particles and juices to settle, making the tool harder to clean. As this build-up worsens, bacterial growth will spread, and the machine’s parts won’t work as smoothly or efficiently – another health and safety problem for those operating it!