Large grease generators in the kitchen are the pre-rinse sinks and the pot-washing sinks. Grease comes from the food residue that is on used plates and cookware. The biggest generator of grease is the three-compartment sink, where a lot of the pots and pans are washed.

Surprisingly, very little grease comes from the dishwasher. Plates and cookware have grease and food residue scraped/rinsed off at the pre-rinse station before they go into the dishwasher. Any grease that does come out of a dishwasher is emulsified grease. Grease emulsifies due to the high concentration of detergents and high strength soaps that dishwashers utilize. Emulsified grease cannot be trapped.
 
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Traditional grease traps/interceptors must be manually cleaned. Large, in-ground traps/interceptors require a professional with a vacuum/pump truck to do the cleaning. In the case of small, passive grease trap/interceptors, an individual must do the cleaning by hand with a spoon/ladle.

A Big Dipper Automatic Grease & Oils Removal system cleans itself out on a daily basis. It does not need manual cleaning.
 
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Like a traditional grease trap/interceptor, free-floating grease and oils are trapped in a baffled chamber. Unlike traditional grease trap/interceptors, Big Dipper systems use a skimming wheel (which is controlled by a timer) to skim the grease and oils out of the baffled chamber. The grease and oils are scrubbed off of the wheel with a wiper blade and channeled out of the unit and into a collection container provided with the system.
 
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In IS (Internal Strainer) Big Dipper systems, food scraps are captured in a strainer basket. This needs to be emptied into a garbage receptacle at least once a day, more often if you have a busy food preparation facility.

In AST (Automatic Solids Transfer) Big Dipper systems, incidental food scraps are trapped in a solids chamber and automatically removed.
 
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It takes about ten minutes a week to keep a Big Dipper operating properly. The wiper blades and grease trough should be cleaned at least once a week. The food scraps captured in the strainer basket included with IS systems needs emptying at least once a day. The grease collection container provided with each Big Dipper system is translucent, so you can see when it needs emptying.

Periodically, you may want to shop-vac out the bottom of your Big Dipper as very fine solids may begin to accumulate.
 
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Thermaco, Inc. has a global network of sales affiliates. To get in contact with your local sales affiliate, please contact Thermaco headquarters at 1-800-633-4204 or Contact us via our online form.

Big Dipper sizing depends on two factors: the number of fixtures in your kitchen and the size of those fixtures in your kitchen. Please refer to our sizing guides found in the website, or contact the factory at 1-800-633-4204. You can also Contact us via our online form.
 
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In most cases, the collected grease and oils are emptied into the grease rendering barrel provided by your local rendering company. This is the barrel where you dump your deep-fryer grease. Rendering companies come by on a schedule and empty this container. The grease & oils that are removed from the Big Dipper are virtually water free, so rendering companies like it - there is less effort in recycling the grease.

In some areas, it is all right to dump the collected grease into the landfill, but be sure to look into this before doing it. It is becoming illegal to do this in a lot of areas.
 
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The SuperCeptor is designed for extremely high volume sites like correctional facilities, casinos, and hospitals. Instead of being an "in-line" grease trap (which handles direct kitchen flows), it services an existing in-ground grease trap. Think of it as an on-site pump truck. A SuperCeptor pumps effluent from the grease trap, separates and collects coarse solids using Big Flipper® technology, then removes and collects free-floating grease and oils using a Big Dipper system. The "cleaned" effluent flows back into the grease trap, where it empties into the sewer line. Again, the SuperCeptor is designed for extremely high-flow installations.

There are over 18,000 Big Dipper units installed all over the world, from the small sandwich counters to the largest casinos.
 
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A point of use grease separator is usually not required for a three (3) compartment pot washing sink when there is a central grease removal system receiving the flows from the entire kitchen.
 
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No. The inlet and outlet ends of the Big Dipper unit are permanent. However, the Big Dipper unit can be easily reversed by simply lifting the center module section of the Big Dipper unit and rotating it 180 degrees to the opposite orientation.

*ALWAYS UNPLUG UNIT BEFORE REMOVING LID.
*SYSTEM WILL NOT OPERATE UNLESS CENTER MODULE IS IN PLACE.
1) Unlatch the lid. Pull the side wings outward.
2) Lift the center module up off of the unit, ensuring clearance for the heater.
3) Rotate the center module 180 degrees.
4) Lower the center module back down on top of the unit. Move the two side wings back into place & fasten all latches.
 
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Yes. Ice cream production plants utilize milk and cream products containing homogenized and non-homogenized (free-floating) butterfat. The homogenized fats cannot be separated. Free-floating (non-homogenized) butterfat can be separated by grease separators having sufficient retention times. Most of the butterfat at ice cream production facilities is homogenized product. Because of the inability to separate homogenized butterfat, production process spill and waste prevention is usually the best practice for ensuring an ice cream production facility meets community fats and oils discharge limits.

Big Dipper models W-200-IS, W-250-IS and W-350-IS are certified by the Plumbing and Drainage Institute to the PDI-G101 Standard and they are also certified to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME A112.14.3 and ASME A112.14.4 standards.

Note: The ASME A112.14.3 standard pertains to testing a separator's grease separation efficiency and grease retention capacity. The ASME A112.14.4 standard pertains to testing a separator's automatic grease removal, i.e. self-cleaning aspect.
 
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