BK (SG): Wash, Rinse, Sanitize, Air-dry
Last updated: 13 Jan 2021
This article is part of a series that begins here.
Disclaimer: This entire article is my personal opinion, and is in no way affiliated with Burger King. I am not part of the management at Burger King (SG).
We wash all smallwares with a WRSA procedure (wash, rinse, sanitize, air-dry). Smallwares are food trays, food tongs, and any small utensils that come into contact with food.
NOTE: If you notice your staff cleaning less frequently than is required, the likely reasons are lack of proper training and a cluttered WRSA area. Training your managers and staff completely with this article is key to ensuring that your WRSA area is functional and inviting to all staff!
The 3-Compartment Sink
The Burger King (SG) restaurant back of house is equipped with a 3-Compartment Sink. The first compartment on the left is the Wash compartment, the second (middle) is the Rinse compartment, and the third on the right is the Sanitize compartment.
Pre-Mixed Cleaning Solutions
Burger King (SG) uses pre-mixed cleaning solutions, so you don’t have to prepare the cleaning solutions by mixing in appropriate portions of water yourself.
If your staff claims it is too troublesome to clean every 4 hours, explain to them that Burger King (SG) already uses pre-mixed cleaning solutions that can be dispensed instantly without solution preparation.
The Wash solution: Under the Wash compartment, there is a rack that houses the blue cleaning solution, which we will term the Wash solution. The Wash solution can be restocked simply by plugging in (and screwing tight) a new pack of blue cleaning solution. Wash solution can be dispensed from a multi-solution dispenser right above the Wash compartment, within easy reach.
The Sanitize solution: Under the Rinse compartment, there is a rack that houses the red cleaning solution, which we will term the Sanitize solution. As with the Wash solution, you can easily restock the red cleaning solution. Sanitize solution can be dispensed from a multi-solution dispenser right above the Wash compartment, within easy reach; a hose of appropriate length dispenses out to the Sanitize compartment.
(I’m not sure why the Sanitize solution isn’t housed under the Sanitize compartment.)
Keep the WRSA area ready
The WRSA area must always be ready to be used. If it is not always ready, your staff will be very discouraged from washing smallwares regularly and correctly!
Ensure the Wash compartment is free of debris. Empty the sink strainer of debris if it has any debris. Debris will dilute the Wash solution and render the Wash step ineffective! Always throw debris into the rubbish bin before washing any items. Try not to wash any significant amount of debris into the Wash compartment! (Small amounts of sauces and spills are fine to wash into the Wash compartment.)
Ensure the Rinse compartment is clean. You’ll be placing the washed items into this compartment.
Ensure the Sanitize compartment is clean. Wash and clean this compartment, don’t just empty out any debris! If this compartment isn’t completely clean, the Sanitize solution will be diluted and the Sanitize step will be rendered ineffective!
Anyone using the WRSA area must leave it ready for use!
NOTE: If you hire a “janitor” to handle the dining area, and this person is usually least skilled and unable to handle kitchen or order assembly or cashier tasks, make sure you train him very well and assess him regularly.
At the restaurant in Waterway Point, Punggol, Singapore, this “janitor” rinses debris from dustpans (receiving moist food debris from floors!) into the Rinse compartment. He literally instructed me to do so, and when I refused, I received quite a bullying from a rather homogenous cohort of old-timers.
Burger King doesn’t actually hire janitors; we prefer to call them… oh wait, maybe we do hire janitors. On the Training Portal, I find roles for Frying Station, Broiler Station, and so on, but nothing like “Dining Ambassador”. (TODO: Write an article for operational procedures for Dining Ambassador.)
Wash-and-Go
Because the cleaning solutions are pre-mixed, you don’t have to pre-fill the Wash compartment with Wash solution nor the Sanitize compartment with Sanitize solution. This makes for no waste at all of cleaning solutions.
The WRSA procedure is easy to execute:
- Wash your hands as you would at home. Then obtain a single piece of paper towel (found at the hand wash station) to remove all debris from the items to be cleaned. Place each item into the Wash compartment after you remove all debris from each item.
- Fill the Wash compartment with only as much Wash solution as you need. You only need enough to submerge the largest item you’re washing. (You can also just turn on a trickle of Wash solution if you only have 1 item to wash; just make sure you cover the whole item with Wash solution and rub down the item completely, as per step 3 below.)
- For each item in the Wash compartment, cover the whole item in the Wash solution and rub down the item with the Wash solution. Place the item in the Rinse compartment.
- Fill the Sanitize compartment with only as much Sanitize solution as you need, if you’re sanitizing many varied items. You only need enough to submerge the largest item you’re sanitizing. (If you’re sanitizing only items of the same kind, you can skip this step.)
- For each item in the Rinse compartment, rinse off all Wash solution completely, and submerge the item in Sanitize solution, then place the item onto the air-drying rack to air-dry. (If you’re sanitizing only items of the same kind, use the red disposable towel from the appropriate red Sanitizer Bucket, explained below in section “Sanitizer Buckets”, to wipe down the rinsed items, then air-dry as usual.)
- Ensure the WRSA area is ready for the next team member to use.
Sanitizer Buckets
At Burger King restaurants, we have Sanitizer Buckets that each hold Sanitize solution and a disposable towel (shelf life of 3 days, or until heavily soiled, whichever comes first). The bucket and the towel are red if used for sanitizing items that come into contact with food, and are blue if used for sanitizing equipment in the dining area. In short, red is for kitchen and blue is for dining area.
Each Sanitizer Bucket is labeled with the station it sanitizes, such as “Trays” for food trays or “Fryer” for the Frying Station. This ensures we can use Sanitize solution cost-efficiently, as some stations may be more soiled and require a more frequent change of Sanitize solution (see subsection “Usage expiration” below). The Frying Station, for example, will introduce a lot of oil into its Sanitizer Bucket, requiring a more frequent change of Sanitize solution.
Wash, then Sanitize
To use a Sanitizer Bucket, squeeze out excess Sanitize solution from the bucket’s towel, then wipe down the item or surface you’re sanitizing.
Burger King’s strict wash-then-sanitize rule means you should never be wiping down any unwashed items or surfaces! That includes avoiding debris when using the Sanitizer Buckets!
Kitchen work surfaces are always already clean; you should only ever touch these surfaces after you have washed your hands and put on food-handling gloves. Therefore, no washing is needed during opening hours, and you only need to sweep off any debris before sanitizing. Sanitize kitchen work surfaces at least every 4 hours; we usually sanitize anytime we find time to do so (sanitize regularly as we work). Kitchen work surfaces are to be washed every night at closing.
Dining area tables are not meant to come into contact with food, so we also only need to sweep off any debris from the tables before sanitizing the table surfaces. Dining area tables are sanitized with blue Sanitizer Buckets (containing a blue disposable towel each); note how these Sanitizer Buckets are never used on food-contacting surfaces. Dining area tables are to be washed every night at closing.
No debris!
There should never be any debris in Sanitizer Buckets. Debris can quickly dilute the Sanitize solution to render the solution ineffective as a sanitizer.
Remember to strictly follow the wash-then-sanitize rule.
Before sanitizing work surfaces in the kitchen, sweep off all debris first! The debris left on the floor must then be swept away with brooms at regular intervals (usually whenever we find time to do so).
In the dining area, sweep off debris from table surfaces onto food trays.
Keep towels in their Sanitizer Buckets
Damp towels breed germs! Keeping the towels in non-expired (appropriately concentrated) Sanitize solution will prevent the increase in germs on the towels.
Always keep towels in their Sanitizer Buckets!
Usage expiration
Sanitize solution can be rendered ineffective (expired) from heavy use. If the Sanitize solution is turbid or has debris, the Sanitize solution should be considered diluted beyond efficacy and should be changed. (If the Sanitize solution has debris, re-examine your Sanitizer Bucket use procedures!)
Sanitizer Buckets should never have any debris at all. You’ll notice from the WRSA procedure that we never sanitize anything that has debris on it! Only sanitize items that have already been washed. That is, Burger King has a strict (but really rarely followed) wash-then-sanitize operational rule.
NOTE: Almost none of the Burger King (SG) staff actually avoids adding debris to Sanitizer Buckets. They all violate the wash-then-sanitize operational rule. This happens both in the kitchen as well as the dining area, but is more prone to happening in the dining area. The section “Sanitizing the dining area tables” further below provides a solution to this operational lapse, and can be applied to both kitchen and dining area.
Along with the debris problem, none of the Burger King (SG) staff actually replaces the Sanitize solution upon expiration, only upon high turbidity (if even that). Although the Operations Manual does teach your managers to test Sanitize solution concentration (with test strips), I’ve never seen them do it; I’m not sure if managers with less than high school diplomas (or borderline high school pass grades) are able to read the English instructions for the test kits.
Alternatives to testing Sanitize solution
You can actually determine a regular interval for changing the Sanitize solution, rather than require all your staff to learn to use test kits. Note that using the test kits is more troublesome than my recommendation to “run off to rinse the towel that was just used to wipe off debris/spills”. Rinsing the towel of debris/spills doesn’t require as much training as using the test kits!
Standardize Operational Procedures
The first thing to do is to keep strict operational procedures at each station that absolutely prevents the introduction of debris/spills into Sanitizer Buckets. Any food spills onto kitchen surfaces must be wiped with a towel which is immediately rinsed off of all debris/spills at the Rinse compartment.
You may dedicate a runner (with food-handling gloves, please!) to handle this rinsing instead of requiring the kitchen staff to leave the food-prep stations.
Frankly, the staff at my Burger King restaurant look like they can really use more exercise. (Note the particularly problematic staff with lumbering gait, Stubborn-And-Loud.) Going off to the Rinse compartment will give them that exercise. It takes only 5 seconds (or less!) of brisk walking to reach the Rinse compartment from the food-prep stations.
So you may argue, “but going off to rinse the towel will pause kitchen production”. Consider that putting that debris/spill laden towel back into its Sanitizer Bucket will quickly necessitate a change of Sanitize solution, which will still require your staff to bring the Sanitizer Bucket to the WRSA area. Having your staff go off to obtain test kits will also require them to re-wash and re-glove their hands after testing the Sanitize solution (re-wash and re-glove always, right before coming back to food-prep stations).
You may further argue, “rinsing towels at the Rinse compartment means kitchen staff still has to re-wash and re-glove hands”. That is true, I’m glad you read the Operations Manual thoroughly! You win this one! But consider this. Introducing debris/spills into your Sanitizer Buckets means those buckets house wet towels that breed germs. Dirty and soiled Sanitize solution at inadequate concentrations is as good as, well, dirty and soiled water! You’ll be spreading more and more germs onto your food-prep surfaces as your food-prep staff “clean as they go” (an actual slogan at Burger King).
Dirty and soiled (debris-laden) Sanitize solution at inadequate concentration is as good as, well, dirty and soiled water!
So, what’s it gonna be? Spread more and more germs onto the food-prep surfaces? Or just dedicate a runner to rinse debris/spill laden towels at the Rinse compartment? Your choice. :-)
(I have yet to work at McDonald’s, but I highly suspect they have a much stricter tighter control on food safety protocols in their kitchens. Lower salaries usually means better management and better operations process designs. I would rather spend more on proper operations process designs and execution than pay every staff $2 more per hour!)
Determine Typical Intervals
Now that you have standardized the operational procedures at each station, test the Sanitize solution in Sanitizer Buckets for each station at regular and short intervals (hourly).
The Frying Station has a lot of oil spills, and will likely require a change of Sanitize solution every hour. The sandwich building stations are very sterile and may require a change of Sanitize solution only every 4 hours, provided your staff don’t frequently wipe spills (sauces) into those stations’ Sanitizer Buckets.
So, as you can see, standardizing operational procedures to avoid putting debris/spills into Sanitizer Buckets is really key to getting a handle on timely change of Sanitize solution.
Instead of demanding that your staff learn to use the test kits, you can standardize operational procedures (call it the “No Debris/Spills In Buckets” policy?) and simply install cheap timers to competently keep all Sanitize solution in use at appropriate strength.
Sanitizing the dining area tables
There are blue Sanitizer Buckets in the dining area (placed above rubbish bin housing units). Again, never introduce any debris into the Sanitizer Buckets!
Steps to sanitize dining area table(s):
- Squeeze out as much Sanitize solution as possible from a blue disposable towel back into the towel’s Sanitizer Bucket. This saves Sanitize solution. We don’t need Sanitize solution for the next step.
- With the towel now free of Sanitize solution (as much as possible), wipe all debris from the table(s) onto a food tray. (You may clear many tables of debris onto a single food try.)
- Discard the debris on the food tray into the rubbish bin.
- Rinse the towel in the Rinse compartment in the back of house. (You may clear many tables of debris before performing a single rinse of the towel.) Ensure the disposable towel is clear of debris.
- Re-soak the disposable towel in the Sanitize solution contained in the towel’s Sanitizer Bucket. Squeeze out excess Sanitize solution from the towel; damp will do.
- Wipe down the table(s) with the towel. Put the towel back into its Sanitizer Bucket. All towels should be constantly submerged in Sanitize solution when not in use!
NOTE: The above steps are actually nowhere to be found the Burger King’s operational procedures. Therefore, absolutely none of your staff will be able to avoid usage expiration (see above section “Sanitizer Buckets → Usage expiration”) of Sanitize solution in the dining area. I dare say all of your staff will be sanitizing the dining area tables with just step 6 above, rendering your dining area Sanitize solution utterly ineffective (soiled and dirty water spread over and over onto all dining area tables).
The Operations Manual is principle-based, simply teaching your managers how to test the Sanitize solution strength, but completely misses out on the operational procedures required to maintain Sanitize solution strength. If you’re the owner of a Burger King restaurant, help me flesh out operational procedures at this series of articles!
No debris/spills in Sanitizer Buckets! That should be a rule printed onto every Sanitizer Bucket in your restaurant!
