Keeping your commercial kitchen clean is essential to ensure a safe and healthy environment, maintain equipment functionality, and enhance food quality. A clean kitchen can also save you money in repair and maintenance costs. For this reason, it is a crucial aspect of kitchen hygiene that must not be overlooked.
A dirty or clogged kitchen exhaust hood can be a breeding ground for bacteria, lead to poor indoor air quality, and put your staff and customers at risk. This blog post will discuss how commercial hood cleaning can unlock numerous advantages for your commercial kitchen. Keep reading!
5 Benefits Of Regular Kitchen Hood Cleaning
- Compliance With Health And Safety Regulations
A clean kitchen exhaust hood ensures your restaurant complies with health and safety regulations and reduces the risk of fire hazards, which can save you money in fines and legal fees.
- Improved Indoor Air Quality
A dirty kitchen exhaust hood can emit smoke, steam, and unpleasant odors that contaminate the air quality in your restaurant. Regular cleaning removes and prevents the buildup of hazardous pollutants from being recirculated in the air.
- Enhanced Equipment Functionality
A clean kitchen exhaust hood improves the performance of your kitchen equipment. A clean kitchen exhaust ensures that the airflow is unobstructed, which keeps the air distribution system working efficiently to prevent overheating and breakdowns.
- Improved Staff Safety
A clean kitchen exhaust minimizes the risk of serious accidents that could harm your staff. A fire in the kitchen exhaust can spread quickly through the ventilation system, putting your staff at risk of burns, smoke inhalation, and even death.
- Enhanced Food Quality
A clean kitchen exhaust hood keeps your cooking area free of grease, steam, and other contaminants, ensuring your food’s quality. When neglected, however, these hoods can become havens for bacteria and other contaminants.
Parts of a Restaurant’s Kitchen Hood System
Understanding the components of your kitchen hood system is crucial for effective cleaning and maintenance. Here are the primary parts of a typical commercial kitchen hood system:
- Hood Canopy
- The visible part above the cooking appliances that captures smoke, grease, and heat.
- Filters
- Typically made of metal mesh or baffles that trap grease and particulates from the air.
- Ductwork
- The network of ducts that transport the contaminated air from the hood canopy to the exterior of the building.
- Fans/Exhaust Fans
- Located either on the roof or the exterior wall, these fans draw the contaminated air out of the kitchen and expel it outside.
- Grease Traps/Grease Cups
- Containers that collect the grease captured by the filters and must be emptied regularly.
- Fire Suppression System
- Integrated within the hood to detect and extinguish fires, often using wet chemical agents.
How to Clean Your Kitchen Hood System
1. Preparation
- Turn Off Power: Ensure the power to the kitchen hood system is turned off to avoid electrical hazards.
- Protect Equipment: Cover nearby kitchen equipment and surfaces with plastic sheets to protect them from cleaning chemicals and debris.
2. Cleaning the Hood Canopy and Filters
- Remove Filters: Take out the filters from the hood canopy.
- Soak and Scrub Filters: Soak them in a degreasing solution and scrub thoroughly to remove grease buildup.
- Clean the Canopy: Wipe down the interior and exterior of the hood canopy with a degreaser.
3. Cleaning the Ductwork
- Access Ductwork: Open access panels to reach inside the ducts.
- Scrape and Scrub: Use brushes and scrapers to remove grease and grime from the ductwork.
- Vacuum Debris: Vacuum out loose debris to prevent it from contaminating other areas.
4. Cleaning Exhaust Fans
- Access Fans: Safely access the exhaust fans on the roof or exterior wall.
- Remove Grease: Clean the fan blades and housing with a degreaser and scrub off accumulated grease.
5. Final Steps
- Reassemble Components: Once everything is cleaned and dry, reassemble the filters and access panels.
- Inspect: Conduct a final inspection to ensure all parts are clean and in good working order.
- Restore Power: Turn the power back on and test the system.
Potential Risks of Not Cleaning Your Kitchen Hood System Properly
Neglecting proper cleaning of your kitchen hood system can lead to several serious risks:
Fire Hazards
- Accumulated grease is highly flammable and can easily ignite, potentially causing a catastrophic fire in your kitchen.
Poor Indoor Air Quality
- A dirty hood system can fail to remove smoke, steam, and odors effectively, leading to poor air quality that can affect both staff and customers.
Health Hazards
- Grease and grime can harbor bacteria and mold, increasing the risk of food contamination and health code violations.
Equipment Malfunctions
- Blocked ducts and dirty fans can reduce airflow, causing kitchen equipment to overheat and malfunction, leading to costly repairs or replacements.
Recommended Frequency For Exhaust Hood Maintenance
Regular kitchen hood cleaning is crucial for preventing malfunctions, reducing energy consumption, and, most importantly, preventing fires. The recommended frequency of hiring hood cleaning service depends on how busy your kitchen is.
The National Fire Protection Association’s Standard 96, which sets the standards for commercial cooking operations’ ventilation control and fire protection, specifies that kitchen exhaust systems should be inspected and cleaned by a certified professional at least once every 6 months. However, if your kitchen is particularly busy, the frequency may need to increase to every three months.
Prioritize Your Commercial Hood Cleanings With The Help Of Extreme Cleaning!
As a commercial kitchen owner, it can be overwhelming to face the pressure of ensuring high levels of cleanliness while managing other aspects of your business. But don’t worry; you’re not alone!
At Extreme Cleaning, we are proud to have the knowledge, experience, and certification needed to keep your commercial kitchen safe from fire hazards and damage. We have been providing high-quality hood cleaning services for many years, so you can trust we’re prepared to help you!
At our professional company, we understand commercial kitchen owners’ challenges and are committed to providing top-quality solutions to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for your staff and clients.
