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Kitchen extraction - baffle filters
The baffle filters in your canopy are the hardest-working part of the whole extract system. They catch grease first, they foul fastest, and they need cleaning on a completely different timescale from the ductwork behind them - which is exactly what many kitchens get wrong.
The short answer
Baffle filters sit in the canopy over the cookline and are the first thing to catch grease-laden air, so they foul far faster than the rest of the system. They typically need cleaning on a daily to weekly basis depending on how hard the kitchen cooks, and this is usually a routine in-house task rather than a periodic specialist clean. The heavier the frying and grilling, the more often they need doing - and letting them clog degrades the whole extract and raises fire risk right at the cookline.
What they do
Baffle filters are the metal grease filters set into the canopy directly above the cooking equipment. As the hot, grease-laden air rises off the cookline and is drawn into the extract, it passes through the baffles first. Their design forces the air to change direction sharply, and the heavier grease particles, unable to follow the turn, are thrown out of the airstream and collect on the baffle surfaces to drain away. They are the system's first and most important line of grease capture.
Because they take the first and heaviest hit of grease, baffle filters do the majority of the work of keeping grease out of the rest of the system. Every bit of grease a baffle catches is grease that does not travel on into the ductwork and fan. That makes them both the most effective single grease control in the extract and the part that loads up with grease fastest - which is precisely why they need cleaning so much more often than anything downstream of them.
How often
The right frequency for baffle filters is short and driven by cooking intensity. A kitchen doing heavy frying and grilling throws a lot of grease into the canopy and can need its baffles cleaned daily; a lighter operation might manage on a few times a week. The key point is that the timescale is days, not the months or longer that the ductwork behind them runs on - baffles foul on a totally different, much faster clock than the rest of the system.
This is usually a routine in-house job rather than a specialist visit. Many baffle filters are designed to be removed and washed - often they are dishwasher-safe - so cleaning them is part of the kitchen's own regular cleaning routine, done frequently by the kitchen team. Building that into the daily or weekly close-down, matched to how hard the kitchen runs, is what keeps the first line of grease defence actually working rather than quietly clogging.
What clogging causes
Letting baffle filters clog causes trouble on three fronts. First, airflow: a grease-blocked baffle restricts the air the canopy can draw, so the whole extract pulls less effectively and the kitchen fills with more heat, smoke and cooking fumes. Second, grease carry-over: a saturated baffle stops catching grease and lets it pass through into the ductwork and fan, accelerating the fouling of the expensive-to-clean parts downstream. Third, fire: a grease-laden baffle right over live burners and flames is combustible material at the exact point ignition is most likely.
That third point is the serious one. The canopy sits directly above the cooking, so a grease-caked baffle is a fire risk in the worst possible position, and a flare-up on the cookline can find ready fuel in a neglected filter. Keeping the baffles clean is therefore not just about airflow and protecting the ductwork - it removes combustible grease from immediately above the flames. A clogged baffle undermines the whole system and adds risk exactly where it matters most.
Baffles are not the whole job
An important thing to understand is that cleaning the baffle filters, however diligently, is not the same as cleaning the extract system. The baffles catch most of the grease, but not all - grease still passes through into the ductwork, plenum and fan and builds up there over time, out of sight and out of reach of the daily filter clean. That downstream build-up is what a periodic specialist extract clean addresses, on a much longer cycle than the baffles.
So the two operate together on different timescales: frequent baffle cleaning as the front-line, everyday defence, and periodic deep cleaning of the ductwork and fan as the longer-cycle reset for the grease that gets past the filters. A kitchen that keeps its baffles spotless but never cleans the system still accumulates grease and fire risk in the ductwork; one that cleans the ductwork but neglects the baffles loses airflow and lets grease carry through faster. Both are needed, each on its own clock.
The takeaway
Baffle filters should be cleaned frequently - typically daily to weekly, set by how hard the kitchen cooks - because they are the first line of grease capture and foul far faster than anything downstream. It is usually a routine in-house task of removing and washing them, built into the kitchen's regular cleaning, and it keeps the airflow, the grease control and the fire safety at the cookline all working.
Just remember the baffles are the front line, not the whole battle. Cleaning them often protects the system and the kitchen day to day, but grease still gets past into the ductwork and fan, which need their own periodic deep clean. Keep the baffles on their fast, frequent clock and the system on its longer one, and both the everyday performance and the deeper fire risk are kept under control - which neither task does alone.
Questions
Frequently - typically daily to weekly depending on how hard the kitchen cooks. Heavy frying and grilling can need them cleaned daily; lighter use, a few times a week. The timescale is days, far shorter than the ductwork behind them.
Because they are the first thing to catch the grease-laden air off the cookline. They take the first and heaviest hit of grease, doing most of the grease capture, so they load up much faster than anything downstream of them.
Yes - it is usually a routine in-house task. Many baffle filters are designed to be removed and washed, often dishwasher-safe, so cleaning them is part of the kitchen's own regular cleaning routine done by the kitchen team.
Three things at once: airflow drops so the extract pulls less, grease carries through into the ductwork and fan faster, and grease-caked filters become a fire risk directly over the flames - the worst possible position.
No. The baffles catch most of the grease but not all - grease still passes into the ductwork, plenum and fan and builds up there. That downstream build-up needs a periodic specialist clean on a much longer cycle than the baffles.
They work on different timescales - frequent baffle cleaning as the everyday front line, and periodic deep cleaning of the ductwork and fan for the grease that gets past the filters. Both are needed, each on its own clock.
We deep clean the ductwork, plenum and fan where grease builds up past the filters - the longer-cycle reset that keeps the whole extract system in control.
