One of the most dangerous areas in the hood system is the grease trough. The function of a properly working hood trough is to convey the grease that is draining out of the grease filters to a collection devise at the low end of the trough. Although many things can go wrong in the proper functioning of the trough, we will focus on the most common issues. Lack of proper regular in house maintenance and improper cleanings form the KEC vendors. As you can see in the picture below, the is a facility with wok style cooking. Although the ductwork is not in bad shape, the grease trough is overflowing. With the close direct proximity to the cooking equipment, excess grease can easily overflow into the ignition source causing a fire or the fires from the wok cooking (or broilers, fryer stacks, and other sources) can simply ignite the grease in the trough. This particular case has old grease under the fresh liquid grease that is blocking the exit path. This area needs to be properly cleaned and the exit to the grease catch pan opened up for easy flow. When cleaning the filters, the trough should be wipe down at the same time as grease can coagulate when it cools down overnight. In the case below, it was from negligent (improper) cleanings form the kitchen exhaust cleaning (KEC)vendor. What made it worse if the the store did not even have the grease catch pans in the hoods as everything was so plugged up, it never made it that far and was dripping over the front edge of the hood. This is a reminder that the restaurant staff need to check the troughs are free of blockages every time the filters are cleaned . The filters need to be done daily for wok style and other heavy grease style cooking. They must be kept clean as they are the first defense in case of a grease fire in the equipment below. The grease catch pans should be filling up with grease when working properly.
