As promised, I am here with the complete blog of choosing between an underbar or undercounter glasswasher. The difference in made, the line is drawn either you’re with us or against us.

It is nothing like that, I just wanted to get your attention. I am with you here and will pose some questions and let you decide what suits you. Ill set my case here with background of bar operations related to glasswashing.

The Element of Glasswashing in Bar

Glasswashing can be considered as one key element in efficient and good guest service in bars and restaurants. Especially as the outlet goes into further refined and high end category, a soiled or unclean glass can spell a certain kind of branding in guests mind. Which guest wouldn’t appreciate getting a drink served in crystal clear glassware time and again, when they are paying for one drink that costs more than sometimes the price of an entire bottle?

Ever heard of beer clean glasses? If you’re core bar person, beer clean glasses are considered the cleanest glasses specification. Did you also know also how can glassware affect say quality of drink say draft beer? Take for example an unclean glass (unseen even to the eye) creates extra foam release in draft beer as soon as it touches the glass, thereby causing excess foaming and beer waste. Even if the glass is warm, as soon as draft beer touches the surface CO2 rushes out causing excess foam thereby causing beer loss and fizz loss (here goes the high temp glass washers out of the window). One reason so many bars in fact most of them use low temp, chemical sanitizing and rinsing glass washers because draft beer is a major seller.

Again this isn’t about low or high temp, but underbar or under counter glass washers. Most bars today have a ratio of beverage to food as 80:20 or even 90:10. Glasses are limited; they go into floor, need return and cleaning to redeliver drinks. A slow rotation will mean certain low sales figure whereas a quicker rotation would mean higher sales turnover. When glasses are coming in by dozen every now and then, and cleaning is done regularly a glass washer needs to not only clean but provide convenience to bartender for ease of cleaning. This is the major difference between under counter and under bar. To a pro, things would start getting clearer, to more inquisitive, I’ll explain further.

Differentiate Undercounter to Underbar Glasswashing

Left: Rack load undercounter glasswasher. Right: Rotary underbar glasswasher.

Imagine the steps in cleaning glassware between under counter and under bar, first the under counter where most under counters have 29” height and their rack is set at 12” level from floor, remembering this:

Under counter Glass washer Operation

1. STACKING: Stack up the rack with oncoming soiled glasses.
2. LOADING: Bend down and open the glass washer door (a 24” door opens into bartender path).
3. SETTING: Lean in and place the rack, close the door.
4. PROCESSING: Stand up and press the cycle start. Once cycle ends,
5. UNLOADING: Open door (24” door opens into bartender path), lean in and remove rack.
6. RESTACKING: Get up and close the latch, remove glass from rack and place rack back into receiving.

Imagine doing this every 15 minutes. It’s not glass washing, its punitive action. Even a young bartender will end up with a slip disc or bed ridden after a heavy day at work frequently. Over and above, under counters have low capacity of cleaning thus need frequent cleaning act? A general glass washer stacks around 12 to 15 glasses per cycle which may last as much as 3 to 4 minutes depending on cleanliness achieved.

This is the reason in America; Rotary glass washers are famous in bar operations where business booms. Under counter seems more like stiff upper lip; low volume, high price, and make the bartender stand up and sit down. Feels better; Jolly well!

I’m a work oriented, efficiency mongering person and to me a more productive and efficient process is natural desire. Let’s speak about the action of the rotary under bar glass washer.

Rotary Underbar Glass washer

These glass washers are a part of the modular under bar system which has their operational use in sync with adjacent cocktail station. We call is disassembly first, then assembly and service in a phenomenon called the Cocktail Lifecycle, by Jon Hall (Chainman) of Glastender, who invented the first Rotary Glass washer in 1969. Jon looked at bartender operations and wasted steps and created a product that would alleviate the problem of the bartender. The entire Glastender line is therefore built through cocktail lifecycle.

The job of rotary glass washer is not to hide under a counter, but merge with existing bar equipment yet be a strong part of the disassembly process of cleaning. Here’s the action.

1. LOADING: Bartender, standing stacks the left or right side of the glass washer open section from top with glassware (kept on adjacent receiving area), instead of rack therefore eliminating first wasted step.
2. CLEANING: Press the clean cycle that runs for 2 minutes (taking in as many as 40 glasses in one cycle).
3. STACKING: Glass washer stops, standing in same position, removes glasses from top of rotary drive from the opposite side of glass washer and stacks to adjacent clean drain board top for service.

Solid Points:

1. Bartender cleaned glasses in three steps not six.
2. Bartender never had to bend, sit, lean in, stand, bend, and lean in stand per wash cycle.
3. In one go, bartender cleaned as many as 40 glasses reducing workload and increasing efficiency.
4. There was no 24” door that opened into bartender path making entire bar speed and activity halt each time glass washing happens, unlike under counters.

That is why in-bar glass washing has rotary glass washers as a favorite for most bars whether in hotels, clubs or restaurants –for efficiency, speed, convenience and productivity = profit and better guest service.

Finally, as a low temp glass washer,

1. Glasses are cleaned using chemical sanitizer not heat (high temp) in warm water after which a cooling rinse spray happens. This allows glasses coming out to be cool and ready for bar service faster than glasses coming out at 82*C, scalding hot that would take much more time to first cool down.
2. In High Temps, to eliminate heat in glass frosters, more energy is consumed for refrigeration (removal of high heat) overall increasing energy costs. Glasses coming out of low temp freeze faster.
3. In Low Temps, chemical sanitize and rinse cycle creates a film on glass that does not allow draft beer touching its surface to lose CO2 fizz and retains low foam thus offering better beer.

There is more than one reason for Rotary Underbar Low Temp Glass washer to be miles ahead of under counter High Temp Glass washer. Efficiency, productivity, convenience, maintenance, energy saving, and quicker service let alone, better glasswashing because of rotary jet spray action. Next time you plan in buying a glasswasher, keep this article handy.

Glastender Underbar Glasswashers