Dishwashers

Nothing stalls a good service like a wash-up that cannot keep pace. The right machine turns the sink corner from a bottleneck into a loop that runs itself. Here is how to size one honestly.

Undercounter, hood or pass-through

Undercounter machines sit beneath a bench and suit bars, cafés and small kitchens — everything within one person's reach. Hood-type machines lift a hood over the rack and handle the volume of a working restaurant. Pass-through systems put dirty in one side and clean out the other, which is what you want once two people are on wash-up and the flow has to move in one direction. The format follows your floor plan as much as your covers.

Rack size and racks per hour

Two numbers decide whether the machine keeps up. Rack size — 500×500 mm is the standard, 500×600 mm takes larger trays and platters. And throughput, quoted in racks per hour: the machines here run from around 30 racks/h on smaller hood models up to 60 racks/h on pass-through and larger hood machines. Multiply your peak-hour covers by the racks each cover generates; if the answer beats the machine's rating, you will be stacking plates by nine o'clock.

Power supply

Undercounter models come in both 230 V single-phase and 400 V three-phase versions — and this is the specification that most often derails an installation. A 230 V machine plugs into what a café already has; a 400 V machine needs three-phase at the wash-up point. Check the board before you choose, not after.

Tanks, water and chemistry

Tank capacity affects how stable the wash water stays across a busy hour; larger and two-tank machines hold temperature and cleanliness better under load. Water hardness matters just as much — in hard-water areas a softener is not optional if you want glassware that looks clean rather than merely being clean. Glass-specific machines are worth their own look: see glasswashing.

What happens either side of the machine

A dishwasher is a system, not an appliance. Sorting and scraping happen on dishwashing tables and at sinks and pre-rinse stations; food waste and grease need their own handling. Plan all three and the wash-up stops being the room nobody wants to work in. The full range sits in dishwashing and hygiene.