All components of the kitchen need to always be kept clean. Each of the aspects of the kitchen has a contribution to make in terms of functionality and should be taken into consideration when it comes to safety and health. The kitchen extraction unit is no exception. As a matter of fact, the extraction unit plays an important role in keeping the kitchen environment clean and pleasant to work in. It helps to keep the air clear by drawing out smells, fumes and steam. However, its location at the centre of action in the kitchen makes it easy for the extractor fans to get blocked from everything coming from below it. It should always be made sure that the extraction units are regularly cleaned for the following benefits:
1. For Health and Sanitary Reasons
Those who have lived in a place with a ceiling fan may have realized that dust often builds up quickly on the blades of the fans. The build-up happens naturally over time. If you consider the kitchen where the fan is constantly running and pulls grease fumes, steam, dust, odours and smoke, you’ll be able to appreciate the importance of cleaning the fans. At the end of just a single day, the inside of the kitchen extraction unit will most likely have accumulated far much more than dust. Rather, it will have built up sludge at the end of that single day. Commonly, the extraction unit will begin to leak onto whatever is below it in a matter of just a few months if it’s not regularly cleaned. Again, due to the fact that the extractor unit has the task of sucking in air, one that’s isn’t properly cleaned or maintained may end up doing the opposite of what it should do. Cases have been reported where extractor units leaked pouring in what it sucked in back into the area below it. This can have real danger since the size of the leak is huge.
2. For Fire Safety
Most people overlook the fact that in emergency cases smoke or fire need to be vented properly. This is an important reason to clean the kitchen extractor unit but most people overlook it. Grease fire which is a very common catastrophe with restaurants can be dealt with simply by ensuring that your extraction unit is always clean. This can make the difference between ending up with a pile of trash for a restaurant and having a well-cleaned extractor unit. Therefore, by simply cleaning and keeping the extractor units in a proper working condition is enough to deal the risk of grease fires. Most of the fires begin with the extractors when they’re clogged or dirty and begin to overheat to an extent that they can cause a fire.
3. Compliance with the law
Apart from the above reasons which may be obvious to some people, it’s a requirement by law that kitchen extraction units meet certain cleanliness standards. During an inspection, the one place that’s normally given priority is the extraction unit. If your unit is dirty, you’re likely to fail the inspection because of the weight of importance attached to the cleanliness it should have.
Conclusion
Though to many people, the kitchen extraction unit may not be important to clean, it’s obviously very vital. The risks of grease fires as well as those of sanitary and health increase if you don’t regularly clean the unit to keep it clean. And as we’ve seen, you’re required by law to keep the unit always clean.