Cookers How to clean the kitchen hood of grease and dirt
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Many times we are not aware that it is time to clean this appliance until we see droplets of grease on the stove without understanding where they come from. You only have to look up at the filters to know their origin and know that the kitchen hood needs to be cleaned.
In addition, proper maintenance of the smoke extractor is essential for its correct operation. Otherwise, it will not be able to aspire and extract the fat that remains suspended in the air while we cook, the steam, the fumes and odors, staying in the kitchen and even spreading throughout the rest of the house.
It goes without saying that when we have an American or open kitchen, cleaning must be done even more frequently so that it continues to help us keep the air clean.
How to clean the kitchen hood
Depending on whether our hood is an extraction hood or a recirculating hood, we will have to do different cleanings as we do not have the same type of filters.
Cleaning a fume extraction hood
This type of hood carries vapors, fumes, and odors to the outside through a tube that connects the hood to the closest façade of the house.
At first glance it is difficult to know that the hood is dirty, so it is important to clean it regularly, especially if we cook a lot at home.
Of course, we must proceed with cleaning when the hood is cold and never after not having used it for a long time.
Remove the grease filters
These meshes can be easily removed. It depends on the model but usually there is a tab and when you press it the filter comes out by itself.
Prepare a basin where the filters fit completely with hot water, baking soda and a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice or a little grease remover. Leave the filters to soak for about 20 minutes so that the fat softens. If the filters are very dirty, baking soda may not be enough, but if it is, cleaning with ammonia will leave them as good as new.
Then, run them under a hot tap and scrub them again with soapy water using a sponge or brush.
It is very important that you let the filters drain very well once you have washed them to place them at the end of cleaning but always dry.
Some filters are dishwasher safe, but even so, we recommend that you leave them to soak first so that all that accumulated grease does not go into the dishwasher.
Go over the exterior
Avoid abrasive products and the use of scouring pads so as not to damage the surface and finish, especially if it is made of stainless steel. It is best to use a clean, damp cloth that we will dip in a mixture of water with a pinch of bicarbonate.
After rubbing the cloth and removing dirt, grease and fingerprints, we will pass kitchen paper to dry the surface.
Cleaning a recirculation hood
Recirculation hoods are installed when we do not have a smoke outlet pipe or if we want to place the hood in a place where the pipe does not reach.
These hoods have anti-grease filters and also active carbon filters that clean the air and return it to the kitchen.
Cleaning the anti-grease filters should be done in the same way as with the filters of the extraction hoods. Remove them, soak them, wash them and let them dry before replacing them.
How to change the activated carbon filters
In the case of carbon filters, we will renew them every 4 months if we use the hood a lot, and this time can be extended to 6 months if we do not cook frequently fried foods etc. In any case, in the hood's user manual the manufacturer always recommends the frequency of change.
To change the carbon filters, in the recirculation models you must first remove the outer cover of the hood to gain access to them. In general, it is screwed, so we must loosen the screws and thus remove it.
By moving it, we can remove the carbon filters just by pulling them. In the hole provided for it, we will introduce the new filter.
Before replacing the cover, we recommend cleaning it with a damp cloth, drying it and then screwing it back on.
Photo: Fairseller - Amazon
The hoods that can be used both regularly and with air recirculation, the activated carbon filter is placed on the inside of the anti-grease filters. In these cases it is as simple as removing the mesh, removing the used filter, placing a clean one and closing it again.
Before buying any filter, make sure that its measurements are correct for your hood.
How to clean the inside of the range hood
Accessing the inside of an extractor hood to clean it is very complicated, so one way to keep the motor and even the tube in better condition is to use this trick.
Take as big a pot as possible and fill it with water and vinegar. Connect the extractor hood and let the mixture boil for half an hour. The vapors will help the interior grease and grime to come out.
In this way, we will keep our hood in perfect condition for longer and smoke, grease, vapors and odors will be removed without complications.
The frequency with which we must clean the kitchen hood is something that depends on the use we give it and also on what we cook most often, but it is recommended that after cooking we wipe with a cloth to remove dirt more superficial and that we clean the filters at least once a week.
The more we do it, the faster the cleaning will be thanks to a less accumulation of grease.
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