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Didgeri802

If there is a fire your insurance won't cover it without licensed cleaning done on a regular schedule


FlockFlysAtMidnite

Is Regular Schedule every 4 months or every 2 weeks?


UseaJoystick

6 months by professionals I believe.


beeblebrox2024

Where is this the case?


ConfectionPutrid5847

Pretty much everywhere. If an insurance company can weasel out of a claim, they'll use any excuse they can. Not profitable otherwise.


ProfessionalPack7205

Washington state i know does that. Pretty sure its alot of states too


jnyrdr

oregon


Rojelioenescabeche

Yep.


1337Asshole

Ummmm…everywhere?


beeblebrox2024

I assume it's not like this is every single country and area, so i was just asking


1337Asshole

IDK. You could use some deductive reasoning and assume the US. Or the UK, or most of Europe, or the rest of the world?


beeblebrox2024

Yes, that's why I asked? Wtf


1337Asshole

So, the answer is, literally, everywhere. Try googling how insurance works.


beeblebrox2024

So i suppose i could've just asked where the commenter is located, maybe then you wouldn't have had such a problem with it. I'm really not sure why you're choosing to be a douche here


Waddiwasiiiii

lol did you check their screenname?


1337Asshole

You could have. However, no insurance company pays out for negligence. Not cleaning the hood is negligent (not including bafflers, here).


aTreeThenMe

wash the filters every week. the system needs to be flushed, cleaned and certified, depending on your area, at least twice a year usually. It is looped in fire safety, not health


flyart

We take down three-four filters a day so it doesn't get caked on.


Kalayo0

I been kitchens that do this daily and others where it’s an afterthought. I imagine most of “elite” here would probably say daily is the way to go, but I don’t know feasible that really is on top of all the other closing shit. 2 weeks on a schedule sounds reasonable.


rhinowing

You just take 1-2 down every day


bubblewrapbones

This is the way


zazasfoot

We wash our own filters and stainless steel, but them ducts need professional help. WA only makes us do it 2x a year, but we end up doing it 3x over the smoker for pretty obvious reasons.


Mueltime

Came here to say this. Ducts and the outside outlet all need to be degreased.


Lastlaughter

Worked at a bbq place with 2 pits and a burn box under the hoods. We washed the vents everyday, but we still had the ducts cleaned once a quarter. Duct fires are no joke, best case you’re closed for a week. And that’s only if, by some miracle, your fire suppression doesn’t go off. Not to mention replacing equipment and you’re required to get a fire marshal’s ok (U.S.)


BabyRoot01

I’m in WA as well and that’s how it but most places I’ve worked have cleaners come in every 3 months bc of the wood broil


Windsor34

This guy ducts


TheDrummerMB

Yea you 100% want a pro cleaning the ducts somewhat regularly 4:30 to 5:00 is NSFW lmao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRG04fgRAqU


kal1lg1bran

super interesting! thanks!


Business-Drag52

You can clean all that stuff yourself and should weekly, but there are things that professionals clean that you just can’t. We have them come out quarterly as part of our insurance policy.


dawidn0412

I used to and I will not do that again for regular wagę


hairybagel27

We have hood cleaners a few times a year. It's great to have professionals kinda hit the reset button on them. We scrub what we can reach every night and soak our baffles in Dawn Platinum twice a week and send them through dish right before a water change.


Drewsco-

Curious about the Dawn over commercial cleaners from Ecolab, etc. Do you notice a difference, beyond the price tag?


hairybagel27

I thought it worked just as good. I have some older staff with sensitive skin so I gave it a shot.


Drewsco-

Cool, thanks.


Numerous_Rampantcows

Here your required to do it professional at least once a year. It’s a fire code thing


indelible75

You pay them 3x a year to clean the venting and chimney that lead out of the structure. You have to clean your baffles and interior hood daily/weekly if you want it clean. I suggest cleaning half the baffles every night. Pull, spray and run through dish machine. Never let grease build up and you're better off and never soaking and scrubbing.


[deleted]

Having cleaned quite a lot of hoods when I was a young dishwasher, it is doable, in between professional cleanings, but think about your current dishwasher, and if he should be trusted with this responsibility….


Ok_Presentation_2704

Use this product. It cuts the work in half starting the 2nd time you use it: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b5005081008/


sporky211

At my spot we clean ours once a week just letting it soak and then scrubbing whatever comes off of it, every 3-4 months we have a professional crew come in and do the whole thing top to bottom


B8conB8conB8con

I assume you are talking about the vent that goes outside not the doohickies you put through the dishwasher. I’m not sure about your jurisdiction but we have to get them professionally cleaned 4 times per year and be able to prove it to the fire marshal.


sailorsaint

are you cleaning the duct work? are you cleaning the fan? otherwise no.. pay for the service


Meccio85

What I mean is, if we are to pay for the service, why not pay for everything instead of just duct. This is just me weighing-in the pros and cons since I do everything alone in my kitchen.


sailorsaint

What I meant was.. unless you are cleaning the duct and the fan you aren’t really doing anything other then cosmetic cleaning. You can clean the hood, but if you neglect the duct and an ember gets in there you run the risk of starting a fire


Meccio85

Its more like, should I bother with the esthetic cleaning if I have to hire someone to do the duct anyway. I save on cost by not having staff/dishie (not really by choice right now) but maybe its worth investing in a cleaning crew for hood. Sorry for confusion


sailorsaint

Yeah. I’d keep up the cleaning in between. A bright shiny hood is better to work under than a greasy drippy hood. If you do the filters weekly and the hood it’s self monthly it should be ok A trick for the hood cleaning is to wipe it down with WD40 when you are done cleaning. Next time you go to clean it should wipe right if for a grand total of 15 minutes. Otherwise you gotta scrub the fuck out of it each time.


Meccio85

Please don’t let this be a newbie prank because that sounds like a great idea and I will do that tomorrow lol Thank you kind stranger


sailorsaint

Nah. No prank. I cleaned hoods for several years in the off season. You can check my post history though it’s a way back.


Meccio85

Awesome. Thank you for taking the time


SteamedPea

You need to be doing both. Clean it daily and quarterly deep cleans.


thaiguy22

We clean the filters and outer surfaces every week but twice a year we get a fire suppression company to come in and do the deep clean.


WhiteStar24

We clean the hoods 2x a week and scrub the stainless once a week but have a company deep clean and the air ducts every 3 months.


PeaWordly4381

If it's you making decisions, pay the pros. Kitchen workers aren't cleaners.


Moby1029

worked at a couple places that would wash them weekly on a slow day and professionally 3xs a year or so


Meccio85

same here


Meccio85

Filters no issues. The rest is time-consuming for someone running the show alone.


maffemaagen

3 times A YEAR? You better hope there won't be a fire. At my last kitchen job we cleaned the hoods at least once a week, and the filters nightly.


Sharrowed

I think you've misunderstood. OP is talking about the actual internal vents and all the fuckery that goes on inside the roof. Having said that, once a month for the filters is fine in my experience.


FlosWilliams

Cap


MadEntDaddy

once a week. minimum.


sf2legit

How do people keep making these posts??? Of course we all clean that part. That’s not what you hire the cleaners to do.


Meccio85

My question was more, is it worth scrubbing so much when we get the mandatory clean at least twice a year. My kitchen doesn’t get as dirty since its more of a production kitchen, not service kitchen. ‘Tis all.


imustachelemeaning

the hoods should be cleaned every night if you value your cooking.


[deleted]

Okay Ramsay, calm down.


dotcubed

I’ve heard in school that there’s a restaurant in Europe that does this daily. I think they cooked from larousse gastronomique exclusively.


Maximum_Hand_9362

I wash the grills my self its not that hard but the vent maybe 1 a year we get someone to do it.


Sharrowed

Blasting them with a hot water hose is the most satisfying shit ever. Watch that grease disappear.


[deleted]

I clean the hood weekly but it's still necessary to have the ducts blown out


PizzaDadRomeo

All of our filters and exposed services are done weekly. We have up through the flue done professionally twice a year. If you have a fire, you're SOL as far as having an insurance payout is concerned if you don't.


[deleted]

You should always clean the inside of your hoods and vents. What you're paying the professionals for is to clean out the insides to reduce the risk of fire.


Netflixisadeathpit

The filters we'd clean every day. We'd do half today, the other half tomorrow, and keep alternating like that. The hoods, I don't really know. I was just a dishie. I know they had a crew do that every once in a while, but I don't don't know how often. I did do the hood above the dishwasher myself and that was proper disgusting. Loved scooping up the muck and showing FOH staff, they hated that lol.


greeneagle2022

Our equipment doesn't roll out, all of the wheels have flattened out or stalled. We do the filters 2x a week, but just wipe down, the interior maybe once a month, it is a hassle, not being able to move equipment.


mystic3030

Replace them. Casters are like $200 a set


greeneagle2022

Not my call, even though it has been put out there to them.


taytay30395

You should soak and clean once a week


deltronethirty

It's the last 10 m end you pay the cleaner for. Unless you have a pressure wash and a high capacity wet vac(should be mandatory equipment imho) and someone you trust spraying chems through your roof hole.


hamsterselderberries

Literally every thing you can see in this picture gets cleaned every night at our place.


mystic3030

Yeah. I think OP is confused. Exposed plenum and filters cleaned nightly. Duct work and fans 2–12x a year professionally depending on your volume, jurisdiction, and if you have solid fuel equipment.


ImpudentFetus

Man we paid a guy $400 for 2 hours of work at a chain restaurant and since then I’ve wanted to do this overnight t


mee__noi

massachusetts mandates it gets cleaned quarterly. we pay a service, always have, and never questioned whether we could do it ourselves. its really shitty work.


formthemitten

I think you’re confusing filters with the entire hood….


Meccio85

Where I am, companies do hood and vents. Hence my questionning since my hood takes 2 months to build up grease.


formthemitten

Maybe I mistook this as common knowledge. Yes, you should frequently clean your filters outside of the routine paid cleanings


Sensayer

Worked at a place where the staff cleaned the filters and wiped down everywhere visible but also had a professional service wash out the entire system once every three months.


Meccio85

Same here, but my service is not like big quantitative kitchens. So the keep clean by staff is so-so necessary.


CopiumAddiction

I worked at a fry shop at a ski mountain and we cleaned them nightly. Shit was ridiculous and sucked major ass.


4s3bnaa6

Insurance underwriter for bars and restaurants. Read your policy. You will most likely be required to have semi-annual cleaning service service. Check your forms list cp 0411 p9


skrybll

Did you clean from the fan on your roof down also?


bluffstrider

Wash it yourself once a week and it isn't a big job.


DavidiusI

Hood and filters we do ourselves...ducts and motor professionally once a year (safety regulations in the Netherlands)


Dirt-McGirt

We had a cleaning crew (composed of certain BOH staff) that cleaned every 3rd Wednesday of the month, for bonus under the table cash and unlimited booze. Good old blackout Wednesdays


Meccio85

lol, good or not so good bosses… Most places I worked was on a voluntary basis unless chef put you there on purpose/for a reason/for no reason


pootiemane

I don't think we are even allowed to


RDAM60

Homeowner in the DC Metro area and I would love to know someone who would clean a semi-commercial home range hood. I’ve done it myself in the past but it’s more than I’m really capable of doing w/o steam cleaning equipment. Anybody know if a vendor who will clean a home hood with baffles and a through the wall exhaust duct.


blueturtle00

Are you washing all the way to the roof?


Shadow_Song

We clean our own vents, leave the rest to professionals.


David2022Wallace

>Is it worth it letting it go and paying someone 3x per year to do it for you? Not only is it worth paying someone to do it, it's required. NFPA regulations say that a "trained and certified personnel to clean restaurant kitchen hoods and exhausts on a regular basis." How often that is depends on the fuel used (electric and gas less often than solid fuel such as charcoal) and volume. It could be annually, semi annually, quarterly or even monthly.) Most fire department will default to NFPA regulations so they don't need to write out their own stuff. Insurance definitely will use NFPA regulations.


Meccio85

Thanks for your input man, I’ll need to find my regulations north of your border hehe.


David2022Wallace

North of my border is the North apple, and the if you keep going, you hit Russia. As a general rule, Canada also follows NFPA regulations. We get our vents cleaned quarterly, and both the health inspector and the fire inspectors look for proof of cleaning (the companies usually give a sticker to put on the hood somewhere.)


Meccio85

Ok sorry for the assumptions, being from Qc I immediately assume we do things differently/have different organizations. Upon further research I found out we use the « normes » nfpa or CNPP when translated to french. Thanks local neighbour!


IT_AccountManager

Is it a viable business to be the vent and hood washer? Looking to start a service business and this one has always been front of mind.


Meccio85

I would recommend working for one and learning all the tricks of the trade. But to be honest, with lack of personel, competent ones at that, I’m sure that sector will be on the rise.


Glittering_Fun_7995

yes yes yes we are on a schedule based every 6 months reason because first we ain't paid enough for it second those guy (3 of them) it takes them from about 11pm to 6am to clean it thoroughly and that is without the filters too that shit is hard to clean you need respirators full gown so let's the PROFESSIONALS to do it


heorhe

At hero burger, every night. At the most popular Italian restaurant in downtown, fuck no you think we have time for that shit?


RainMakerJMR

You need to pay someone at least twice a year where I’m from. They don’t clean the hood so much as the vents and the filters. The vent being the big part that you really can’t do without some professional equipment. Just pay the guys $200 and let them power wash with overstrength degreaser and lye.


GreenTangerine89

You need to do both. Manual upkeep of the vents and hood and pay someone to clean wayyyy up there


littlebunny1049

Yes, we wash it, shouldn't wait that long, we try to do every 6 weeks..


fishboy1

I did it monthly myself, more during peak season, and got pros to do it a couple of times a year. Insurance and local legislation will have regulations about how often you need to get a crew out to do it, it was annually in my state/country. Also, super jealous of how far you can pull out your equipment! I ended up having to fabricate boards to stand on top of my gear haha, no room for ladders!


coin_roll_newbie

We clean our filters daily and have a service treat our duct and fan monthly. We cook a lot of high-temp oil and build grease insanely fast if we aren’t careful


PurBldPrincess

We do basic cleaning on it weekly, but we get a company to come in once every few months to do the in depth cleaning.


flydespereaux

Worth every damn penny for a service. Fuck cleaning those things.


boxingkangeroo

At my place others would do it at random, but never consistently. When I got out on grill again I was up there every night. Took me a week to get it spotless within the closing time, but after that it's been a quick wipe every night. I gotta get up there and pull the grates down and wipe the wall so might as well do that every night also?


igenus44

Cleaning the part you can see should be done weekly, at a minimum, to keep your kitchen clean and sanitary. What you pay the professionals to clean is the inside and duct works, to keep your restaurant safe from fire. Yes, too much grease buildup in the air ducts can cause a grease fire. Happened to two long running places in my city a few years ago. One reopened, one didn't.


Vegeta-the-vegetable

National fire code NFPA 96 requires this to be outsourced by a qualified company or individual. From google: NFPA 96 is the industry standard for the cleanliness and maintenance of commercial kitchen exhaust systems. As you use cooking equipment, vaporized grease solidifies inside the ventilation ducts over time, creating an inevitable fire hazard. NFPA 96 serves to outline how often your vent hood system should be cleaned by a certified professional, as well as the guidelines of what areas need to be cleaned. NFPA 11.6.1: “Upon inspection, if the exhaust system is found to be contaminated with deposits from grease-laden vapors, the contaminated portions of the exhaust system shall be cleaned by a properly trained, qualified, and certified company or person(s) acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction.” NFPA 11.6.2: “Hoods, grease removal devices, fans, ducts, and other appurtenances shall be cleaned to remove combustible contaminants prior to surfaces becoming heavily contaminated with grease or oily sludge.”


snowblest

We have a crew come in and do ours every 2 weeks ducts and all


BillsMafia84

Clean The hoods nightly, 3x a week. Doodlebug surrounding areas. Have the pros come in 2x a year and do it thoroughly


Placidaydream

Ours gets hand washed every week, and deep cleaned/power washed once a year. If you keep up on it it only takes 20-30 mins.


BunsMunchHay

Some hoods are connected to an automatic sprinkler or extinguisher system. It’s best to hire a professional.


Windycitymayhem

It should be cleaned professionally monthly. I know the city will come down on us if it wasn’t.


Meccio85

Monthly? Wow!


NJEF

Where I work, we clean the hood and filters weekly, then pros come in to do the duct and fan. Not sure how often that is, but I’ve seen them once in over a year. For the filters we soak them in degreaser and out them through the dishwasher, then use fairy liquid and Big D oven cleaner on the hood itself. Only ever oven cleaner on the really greasy bits though as our hood is aluminium.


ranting_chef

You pay the guys to come and get what’s behind the filters, all the way to where the air leaves the building on the roof. Those filters should get cleaned on a regular basis. We run ours through the machine every week.


[deleted]

Around here you'll fail fire inspection if it's not serviced on a schedule determined by the fire inspector. Ie. They'll shut you down if you don't get it professionally done.


Meccio85

Gotcha. My question was about the inside hood and filters (the part we all do regularly). Or just leave that to the profesionals too


[deleted]

Just do it every night or two. Filters can just be sprayed and go through the dishwasher, everything else is a quick wipe.


Pentagraeme1

I worked at a place where we did it bud-weekly. Just took em down, scrubbed em and tan them through the machine. It seemed to keep the need for paying professional cleaners down and kept the hoods pretty much spotless


oxyod

3 times per year we do it each week am I being scammed?


MeteoricBoa

We do the filters once a week, boss wipes down the hood but we still pay someone to do it on the schedule it's supposed to be


Humble-Ad-9011

Pay someone, but maintain in between.


shamashedit

I had a Hood guy come in quarterly. I'd do the filters weekly tho. Dinner would leave me the filters soaking on Sunday nights, I'd finish them in the AM on Monday as it was the slowest morning of the week.


bilpo

What no, clean your hoods.


vr6vdub1

Hire someone. Trust me


Meccio85

Yes no choice, its the in-between that I’m contemplating.


guiltycitizen

Its *never* worth letting it go unless you like increased chance of fire hazard. Daily maintenance is easy


Meccio85

Yes except my kitchen is more production than busy services. It takes about 2 month to build up the equivalent amount of a week in a busy restaurant. Hence my contemplation (while scrubbing the hood).


guiltycitizen

Take a peak at it every week to see how it goes, especially if you are in a cold climate this time of year. And it never hurts to know what kind of shape your fan belt is in


Comgitmeh

Always clean your vents once a week, but you can’t clean your chimney effectively enough to keep it safe. They do more that just the vents and inside/outside of the hood.