Commercial dishwashers are among the most popular items of bar and restaurant equipment on the market. Along with bottle coolers, ice machines, or that other piece of bar equipment, the glass washer, a commercial dishwasher is an essential piece of equipment in the majority of catering establishments, providing an invaluable aid to kitchen staff in their daily activities.

It is hardly surprising that catering equipment suppliers find that the demand for such machines is constant, from start-up catering establishments to long-standing ones that are desperately seeking a replacement for a machine that has finally reached the end of its' long working life and which cannot imagine their kitchen or bar operating without one.

Certainly, a commercial dishwasher will cost considerably more than its' very small domestic equivalent, but then a commercial washer has to withstand considerably more rough treatment in terms of its' constant use in the bar or kitchen. Commercial dishwashers are built to last, and a single one, even a small model, can perform 30 or more washing cycles in a day without batting an eyelid, suffering no damage or breaking down, which is a figure that a domestic dishwasher could not begin to cope with. This is a big advantage for the restaurant owner or bar manager who can purchase a small commercial machine in the knowledge that it will be able to handle the volume of work required, saving money on the investment and saving space in the kitchen. Behind the bar, space-saving is even more important.

Furthermore, the fact that these commercial machines can take such punishment yet carry on for year after year without complaint also saves money, as you know that your machine is not going to break down and need replacement in three years' time. They are much sturdier and stronger than their domestic counterparts. Indeed, if you purchased a domestic dishwasher for use in a catering establishment in the hope of saving money, you would probably be looking at replacing it every year or so, or perhaps even sooner.

Another important feature of commercial dishwashers is their far shorter washing cycles than domestic machines. The average washing cycle for a commercial dishwasher is between four and six minutes, whereas a domestic machine will take two hours or more. This means that kitchen and bar staff can keep on top of all the cutlery, plates, and glasses when you have the kind of load a restaurant can produce, and it can even save on purchasing plates and so on, because you can recycle and re-use these items very quickly rather than having to buy and store a lot more. So a commercial machine even saves on storage space.

There are other ways in which commercial dishwashers can help save money too. The technology has improved dramatically in the last ten years or so, and some commercial dishwashers now have soil sensors which test how dirty the dishes are throughout the wash cycle, adjusting the amount of energy and water used while ensuring perfect cleanliness. Improved dish rack designs also help by maximising the cleaning by having the dishes situated strategically. Pre-wash spray valves are used to knock food particles off the dishes before the wash cycle begins. Some of these are high-flow operating at 2.6 gallons per minute, while others are low-flow working at 1.6 gpm or less. A correctly designed low-flow spray can actually work better than a high-flow spray. If the washer is used for three hours per day, the savings work out at an average 66,000 gallons of water a year.

Improved water filtration removes food soils from the wash water which allows efficient use of detergents and water throughout the whole of the wash cycle. The final clean water rinse ensures that the dishes come out sparkling clean. Even the water jets are more efficient, which means that they use less energy to spray the detergents and water over the dishes while cleaning is in progress.

Furthermore, a smaller size commercial dishwasher will only consume between ten and fifteen watts of energy over the wash cycle which means that it not only has one of the most power-energy efficient ratios of bar and restaurant equipment, but of the majority of appliances in use today.