In my years covering green lodging I have written quite a few articles about equipment and technology found in the kitchen to help one save energy, water and reduce waste—bio-digesters, pre-rinse spray valves, warewashers, variable-speed hood controllers, and more. You can read about such topics on the Green Lodging News website in the “Kitchen & Laundry” category. Every time I chat with a supplier I learn something new and that was certainly the case today when I interviewed Craig Gavson, CEO of Hyginix LLC. In case you are not familiar with Hyginix, they manufacture the FOG Tank, a heated soak tank that removes fats, oils, grease, and carbon buildup from metal cookware and kitchen and bakery equipment. Craig told me that soak tanks have been around a long time but at first used cold water and harmful chemicals that required kitchen staff to wear gloves and goggles. That does not sound fun to me.
The FOG Tank, and others like it available today, use hot water and an eco-friendly cleaning agent to remove fat, oil, grease and carbon build-up from pots, pans, hood filters and other items. From what Craig told me and what is evident on the Hyginix site, the FOG Tank system works great—converting black-encrusted items to ones as good as new and shiny. The heated soak tank is a “simple” solution for cleaning that has many positive impacts in the kitchen. You will be able to read about them once I write my article but benefits include energy, water and labor savings, the extension of the life of kitchen items, a better ergonomic situation for employees who do not have to work so hard at scraping and cleaning, a happier kitchen staff, and a safer and more sanitized situation for your guests. Did you know, for example, that carbon build-up on your pots and pans is a great home for bacteria?
I am certainly not going to look at the blackened sheet pans in my kitchen the same way again. Be sure to catch my article on soak tanks in the next few days.
