Why Do I Need to Get My Exhaust Cleaned?
Kitchen exhaust cleaning is required by law for virtually every commercial
cooking establishment in the United States. Restaurants, hospitals, hotels,
employee cafeterias and other food-service locations have a "hood"
and ductwork over the stove to exhaust smoke, steam, and fumes out of the
building. These exhaust gases leave a residue on the inside of the ductwork.
This is usually a grease residue of some sort, depending on the type of
cooking. Char broilers commonly leave heavy black grease. Chinese cooking
normally deposits a sticky or rubbery residue. When a charcoal or wood-burning
stove is in use soot and ash residue builds up in the ductwork. Dishwashers
leave heavy lint deposits.
These cleaning services are necessary for safeguarding your commercial
cooking facilities against fire and health hazards. Regular degreasing may
qualify you for insurance rate reductions.
What We Do...
AAA Fire Protection's exhaust degreasing process consists of a total system
cleaning. This means we begin at the canopies and degrease all exhaust ductwork
through to the fan. Complete cleaning ensures the customer a safe grease-free
environment. We offer
dry scrape cleaning for a more cost effective solution and
steam cleaning for a more thorough cleaning of your exhaust ducts.
How Often Should a Kitchen Exhaust Be Cleaned?
The most common cleaning frequency is every 3 months. This can vary, however.
The kitchen exhaust systems that need cleaning most often are those over
wood-burning or charcoal-burning stoves. These should be cleaned every month
at least, and in some cases as often as every 2 weeks.
Below are various types of cooking establishments and their most commonly
recommended cleaning frequencies.
| • Wood-burning or charcoal-burning stoves, charbroilers,
24-hour restaurants, and some hamburger places: 30 DAYS. |
• Many hamburger restaurants and fast-food locations: 60 DAYS.
|
| • Average restaurant, employee cafeteria, and hotel or hospital
kitchen: 90 DAYS. |
| • Pizza places, convalescent hospital, small snack bar, oven
hood: 180 DAYS. |
| • Hoods over non-grease-creating appliances, such as steam kettles,
dishwashers, soup vats, etc. ONE YEAR. |
