1. What actually changed on the surface
Record the component you tested — hood canopy interior, baffle filter, exhaust duct section, fan housing — and describe the result in physical terms: which layer came off, which layer did not, and whether the base metal was reached. A trial that removes the soft surface film but leaves polymerised carbon on the baffle edge is a normal outcome, not a failure, and it tells you the next step is dwell time and angle rather than a different machine.
Note where residue relocated. Grease pushed into a seam, a rivet line, or the filter frame is a rework item, and it usually means the pass order was wrong. Work from clean areas toward dirty ones, and rinse each panel before moving to the next.
2. Whether the surrounding area stayed usable
Ventilation components sit above cooking lines, so the trial report should cover what landed on everything else: run-off water, loosened grease, condensate on nearby equipment, and floor wetness under the work zone. If drainage or containment has to be built before the next pass, that is a finding, and it is far cheaper to find it on one hood than across a whole kitchen.
Also record whether the trial could run in the planned window. A test that took twice the expected time, or that required the cooking line to be shut longer than planned, changes the cost picture even when the cleaning result looks good.
3. What the machine settings were during the trial
Write down the mode used and how it was used: dry steam or wet steam, the nozzle chosen, the stand-off distance, the number of passes, and whether the machine was refilled or recharged mid-job. PowerDe's fixed unit Fixed Steam Cleaning Machine PowerDe HW02 is listed with 220 V supply, 6 kW heating power, 160 °C steam temperature, 0.8 MPa vapour pressure and an 80 L SUS304 tank, and it switches between dry and wet steam. Treat those figures as the starting point to confirm for your own site supply and water quality, not as a guarantee for your kitchen.
The reason this section matters: two crews can get opposite results with the same unit because one used a longer dwell and a wider spray angle. Without the settings written down, a trial result cannot be repeated or taught to another crew.
4. Whether the method can be repeated by the regular crew
Ask the person who normally cleans the kitchen to repeat the trial pass without supervision. If the result depends on one experienced operator holding the wand at the right angle, the process is not ready for routine use. The repeat pass also exposes the practical questions — hose reach to the upper duct, where the water tank is filled, where run-off is collected, how the unit is moved in and out of the kitchen.
5. How the trial result will be checked next time
Photograph the same panel at the same distance and light before and after, and keep the images in one folder per component. Photos make it possible to compare this trial with the next one and to show an inspector, a landlord, or a franchise auditor what changed. Agree on the acceptance wording now, for example: base metal visible on the accessible surfaces, no loose residue in the filter frame, no run-off damage outside the work zone.
6. What to decide before the next pass
Close the review with three decisions: which component group goes next, what changes in the method (mode, dwell, pass order, containment), and who signs off. If you are comparing options rather than confirming one, look at commercial kitchen steam cleaning equipment listed by PowerDe, and for kitchens whose cleaning plan is wider than hoods, review kitchen cleaning process review before choosing the sequence of jobs. Where the requirement is unusual — fixed installation, a specific tank volume, or integration into an existing cleaning routine — PowerDe lists customised steam cleaning equipment OEM ODM options.
A trial that ends with a written comparison sheet, a repeat pass by the regular crew, and a signed decision is worth more than a trial that simply looks impressive on the day.
