How to Clean Restaurant Hoods and Exhaust?

Commercial and restaurant kitchens of all sizes require regular cleaning and maintenance to maintain a level of cleanliness that is often crucial to the food service industry. Cleaning kitchen equipment, such as restaurant hoods and exhaust fan, helps to cut down on potential contamination and health hazards that can arise. Cleaning is an essential part of running a commercial kitchen, to both the cleanliness of your kitchen’s equipment and the health and safety of your employees and diners.

Think for a moment about the number of different foods, ingredients, and overall dishes prepared in your kitchen in a given day. All of those dishes are cooked and prepared across a number of different surfaces, leaving behind residue, and creating food waste, including fats, oils, and grease (FOG).

Residue, food waste, and FOGs need to be cleaned regularly, particularly off of restaurant hoods and exhaust fans to keep your commercial kitchen sanitary.

Below, we answer a few questions related to cleaning restaurant hood vents and extractor fans to help give you a better idea of maintaining your commercial kitchen.

How Often Should Restaurant Hood Vents be Cleaned?

How often you should be bringing in Columbus restaurant hood cleaning services to clean your hood vents will largely depend on how much cooking is happening under any given hood.

Cooking a variety of different foods under a restaurant hood vent can provide a range of particles, including smoke, fumes, vapors, grease, and oil. Leaving these particles sitting on the hood vent poses a fire safety hazard. If a tall enough flame rises from a stove top and hits a hood vent that has not been cleaned regularly, the risk of a fire starting exists.

So, consider how often you cook under a vent.

For high volume restaurants, you will want to clean your hood vents at least once a month whereas average volume restaurants may only need cleaning once every six months.

For other restaurants, such as those that only operate seasonally or produce a low amount of food, you may only need to clean the hood vent once a year.

How Do You Clean a Dirty Vent Hood?

The basic steps on how to clean a dirty vent hood are as follows:

1. Unplug the unit and remove certain parts, including the grates and filters.
2. Wipe down the exterior of the vent hood with a degreaser. This helps to remove grease and other residue on the outside of the vent.
3. Soak the grates and filters in a mix of warm water and soap. This will remove build up and residue. Do not be afraid to give them a good scrubbing if needed. Since a restaurant vent hood sees a lot of action, the buildup and residue can be tough to get off.
4. Replace the grates and filters once you are done soaking them.
5. Once everything is placed back, check to see if your fan is operating properly. If you hear any concerning sounds or the fan is not working correctly, you may need to replace the fan or a fan part.

If you are unable to get all of the grease off of your restaurant vent hood, contact a professional that offers Columbus restaurant hood cleaning services. They will be able to complete a thorough, professional cleaning job.

How Do You Clean a Commercial Extractor Fan?

When it comes to cleaning a commercial extractor fan, there are a few ways to regularly clean extractor fans including:

1. Removing the filters from the extractor fan and cleaning them with a degreaser. Do this regularly to help avoid a heavy buildup of residue.
2. Use a vacuum cleaner to clean your commercial extractor fans and vents. A vacuum will be able to easily suck up residue, dust, and dirt that has collected in the fans.
3. Use a brush that is size appropriate for the fan vents to clean away dirt, dust, and residue.

Be sure to unplug the extractor fan before cleaning.

How Do You Clean Kitchen Exhaust Fan Vents?

Cleaning kitchen exhaust fan vents is a similar process that we went through above for a dirty vent hood.

1. Unplug the exhaust fan and remove any filters.
2. Soak the filters in a dishwasher safe solution, such as warm water and soap.
3. Scrub filter if needed, especially areas with heavy buildup.
4. Let the filters dry and be sure to clean the fan housing itself with a wet cloth.
5. Replace the filters and test your kitchen exhaust fan vents.

Remember that regular cleaning of your kitchen equipment, including your exhaust fan vents, extractor fans, and your vent hood, will help ensure that you are meeting required regulations, lessening the risk of a kitchen fire, cutting back on health risks, and maintaining your equipment so it can work properly.

As a restaurant or commercial kitchen owner, be sure to consider connecting with professionals who offer Columbus restaurant hood cleaning service. Sometimes your equipment may need deep cleaning, including internal cleaning of vents and ductwork, that can be difficult to carry out.

Here at Green Mountain Products, LLC, we provide a number of different services including emergency services and used cooking oil collection that all help keep your commercial kitchen running smoothly. To learn more about how we can help, connect with us over the phone at 740-217-8300 or online.