Prince Castle Toaster Cleaning
Daily Prince Castle toaster cleaning is essential if you want to avoid pesky things like burning bread, sticking buns, jams, pile-ups and downtime. Cleaning, in fact, is a form of preventative maintenance and can actually end up saving your company bucketfuls of time and money in skirted service calls and equipment parts. So roll up your sleeves, get your spray bottle cocked and at the ready, and let’s whip this toaster into shape!
Supplies You’ll Need
- Soft cloths
- Neoprene gloves
- Sanitizer
- Grill cleaner/degreaser
- Mild dish detergent
- URT cleaning tool
Estimated Cleaning Time
- 60 minutes for cool down
- 15 minutes for preparation
- 10 minutes for cleaning (daily)
- 15 minutes for cleaning (monthly)
Frequency
- Daily
- Monthly
How Do You Clean a Universal Toaster
Like any piece of machinery, the Prince Castle Universal toaster requires regular cleaning to maintain peak performance. It’ll only take about 10 minutes once a day to keep your toaster churning out those buns.
Daily Cleaning
- Step 1. Turn off and unplug your toaster – Press the “product/off” button and give yourself a full 60 minutes for the toaster to cool down before touching it. The nice thing about the Universal Rapid toaster is it will tell you when it reaches a safe temperature. Once you see “okay to clean'' appear on the screen, go ahead and unplug the toaster.
- Caution: Toasters can reach temperatures of up to 550℉. Wear neoprene or other heat-resistant gloves as a precaution whenever cleaning your toaster after use.
- Step 2. Open the gates (false floor) – the gates are located on the bottom of the toaster. Ensure they are vented in the open position so as not to damage the gates while cleaning.
- Step 3. Remove the main platen sheet – First, locate the top clamp bar in the center of the toaster and remove it. Next, simply lift up and remove the Teflon sheets resting underneath and set them aside for cleaning.
- Step 4. Remove the club sheets – For the club sheets, you’ll have to unhook them from the perforated lip on the front of the machine before you’ll be able to detach them.
- Step 5. Remove the saddle sheets – No additional unhooking or dismantling is required to release the saddle sheets. Simply lift up and remove. (They’re located in between the two club sheets).
- Step 6. Clean the compression plates – For this step, you’ll need your neoprene gloves, a sanitized towel and the URT cleaning tool. Wrap the towel around the URT tool and wipe between each platen until all food buildup and the residue is no longer visible.
- Step 7. Clean the main platen, club and saddle sheets – Get a new sanitized towel and wipe down the front and back of the platen, club and saddle sheets. To finish, spray the sheets with the sanitizer and let them air dry.
- Note: Do not use sharp objects, Scotch Brite pads, scouring pads or abrasive cleaners on the platen or Teflon release sheets. Doing so will cause damage.
- Step 8. Clean the outside of the toaster – Lastly, grab a fresh, sanitized towel and wipe down the toaster’s exterior, taking care to sanitize the gates and underneath the wire tray and metal bar at the mouth of the toaster. Repeat this process once more, and then you'll be ready for the last step!
- Note: Do not clean your toaster with a water hose or jet spray or submerge it in any quantity of water, as the toaster is not seal-tight.
- Step 9. Return sheets and top clamp bar – Once everything is snug in its original positions, go ahead and restore power. Prince Castle universal toaster cleaning complete!
Monthly Cleaning
For monthly Prince Castle toaster cleaning, follow steps 1-5 from above before you continue.
- Step 6. Apply Hi-Temp grill cleaner to the URT cleaning tool – First, apply the cleaner to a no-scratch pad and attach it to the URT cleaning tool.
- Note: Always wear neoprene gloves when handling hot equipment.
- Step 7. Apply Hi-Temp grill cleaner to platen – With the tool, spread a light coating of grill cleaner to each section of the platen, scrubbing gently.
- Note: You can skip this step if you are using Teflon sheets.
- Step 8. Apply Hi-Temp grill cleaner to the compression plate – Now, do the same to each compression plate only, this time, do not scrub with the URT cleaning tool, as this could cause damage to the compression plates.
- Step 9. Clean the platen and compression plates – After about 1-2 minutes, take your URT cleaning tool now wrapped with a sanitized towel and wipe down each platen and compression plate until all food and cleaner residue is removed.
- Note: Do not use abrasive cleaners, pads, or tools on the compression plates or platens.
- Step 10. Clean the outside of the toaster – Lastly, take a fresh, sanitized towel and wipe down the toaster’s exterior, taking care to sanitize the gates and underneath the wire tray and metal bar at the mouth of the toaster. Repeat once more with a fresh towel!
- Step 11. Return sheets and top clamp bar – Once everything is snug in its original positions, go ahead and restore power. That wraps up your monthly toaster cleaning routine!
How Do You Clean a Vertical Toaster
Cleaning your Prince Castle vertical toaster follows a slightly different procedure than the universal toaster variety, but rest assured it’s nothing too complicated. In a few simple steps, your toaster will be so sparkly clean that people will think it’s brand new.
- Step 1. Turn off and unplug the toaster – Prince Castle’s vertical toasters take approximately 45 minutes to turn off and cool down, during which the conveyor belt will continue running. Once the screen goes blank, you may unplug the machine.
- Step 2. Remove the front cover – To do this, you simply have to lift up and remove it. Set the cover aside for cleaning.
- Step 3. Remove the upper and lower retaining bar – After you’ve removed the lower retaining bar, you’ll have to pull the release sheet up through the top of the unit. Only then can you remove the upper retaining bar. Set the release sheet aside for cleaning.
- Note: Be careful that you don’t mix up the lower and upper retaining bars, as they’ll need to be returned to their exact position.
- Step 4. Remove the side panel – You’ll need to loosen the thumbscrews on either end of the side panel before you can remove it.
- Step 5. Release tension on the conveyor belt – Press in and hold down on the roller to release the tension.
- Step 6. Remove the conveyor belt – First, unlatch the upper and lower locking mechanisms holding the conveyor belt in place. Take the belt out from the side of the unit, gently rotating it as you do so.
- Step 7. Remove the plastic spline from the belt – The spline is hard to miss. It’s the hard rod holding the two ends of the belt together. Once removed, you can lie it on a flat surface for cleaning.
- Step 8. Clean the conveyor belt – Place the belt orange side up and spray with a mild dishwashing detergent (1 part detergent to 9 parts water). After 1 minute, wipe down the belt with a non-abrasive cloth until all residue is removed. The belt should now have an almost sticky-like texture. This is good because a slick surface means oils are still present, and the belt is in need of more cleaning.
- Step 9 Clean the release sheet – Wipe down the release sheet with a mild dishwashing detergent and non-abrasive cloth until clean.
- Step 10. Reassemble the toaster – When reinstalling the belt, make sure that the orange side is facing outward and that the plastic spline is positioned evenly with the teeth. Also, ensure the upper and lower retaining bars are returned to their original positions.
If you need an additional reference for troubleshooting, cleaning and more, take a look through our catalog of Prince Castle toaster manuals and diagrams.