I finally stopped listening to the health inspector about our dish machine temps

The inspector told us we had to run our Hobart at 180 degrees for the final rinse, no exceptions. I fought him on it for months, kept getting violations, wasted probably $200 in extra energy costs over a quarter. Finally called the Hobart service guy and he showed me the manual says 165 is fine for our model. Adjusted it down, passed the next inspection no problem, and my gas bill dropped by about $40 a month. Anyone else had an inspector give advice that was just wrong for your specific setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthew8644d ago

Of course the manual says 165 is fine. That's the bare minimum to keep things from looking dirty. The health inspector is looking at bacterial kill rates, not just what gets plates clean. I knew a guy who ran his machine at 165 for six months and ended up with a norovirus outbreak traced back to his dish sanitation. The hospital bills and lost business cost him way more than that $40 a month you're saving. Also, most Hobart models have a built-in temp drop off by the time the water hits the dishes. Running at 180 compensates for that loss. 165 at the nozzle might mean 150 by the time it hits a plate.

clairer794d ago

@matthew864 makes a really good point about that temp drop, I learned that the hard way. A few years back I was running my machine at 170 because I thought I was being safe, but I tested the water on the dishes themselves and it was barely 155. Switched to 185 and suddenly my sanitizer logs were spot on during inspections. The $30 or whatever extra a month is nothing compared to a failed health inspection or worse, someone getting sick. I'd rather pay a bit more on gas than deal with that headache lol.