Most Lennox Head café and restaurant owners have at some point got their kitchen exhaust cleaned, but a surprising number aren’t entirely sure what the service entails, what a properly done job looks like when the contractor packs up, or what that written report at the end is even supposed to say. That gap between booking the service and actually knowing what went down is where all the trouble tends to start; compliance problems and insurance disputes.
The Components That Get All Crusty and Why You Need to Know
A kitchen exhaust system is made up of all sorts of connected parts, and grease can build up in different ways across each one. The range hood itself and the internal filters are the first places where all the cooking fumes get caught, and they’re relatively easy to keep an eye on with regular kitchen exhaust cleaning Lennox Head service. But just because the hood looks clean from the kitchen doesn’t mean the real problems aren’t lurking elsewhere in the system.
The exhaust duct carries all the fumes that manage to sneak past the filters, and deposits grease on the inside walls every time it makes a turn or hits a damper or a joint, and all that’s invisible from inside the kitchen unless you know exactly where to look. And it’s all hidden away, which is why it can get to really bad levels before you even notice. The exhaust fan is the bit that draws all that vapour through the system. Grease building up on the blades and inside the housing can throw the fan out of whack, making it work harder and shorter than it should if you let it go too long.
The Cleaning Process From Start to Finish
First off, the preparation phase involves laying down some protective gear all over the kitchen on the surfaces, the equipment, the floor; that’s the first step before you even think about pouring any chemicals down the hood. If the contractor skips this step, that’s a pretty clear sign they’re cutting corners somewhere. Then you’ve got the high-pressure degreaser, which gets sprayed all through the hood interior, the duct and at the fan housing, and you’ve got to let it sit for a bit before you flush it out.
The exhaust fan should ideally come out of its mounting so you can get in there and really clean the blades and the housing properly, if that’s even possible with the one you’ve got. If they leave it in, that’s always going to mean the job isn’t as thorough as it could be, and that’s the one thing that’s hardest to verify after the fact if you don’t know what to look for.
What NSW Are Looking For?
Fire and Rescue NSW reckon routine cleaning and inspection of kitchen range hoods, ducting and fans is just a basic fire safety maintenance requirement for any food prep business. And then there’s the NSW Food Regulation 2023, and that sets pretty strict standards for keeping places clean and safe. As a result, council environmental health officers can pop in at any time and have a look around, including checking your exhaust system, and if it’s out of whack you can bet the insurance companies will be onto you.
Insurance policies for commercial kitchens usually have clauses about keeping fire risk gear in good nick, so if your exhaust system isn’t up to snuff, you can expect some trouble.
Frequency of Cleaning That Fits the Kitchen
Kitchens operating for 12 or more hours per day and producing high volumes of fryer or charcoal cooking emissions should be considered against a cleaning cycle of every three months and not six months. Kitchens that have altered their menu configuration and now incorporate high-volume fryers where there was none before should consider their cleaning frequency needs instead of just following the old menu schedule. The seasonal nature of Lennox Head means that a particular point should be made. Cleaning should take place at the beginning of the season peak and not at its end, when accumulation has taken place under load conditions.
What the End Result of Cleaning Should Look Like?
Noise and draw should be returned to levels as specified in the equipment specification after cleaning has balanced the blades through removing the asymmetry of the grease build-up. The contractor should produce a service report that will include the date of the service, the areas cleaned, the areas not accessible to cleaning on this occasion, and any deficiencies in the system.
