Commercial Dish Tables: A Buying Guide
Dish tables sit at the center of a commercial kitchen’s warewashing operation, providing the staging space needed to scrape, sort, and rack dishes efficiently before and after washing. Choosing the right configuration keeps your dish pit running smoothly even during peak volume. This guide covers what to look for when buying a commercial dish table.
Soiled vs. Clean Dish Tables
A soiled dish table sits on the incoming side of the dishwasher, giving staff room to scrape and rack dirty dishes, often with a pre-rinse sprayer and drain trough. A clean dish table sits on the outgoing side, providing space to air-dry and stage clean dishes before they’re put away.
Sizing for Your Volume
Table length should give staff enough surface area to keep pace with your dishwasher’s cycle time during peak service. Undersized dish tables create bottlenecks that slow the entire warewashing process and can lead to dishes piling up.
- Match table length to dishwasher rack cycle speed
- Include drain troughs on soiled tables to manage scrap water
- Leave adequate staging space on the clean side for air-drying
Construction and Durability
Stainless steel is the standard for dish tables due to its resistance to constant water exposure, scratching, and sanitizing chemicals. Look for a table with rounded, welded edges rather than exposed seams, which are easier to keep sanitary.
Dish Table Types
| Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Soiled Dish Table | Scraping and racking incoming dirty dishes |
| Clean Dish Table | Staging and air-drying outgoing clean dishes |
| Corner Dish Table | Space-efficient layouts in tighter dish pits |