A commercial kitchen needs three different cleans by three different people. The daily clean by the brigade as they close down. The periodic deep clean by a specialist, behind and underneath the equipment. And the extract clean, which is a fire risk job with its own standard and its own evidence. Confusing the three is how a kitchen ends up spotless at eye level and failing where it matters.
The daily clean belongs to the kitchen
Surfaces, equipment exteriors, floors, sinks and waste at close down, recorded on the cleaning schedule that forms part of the food safety management system. The Food Standards Agency's guidance sets out what cleaning effectively means: the right product, the right concentration, the right contact time and the right order. No contractor can do this for you, because it happens at the end of every service.
The deep clean reaches what the brigade cannot
Behind and beneath fryers, ranges and cold units. Inside ovens, combis and extraction canopies at the filter line. Wall and ceiling surfaces above equipment. Floor drainage channels and gullies. Shelving, racking and the backs of splashbacks. Usually quarterly for a busy kitchen, and done overnight so the kitchen is available for the next service.
Commercial kitchen extractor cleaning is a fire job, not a hygiene job
Grease accumulating in a canopy, filters and ductwork is fuel in the one place fire is guaranteed to start. BESA's TR19 Grease is the specification for managing that risk, and most commercial insurance wordings reference it. Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to maintain fire precautions in efficient working order and in good repair, which is where the record of the last extract clean does its work.
What to keep, and where
The daily schedule, signed. The deep clean report with dates and areas. The extract clean certificate with pre and post photographs at named positions, the verification method and the next due date. Keep all three together with the fire risk assessment, because the person who eventually asks for them, whether an environmental health officer, a fire officer or a loss adjuster, will want them in one place and quickly.
Questions people ask about commercial kitchen cleaning
How often does a commercial kitchen extract need cleaning?
It depends on cooking type and hours. Heavy frying can need attention several times a year; light use less often. The deposit measurement, not the calendar, should set it.
Is kitchen deep cleaning the same as extract cleaning?
No. A deep clean addresses the kitchen fabric and equipment. Extract cleaning addresses the canopy, filters and ductwork as a fire risk, under a different standard.
Who is responsible for the extract clean, the landlord or the tenant?
It follows the lease and the fire risk assessment. In most leases of a restaurant unit it is the occupier, as the responsible person for fire safety in the premises.
What certificate should I receive?
A report naming the sections cleaned and not cleaned, pre and post photographs at named positions, the verification method used and the recommended next date.
Is restaurant kitchen cleaning the same as the deep clean and the extract clean?
It covers all three and they are three different jobs with three different owners. The brigade closes down and cleans surfaces, equipment exteriors, floors and waste against the schedule in the food safety management system. A specialist deep clean reaches behind and beneath the fryers and cold units and inside the ovens, on a periodic cycle. The extract clean is a fire job rather than a hygiene job, and it produces a certificate with pre and post photographs at named positions. A contractor quoting restaurant kitchen cleaning as one price should say which of the three it is.
What do industrial kitchen cleaning services do that a nightly clean does not?
They open things up. A deep clean removes the canopy filters, cleans the plenum and the accessible ductwork, gets behind and under the line and into the equipment, cleans the extract fan where it can be reached, and leaves photographs and a certificate that an insurer or an environmental health officer will ask for. A nightly clean keeps surfaces and floors, and it cannot reach any of that. The two belong in one contract with separate frequencies and separate prices, because the recurring argument in kitchens is a deep clean everybody assumed was inside the weekly hours.