What counts as an extraction system surface
Before setting a schedule, list the surfaces. An extraction system is not just the canopy you can see above the line. It normally includes the hood interior and exterior panels, the grease filters, the plenum above the filters, the fan or blower housing, the first metres of duct, and the extract duct access panels. Fire codes in most jurisdictions require the hood, filters and ductwork to be cleaned on a defined frequency, and they require records to prove it. A routine written around those four groups gives you evidence that matches what an inspector expects to see.
Build the routine around three intervals
Splitting the work into daily, weekly and monthly tasks keeps labour predictable. One long deep clean every six months does not: grease re-accumulates within days on a busy line, and the deposit you find at month three is much harder to remove than the film that was there in week one.
- Daily, 10 minutes: wipe the hood lip, the filter front faces and the top of the cooking line. Use a damp cloth and a food-safe surface cleaner. This removes the aerosol film before it polymerises into hard grease.
- Weekly, 60 to 90 minutes: take the filters out, clean them, degrease the hood interior panels and the plenum you can reach, and wipe the access panel covers.
- Monthly, half a day: clean the fan housing and the accessible duct sections, then log the work and photograph each stage.
The weekly filter and hood step, done properly
Take the filters down and lay them on a protected floor area in the wash-up bay. Soak them in hot water with a degreasing detergent for twenty to thirty minutes, then agitate the mesh with a brush. Mesh filters with hard, dark deposits will not clear in a dishwasher, and a partially clean filter looks acceptable but still restricts airflow and still burns off grease inside the duct.
While the filters soak, work the hood interior with a range hood steam cleaning machine. Hold the nozzle a few centimetres from the panel, move slowly, and let the heat do the work rather than scrubbing. Steam lifts the polymerised film off stainless panels, weld seams and the underside of the canopy, then you squeegee and wipe the loosened residue into a containment tray. Working top down, and back to front, keeps clean areas from being re-contaminated.
For the cooking equipment itself, grill grease cleaning follows the same pattern: heat, dwell, wipe. Grills, flattops, fryer surrounds and the backsplash behind the line hold the same aerosol grease that the hood is meant to capture. Cleaning the hood and leaving the appliances coated simply moves the fire load to a different surface.
Choosing equipment that fits the routine
Most kitchens need one fixed, mains-powered machine rather than a portable unit they have to recharge. A central kitchen degreasing machine such as the PowerDe HW02 runs on 220 V, heats to a steam temperature of 160°C and delivers vapour pressure at 0.8 MPa, with an 80 L SUS304 tank and a choice of dry or wet steam. The parameters matter because they set what the job costs you in time:
- Steam temperature of 160°C softens hardened grease on contact, so the operator stops scrubbing panels by hand.
- Vapour pressure of 0.8 MPa pushes the steam into mesh and seam gaps that a cloth cannot reach.
- An 80 L tank means fewer refills in the middle of a monthly duct clean.
- Dry steam for panels, wet steam for filters lets one machine cover both tasks without switching tools.
Ask the supplier how the machine is protected against low water, high temperature and electrical faults, and confirm the footprint fits your wash-up bay. The HW02 measures 1,200 × 800 × 1,200 mm including handles, so a tight back-of-house area needs a measured plan for where it parks and where the hose routes.
What a good record looks like
Keep one page per clean: date, who did it, which surfaces were covered, what was used, and before-and-after photographs of the filters, the hood interior and the first duct section. A signed sheet with no photographs is weak evidence. Photographs of the mesh before cleaning and after cleaning prove the routine actually happened, and they also show you whether your interval is too long. If the week-three film is already thick, shorten the interval instead of buying a stronger chemical.
Common gaps that cause failures
- Cleaning only what is visible. The plenum and duct beyond the access panel are where deposits build past the reach of a cloth.
- Relying on solvent sprays. Aerosol degreasers in a hot kitchen leave residue and fumes; high-temperature steam removes the film with far less water and no detergent mist near food surfaces.
- No airflow check after cleaning. Once the filters and fan housing are clear, confirm the extraction still pulls correctly at the line.
- Treating it as a contractor-only job. A specialist deep clean is still needed periodically, but a documented in-house weekly routine is what keeps the ductwork between those visits from becoming a hazard.
Putting it into service
Start with an inventory of surfaces, fix the three intervals, and give the team one machine that can run a full shift on mains power. Then review the photographs after four weeks and adjust. If you want an assessment of your extraction layout, airflow and wash-up access before specifying equipment, customized steam cleaning equipment can be configured around your kitchen instead of the other way round. Send drawings or photographs of your hood line and bay, and the equipment selection follows from there.
