The hood plays a fundamental role in quality catering. In fact, good extraction guarantees a healthy and comfortable environment for both those working in the kitchen and for customers seated in the dining room. That's why extractor hood maintenance and cleaning must be carried out correctly, thoroughly and regularly, following simple but essential precautions that will also ensure you avoid serious fines during inspections. Here are our tips for always having clean, healthy air in the kitchen.
Extractor hood maintenance: why it's important not to overlook it
Many people have noticed, likely more than a few times, a strong smell of food as soon as they enter a restaurant. This is undoubtedly bothersome for customers, who often leave restaurants with their clothes reeking of the oils used for frying and cooking. This is a serious problem for a restaurant that wants to maintain high service quality levels.
One potential cause is an incorrectly sized hood compared to the cooking area. That is to say, a hood with the correct amount of power was not chosen with respect to the size of the restaurant's kitchen, which makes it ineffective in performing its main functions: correctly absorbing the grease and oil created from cooking food on the stove, sucking up vapours, neutralising odours and thus guaranteeing proper air circulation and the healthiness of the air in the work environment and, consequently, in the dining room.
Yet in many cases, if the extractor hood is not working, cleaning the kitchen hood and all its components correctly and regularly can become the real solution to the problem.
In fact, it’s very easy for the air filters to become clogged under frequent use if they are not cleaned with care and consistency. This reduces the functioning of the appliance and the slow deposit of a film of grease on the walls, kitchen furniture and surface of the hood itself, capable of generating a high bacterial load that could even contaminate food being prepared. Therefore, cleaning the extractor hood in a timely manner could significantly affect not only the hygiene and comfort of a restaurant's various rooms, but also the health of people, both those working in the kitchen and guests in the dining room.
No less important is the safety factor. If extractor hood maintenance is not carried out correctly and constantly, excessive dirt can foul the motor, thereby not only risking its failure, but also potentially starting a fire if there is an excessive accumulation of grease in the filters.
Please also see the following article about kitchen safety:
https://www.lotuscookers.it/professional-stainless-steel-kitchens-how-furnish-safely
How to easily and effectively clean steel hoods
Now that it's clear that regularly cleaning a restaurant's kitchen hood is not overzealous, but an indispensable practice to ensure its proper functioning, and therefore hygiene, health and safety in the kitchen as well as in the dining room, we'd like to offer some practical advice.
The suction hoods for restaurants made by the best manufacturers, such as Lotus cookers' suction hoods, are made of AISI 304 stainless steel, a material that is very resistant to corrosion and dirt and is also extremely easy to maintain.
So let's see how to clean steel hoods:
- Before you start cleaning the extractor hood, turn it off and let it cool down.
- Remove and clean the internal filters where grease accumulates. Put them in a basin with hot water and degreasing detergent and let them soak for about 15 minutes. Use a non-abrasive sponge to remove the grease, rinse with hot water and let them dry.
- Clean the outer surface by dampening a non-abrasive sponge with a neutral, non-aggressive detergent to avoid scratching the steel, and gently pass it over the hood. Rinse with a soft damp cloth to remove any detergent residues. Dry the surface with another cloth to prevent any water stains.
- Clean the inner surface with the same cleaning solution and method used for the exterior, being especially careful near the electrical parts and ensuring that they never come into contact with water.
To clean steel hoods properly and safely, it is always essential to strictly follow the manufacturer's instructions for the maintenance and cleaning of the extractor hood purchased for your restaurant.
How often should you thoroughly clean the hood? At least once a month, but the answer greatly depends on frequency of use, the restaurant owner's specific needs, the restaurant and the type of catering. Regardless, the important thing is to ensure that the hood is cleaned regularly so that it maintains the level of suction for which it was designed and sized.
All the advantages of a proper restaurant's kitchen hood maintenance
In summary, we can affirm that regularly cleaning a restaurant's kitchen hood with care and periodically checking the suction systems guarantees important advantages:
- Better air quality in the kitchen and dining room
- High hygienic-sanitary standards
- Reduced risk of microbiological contamination
- Significant increase in hood effectiveness and duration over time
- Reduced risk of fire, increased safety
- Lower energy consumption and greater savings: to work properly, a dirty hood requires twice the energy of a hood with clean filters.
- Zero risk of large fines by complying with regulations in force
On this last point, we'd like to point out that cleaning the extractor hood is one of the elements that is carefully evaluated in kitchen inspections. So don't neglect to clean it because it's tall, it's not always right in front of your eyes, or perhaps you think it's not as dirty because it's not in direct contact with food. A food safety inspection can be carried out by the authorities unannounced, any time. And if they find out that the cleaning of the extractor hood has not been carried out properly, the fines can be very high!
Would you like to learn more about Lotus Cucine's steel extractor hoods and how to carry out the best extractor hood maintenance? Write to us at lotus@lotuscookers.it or fill out the contact form