When you’re operating restaurant equipment, you need to keep in mind that you’ll be cooking with that equipment all day long. This means that you should be thoroughly cleaning the equipment at the end of every shift to ensure it is ready for the next day.

Leaving any food residue or remnants on the equipment from previous days can ruin a customer’s orders. Therefore, it’s imperative that you are thorough and detailed when cleaning your restaurant equipment. This blog will explain how to clean a cast iron tortilla press and outline a few dos and don’ts so that you can remain ready to serve customers daily.

Don’t Let Debris Build Up

Before you use any kind of cooking equipment, whether it’s a grill, skillet, or tortilla press machine, it’s essential that you remove any food that remains from prior cooks. This excess has been burned to ash and can ruin the quality of your otherwise incredible dishes. To remove this debris, you will need to use something like a flat spatula to help you get deep into the grime without scratching and scraping the cast iron.

If you dig too deep, you risk cutting into your seasoned iron. This will ruin the work that you have put in through many rounds of tortillas and oil to achieve your desired texture and flavor. Gently scrape the surface of the machine to remove as much visible char as possible.

Do Clean the Press With Soap and Water

Next, take a wet rag and wipe down the machine with soap and water. It’s okay if you spend extra time in this step because the grease and char tend to break down and stick to the iron.

You may need to do a few rounds of this. Even if you have cleaned the cast iron a few times, keep cleaning until no more residue is present.

Don’t Allow Moisture To Sit

As is the case when you clean most other kitchen equipment, cast iron needs to be dried immediately. This is due to the nature of the iron itself. Iron can oxidize and rust if moisture remains present for too long.

So, you will need to remove all the residue and moisture that you can until the press is completely dry. Once you have done this on the inside and outside of the press and have cleaned around the edges, you will want to lightly coat the press in cooking oil. Rub about a teaspoon in with a towel until the color of the press is restored to a dark black hue. This will season the pan, and it will be ready for the next round of cooking.

These have been the dos and don’ts of cleaning your restaurant tortilla press. You can use this guide any time you need a refresher on how to clean your skillet and prepare it for use. And if your current tortilla warmer needs replacement, browse Pro Restaurant Equipment for the best tortilla presses for your business.