Bars can be busy places, whether in a hotel, university, sports club, restaurant or a standalone pub. There are many elements that go into delivering excellence, of course, but glasswashing will always be an important part of any bar operation – making sure clean glasses are available when needed without smears or streaks. And delivering this with efficiency, during a busy service, only adds to the challenge.
Here are our top three tips to maximise the efficiency of your glasswashing operation and ensure you’re meeting glassware expectations mid-service.
Invest in a Glass Dryer
Ask any customer and it’s likely they will have had the misfortune of using a hot, wet glass straight from the glasswasher at some point.
Lager or beer served in a wet glass will appear flat and lifeless. In addition, many modern glasses now feature a widget in the base to create something called “points of nucleation”, which helps the beer to develop a head. While this innovation enhances the customer experience, it is entirely ineffective if the widget is wet when the beer is poured. It therefore vital that glasses are completely dry to ensure the perfect pint is presented to your customer.
Glasses can take up to 40 minutes to air dry after being washed. This often results in pubs and bars being forced to serve drinks in warm glasses or dry them with a towel before use – dirtying the glass and risking cross contamination. Glass dryers like the Nelson Glass Dry and new Glass Dry Plus offer a simple solution, slashing the drying time to as low as four minutes, so glasses are ready to serve quicker, without any risks from towel drying.
Both models work by drawing air in via the base and circulating it around the glasses through a grid plate, before passing cool air at speed over the glasses to bring them back to just above ambient temperature. This ensures the inside of the glass is completely dry, including the widget, to ensure that the drink poured won’t appear flat and will retain its head.
They’re easy to install and use (using a three-pin plug), with a minimal footprint (glass dryers can be sited on top of the glasswasher) and a range of basket sizes to suit all operations.
Nelson’s Glass Dry has recently been updated with a series of enhancements including a new metal air rack base for a more rigid build, better protection from corrosion when exposed to chemicals, improved airflow through slots in the base of the air rack, and a new grill cover over the airflow slot, which protects the fan against water ingress and further improves airflow.
The new Glass Dry Plus offers all the same benefits, with the addition of a second fan for accelerated drying speeds and the capability to dry polycarbonate glasses too.
Maintain Effective Glass Maintenance
We’ve already written about the importance of glass maintenance to help maintain high standards, but it’s vital to support efficiency across the bar operation too.
By taking steps such as investing in good quality glasswasher detergents and rinse aid, implementing water treatment, maintaining your glasses properly with regular renovation, and servicing your machines, you can reduce the risk of damaged, stained or cloudy glasses. Which in turn will ensure drinks aren’t being sent back by customers.
Remember, every glass sent back to the bar or pulled out of the washing/drying process by staff will impact on bar efficiency, not to mention cost.
Consider Your Baskets and Storage
Two essential yet often overlooked aspects of the glasswashing process are the baskets used to wash the glasses and how they are stored after being washed. There’s no point optimising your glasswashing operation if glasses are regularly broken or damaged due to unsuitable baskets and storage.
Nelson offers a variety of glasswasher baskets in a range of sizes and styles to suit all glasses and all machines. The open base design allows both water to circulate (ensuring glasses are washed and rinsed thoroughly) and air to circulate (to help speed up the drying process).
Choose from open or divided designs, giving you everything you need to collect, move, clean, dry, stack and store your glasses more easily, with speed and efficiency.
We also supply a space saving racking unit that can hold up to four glasswasher baskets and fits snugly into spare in the bar area – perfect for bars with limited storage space to hold glasses.
Want to know more? Get in touch with us to discuss your glasswashing operation.