Refrigerated beverage dispensers, which are the ones that need to be plugged to work and are commonly seen in restaurants, need to be cleaned constantly. It is suggested that these kinds of dispensers be cleaned every four to six weeks using a simple bleach solution.

This method of cleaning can be used for other types of beverage dispensers. Simply mix one tablespoon of bleach to every gallon of water you will use. Wear rubber gloves to protect your skin, and with a sponge or a scrub cloth, wash the dispenser using the bleach solution. Leave it for five minutes, and then rinse the dispenser at least four times under hot or tap water to get rid of the bleach on the surface. Make sure that there is no bleach residue on the dispenser since this can be toxic when mixed with drinks.

Don’t forget to clean the valves and spigots, too. Use a thin bristle brush or a stick wrapped with cloth in case you can’t reach the tight spots.

Insulated and non-insulated beverage dispensers are easier to clean than refrigerated beverage dispensers since they don’t have any electrical or mechanical parts. Some models are dishwasher-safe, but just to make sure that the dispenser is thoroughly cleaned, do it by hand now and then.

Since you can’t wet certain parts of electrical beverage dispensers, you can clean it with a clean soft cloth instead. Make sure that the dispenser is unplugged so that you don’t accidentally electrocute yourself. Do not attempt to take apart the pieces or parts when you do not know what they are or how you can piece them back together.

If you see that there are damages in the refrigerated beverage dispenser, consult a professional. If it cannot be fixed, get a new dispenser instead. It will save you the trouble of dealing with wrongly mixed drinks and other technical problems.

When using the beverage dispenser during a party, see to it that it is placed somewhere safe. It should not be precariously sitting at the edge of a table where it can fall on children or elders. Everyone should be able to access it, but not move it around too much to avoid accidents.

Try not to dent or scratch the beverage dispensers too much. The dispensers that are made of plastic or some other soft material will inevitably show signs of wear, but it is always a good idea to protect the surface to you can use the dispenser for a long time.

Like all other kitchen appliances and hardware, beverage dispensers need to be taken care of. As a general rule, anything that deals with the service of food and drinks has to be sanitary and safe.

There are a few glimmers of commercial light in beverage service From classic Italian espresso machines to the simple coffee machines there is a handsome gap between beverage cost and selling price.

Ingredients represent just a part of the overall cost of producing a cup of coffee, a fact conveniently airbrushed out when ingredient suppliers quote bean cost per cup at a few pence and selling price above £1. But there are good profits in tea and coffee, and the way to them lies in choosing the right machine.

Cafetiere

They don’t come much simpler than this system, but a cafetiere is useful for delivering a pot of freshly made coffee to a restaurant table. They are sized by the number of cups they hold, and a restaurant may have to carry a range of sizes. Check to see if the model being selected is dishwasher-safe, as some are not.

Pour-over Coffee Machine

This is the familiar balloon-shaped glass jug unit, usually two jugs to a unit, one being filled from hot water run through coffee grounds held in a filter while the other is kept warm on top of the machine with a heat pad. This system is inexpensive and provides a good cup of coffee, providing the coffee is not allowed to stew on the heat pad for too long. One hour is considered the maximum time to hold coffee in this manner. Pour-over systems are ideal for catering operations such as pubs, cafes and small restaurants, where demand is steady, but not huge.

Espresso machines

These are the machine of choice where coffee quality is of paramount importance, such as in quality restaurants, cafes’-bars and busy food-led pubs.

The semi-automatic espresso machines need dispense staff to be well trained in machine operation to provide coffee with the best flavour and the trademark creamy topping on espresso called the crema. Inconsistencies in the drink come mostly through incorrect loading and manual compression of the grains in the dispense head before it is locked into the brewing position.

Fully automatic espresso machines require less operator skill, but staff still need proper training. These machines deliver quality with consistency and speed. They are not as quick as high-speed soluble machines, but the quality of the coffee is every bit as high as with traditional semi-automatic espresso machines.

In an automatic machine the coffee is held either in a hopper already ground, or as whole roast beans which are ground by the machine and held in a small enclosed secondary hopper.

Tea-making / water boilers An on-demand supply of very hot water is essential for every catering operation, and while tea making may be the main function of a hot water boiler, it has many more uses in a catering environment.

Airpots

This is the industry term for vacuum flasks that have a DIY dispense facility. They work with a pump mechanism, a lever-pull or by just unscrewing the top to allow air into the vacuum jug and pouring into a cup.

Milk warmers

It is very retro to offer customers warm milk to go with coffee, but there is still a niche market for silver service with the table staff holding two jugs, one of hot coffee, the other of warmed milk. Milk warmers are available from beverage equipment suppliers. The standard of operational and cleaning hygiene when using milk warmers must be high to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination.