It is important to keep the soft-serve machines clean for daily use. This means wiping up any spills that may occur either when filling the machines or during use as well as polishing and using a plastic food wrapper to catch drips at night.
Every night, after the drip trays and drip grates have been removed, the front of the machines should be wiped down thoroughly between the yogurt dispensers on the machine face and where the drip trays sat with a cleaning rag soaked in a sanitizing solution. If there are other spots or yogurt drips, they should be wiped off as well.
Before the sanitizing solution dries, the cleaned area should be dried with a clean paper towel.
When the machine is clean and dried, place food service plastic wrap under the yogurt spouts to replace the drip trays. Use one long piece to cover that stretches from one side of the machine to the other so that no yogurt will get on the machine.
The machines should be given a thorough wipe-down every week or so. This involves pulling them out from their position against the wall and wiping them down, from top to bottom, down the sides as well as the front.
This is also a good time to clean the grease trays, which are located either on the side or under the face of the machine, depending on the age and style of the machine.
The drip trays are long, shallow, black plastic troughs that catch any drips of lubricant that may come off of the moving parts of the machines during use. Wipe off any lubricant, wash, sanitize and replace.