How do you Know when your Commercial Kitchen Hood Needs Cleaning?

Apr 7

01:59

2022

Bruce Markey

Commercial kitchen hoods require regular cleaning to prevent grease fires and preserve air quality. Generally, a commercial kitchen operator will use a professional hood cleaning service. Most kitchen operators will keep track of the hood cleanliness either by a time schedule (i.e. every three months), or by keeping track of how much grease is actually built up on the hood itself (i.e. half an inch, quarter of an inch) and so on. There are advantages and disadvantages for both methods.

When food is cooked, small amounts of fat and grease get released into the air around the cooktop. These airborne particles tend to stick to the kitchen hood. Most modern kitchens are equipped with a hood fan that sucks up the airborne food particulate and vents it away. When cooking in a commercial kitchen, having a functional hood fan is a safety essential. Because such high volumes of food are prepared, there would be a very high risk of a grease fire without some means of sucking away the airborne grease.

Just having a hood fan is not enough

A hood fan will only reduce the likelihood of a grease fire. If the kitchen hood is not operated and maintained properly, there will be significant fire risk. Although most of the grease will get sucked up by the fan, there will always be a little bit that the fan does not capture. This residual grease collects on the hood surface and inside the fan housing. Over time, it will also collect along the inside of the ducts too. If enough of this residual build-up is present, it will catch fire. The only way to ensure that this does not happen is to scrub the grease off regularly.

Using a professional hood cleaning service is ideal. Unless you have high pressure washing equipment, hiring somebody that does is a good idea. Because the saturated fatty buildup itself is not water soluble, it often requires a great deal of force to remove. Also, there are chemical solvents used by hood cleaners that offer more potency than dish soap or detergent.

Cleaning recommendations

The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) codes offer recommended cleaning frequencies based on time and on the amount of build-up. For example, the most common recommendation for restaurants is cleaning quarterly to six times per year. It also recommends cleaning when there is grease on the hood as thick as a nickel, or if the grease on the fan housing is as thick as two stacked pennies. It is up to the operator to decide if it is more effective to clean on the basis of so many weeks or on the basis of observed grease thickness.

If you manage a restaurant where the menu stays pretty consistent for long periods of time, you might find it easiest to simply schedule professional cleanings every so many weeks. If your restaurant has more seasonal menus that change every couple of months, you may find it more economical to go by how much grease you see on the hood. A winter menu with more high calorie items is likely to create more grease than a summer one with lighter entrees.

It is also helpful to think of the different hoods in your kitchen individually – the main grill where meat and fish are cooked will likely require more attention than an auxiliary one where starters and sides are prepared. Regardless of all of this, following the recommended codes is a good idea.