A kitchen hood effectively removes grease and excess moisture from the kitchen, and so it is understandable how the need for regular kitchen hood cleaning arises. At some point or the other, all the moisture and smoke the hood sucks out of your range gets accumulated not only on the surface of the hood, but also in the ducts, vents and fans. Additionally, this may cause your hood to stop working properly and may even pose a fire hazard. Hence, regular kitchen hood cleaning becomes a necessity for households and restaurants.
Now restaurant kitchen hood cleaning is very extensive, and so is mostly undertaken by the professionals trained to do it properly. This by no means indicates that cleaning a kitchen hood is a job for the big boys only. Here’s how to accomplish it all on your own!
- Make sure to power off your range hood before you start cleaning.
- The easiest bit to clean is the outer surface. So to start off, take good nonabrasive grease cutting household cleaner and clean the exterior of your hood with a sponge. Use warm soapy water to rinse off the cleaner.
- You can use the same cleaner to wash the inside of your hood as well, but take care not to hit the bulbs or electric circuitry.
- Before you clean the insides though, you will need to remove the metal traps of the hood. The best way to wash these is by soaking them in a mixture of warm water and a degreasing cleaner, and rinsing them off. If there is still some grease left, use a brush to wipe it away. You could clean these in a dishwasher, but that method usually leaves a coat of grease behind and so fails to be effective.
- The charcoal filters accumulate a lot of dirt, especially if you are a heavy duty cooker. However, these cannot be washed and will need to be replaced, at least once a year. They can be bought at your local hardware store, or ordered online.
- Now the last bit left in this arduous hood cleaning are the fans. You can use the same degreasing agent with a soft piece of cloth to wipe the dirt off the fans.
- You can also use a mixture of water and ammonia instead of the degreasing agent.
And voila! In just a simple five to six steps, you will have ensured another month or so of easy breezy kitchen hood function.
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