Venting hood cleaning schedule, 30 days vs quarterly, who's right?

Read a study from a local health dept that said 30% of kitchen fires start in dirty hoods. Found it while looking up our inspection checklist last week. We run a busy diner in Cleveland, hood gets greasy fast, but the owner says quarterly is fine. I say monthly is the only safe call for our fryer volume. Anyone else have an inspector give them flack over this? Or see burn marks in their filters?

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1 Comment

michael_craig1d ago

Honestly, quarterly might be more right than you think. That 30% stat is scary, but it's probably counting places that never clean at all, not places that wait 90 days. I mean, a busy diner with a good hood and daily wipe downs of the filters can go longer than you'd expect. The real issue is if the grease is actually dripping or building up thick, not a set number on a calendar. Maybe the owner knows the inspector in your area is cool with quarterly and you're asking for a fight that doesn't need to happen. Plus, monthly hood cleaning is expensive and if you pay for it every month, that's money out of your pocket for something the fire marshal might not even check.