Not all commercial kitchens are created equal. And with this in mind, you need to figure some things out before choosing the right grease trap for your restaurant kitchen. You should also note Grease traps, Grease Interceptors and Grease Arrestors are different names for the same thing. So what are the factors you need to consider exactly? Well, if you’re trying to find the right size grease trap for your business establishment, here are some things you need to consider.
TYPE OF RESTAURANT OR CAFÉ
The first factor you need to look at is what kind of restaurant or café you plan to have. Is it going to be fine dining or fast food? And how big will your place be?  What is the maximum seating capacity? You have to consider these things because they would determine how much possible trade waste your business might generate, which is exactly what your grease trap will be there for. Typically, for small food establishments, a 550 litre grease trap would do. On the other hand, larger premises would usually need something with a bigger capacity, such as 1500 to 3000 litre grease traps.
TYPE OF MENU OR FOOD THAT WILL BE SERVED
Grease traps are equipment that will be handling the fats, oils, and grease your kitchen will produce and have to dispose of.  This means that it should be able to handle the kind of food your place will be cooking, serving, and discarding—even at full volume capacity. For instance, a place that serves Japanese cuisine would have fewer fried food compared to a fast food restaurant. Also, in Brisbane, if one of the main dishes your restaurant serves is fried chicken, or perhaps you have a combi-steaming oven, then you’ll be required to install a minimum 3000 litre system. After all, you can’t tell your customers that you will only be able to serve a certain number of dishes at a time, just so you could control the volume of your trade waste, right? That will not be good for your business.
SOLO USE OR SHARED
Another thing you have to consider is whether your establishment will be using the grease trap alone, or will it be shared with adjacent businesses. In some instances, especially if it’s in a shopping centre or a mall, a group of business premises would share a large 5000 or 6000 litre grease trap system. If this is the case, calculating its size would depend on the number and type of businesses that will be sharing the use of the grease trap. No worries though, grease trap experts have formulas for this eventuality and it would be part of their jobs to get the right size when installing your system.
LOCAL AUTHORITY REGULATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Lastly, and most importantly, you will need to consult your local authority codes and regulations in calculating your required grease trap size. As have been mentioned, this will depend on the size of your premises, the type of food you’ll be serving, and whether the system will be shared or not. Usually, you will be required to get the size that corresponds to the estimated maximum flow rate per hour in litres of your business establishment.
For this though, it would be best that you consult the professionals. Do your own research if you can. You could certainly check out the Brisbane City Council’s page for Food Business Licenses and Permits for this. However, there are experts out there, such as Citi Industries, who would be willing to help you out. You don’t need to toil with the exact calculations yourself, find experts you can trust who’d be more than happy to do it for you.
Getting the right size grease trap is essential for your place of business because it’s not only required by law, but it’s also vital to the reputation and branding of your enterprise. You don’t want any unfortunate accidents in your kitchen, where your staff will be preparing the food they’ll be serving to your customers. So be wise and make sure to get the right one before you open your doors for business.
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