Copyright (c) 2012 Alison Withers
Part of keeping a business fresh and vibrant is constant reinvention particularly in those businesses offering non-essential services to consumers.
Restaurants and the catering industry are a good example and many are constantly on the look-out for new dishes to add to the menu to keep it varied.
They may also choose to increase their opening hours, for example, offering a venue for breakfast meetings in addition to their lunch and evening opening or catering for special events.
This inevitably means that the kitchen equipment will be used more heavily and the time will come when the owner of the business decides that cooking equipment should be replaced because it is either not functioning as efficiently as it did, or because it is not up to the additional tasks required.
In the process of planning a refit it is worth also looking at the kitchen's extraction and ductwork system and assessing whether it can be adapted to deal with extra appliances or whether the time has come for this too to be replaced.
HSE guidelines advise that a kitchen ventilation and extraction system should be able to remove cooking fumes at the source and it should provide adequate ventilation by removing excess hot air and introducing incoming cool, clean air to ensure a comfortable working environment.
It should provide sufficient air for complete combustion at fired appliances, to prevent the risk of carbon monoxide accumulating, and it should be easy to clean.
Regular kitchen extract cleaning is essential for avoiding the build-up of fat residues and blocked filters that can lead to loss of efficiency and an increased fire risk.
The company's insurers may also require inspection and certification of the system if new appliances are to replace or be added to the existing kitchen equipment to be sure that the ductwork system is fit for purpose and can cope with the changes.
Insurers are frequently careful about providing cover for commercial kitchens because of the potential for fire to break out in ductwork thanks to the accumulations of deposits of grease and food particles that can collect inside ducts and represent a significant fire risk.
They therefore increasingly require regular kitchen extraction cleaning and a certificate confirming each clean. In part this is because an estimated 80% of all kitchen extraction systems in UK catering establishments are never cleaned.
For the safety of staff and customers extraction cleaning should never be neglected. It should be part of the regular annual programme of maintenance and cleaning not only to comply with insurers' requirements but also to comply with food hygiene and environmental protection regulations.
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When new equipment has been added to a commercial kitchen the existing extraction system may require more frequent extraction cleaning to function efficiently. By Ali Withers. http://www.pro-ductclean.com/kitchen-extract-cleaning.asp
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