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Extraction cleaning - reading the signs
Grease dripping from the canopy is one of the clearest signals a kitchen can get - and one of the least ignorable, because it is dripping onto the cooking below. It means grease has built up on and in the canopy faster than it has been cleaned, to the point of pooling and running. Here is what dripping grease is telling you, and why it is a sign to act on now, not later.
The short answer
Grease drips from the canopy when it has accumulated on and in the canopy faster than it is being cleaned, building up until it pools and runs. The canopy catches grease from the cooking air; normally this is cleaned away before it builds up far, but if the build-up outpaces the cleaning - because cleaning is too infrequent, or the system is loading heavily - the grease accumulates until it is heavy enough to drip. So dripping grease means the canopy is overloaded and cleaning has fallen behind the build-up. It is a sign to act on now, for two reasons: the grease is dripping onto the food and surfaces below, which is a serious hygiene and contamination problem; and a canopy this loaded means the system generally, including the ductwork, is heavily loaded and overdue a clean. Dripping grease is about as clear a clean-now signal as a kitchen gets.
Build-up has outpaced cleaning
Grease drips from the canopy for a simple reason: it has built up there faster than it has been cleaned away, accumulating until it is heavy enough to pool and run. The canopy's job is to catch the grease from the rising cooking air, so grease collecting on and in it is normal - but normally that grease is cleaned off, as part of routine cleaning, before it builds up to any great extent. Dripping happens when that balance fails: when the grease is accumulating faster than the cleaning is removing it, so it builds up and up until there is enough to drip. So dripping grease is a sign that the cleaning has fallen behind the build-up.
This can happen for a couple of reasons, often together. The cleaning might be too infrequent for the kitchen - the canopy cleaned less often than the grease demands, so it loads up between cleans. Or the system might be loading unusually heavily - a busy period, heavy frying - putting more grease into the canopy than the usual cleaning keeps up with. Either way, the result is the same: grease accumulating faster than it is removed, building up to the point of dripping. So when you see grease dripping, it is telling you that, for whatever reason, the canopy has become overloaded - the grease has got ahead of the cleaning. That is the core meaning of the sign, and it points to needing to clean the canopy and, likely, to clean it more often.
It is dripping onto the food
What makes dripping grease especially serious - more so than most grease signs - is where it drips: onto the cooking line below, where the food is being prepared. The canopy sits directly over the cooking, so grease running off it falls onto the food, the cooking surfaces, and the equipment beneath. This is a direct contamination of the food with old, accumulated grease from the canopy - a serious food hygiene problem, quite apart from the fire-risk considerations that apply to grease generally. Grease dripping onto food is the kind of thing that fails a hygiene inspection and, rightly, alarms anyone who sees it.
So dripping grease is not just a sign of a loaded system - it is an active hygiene hazard happening in real time, contaminating the food being served. That is what makes it so ignorable-proof and so urgent: it is not a hidden build-up or a subtle performance drop, but visible grease falling onto the food, which no kitchen can allow to continue. The hygiene dimension raises the urgency above that of most grease signs: where a stale smell or a greasy film is a prompt to clean soon, dripping grease onto the food is a prompt to act now, because every service it continues is food being contaminated. So the location of the dripping - straight onto the cooking - is a large part of why it is a clean-now sign, not a clean-soon one.
A sign the whole system is loaded
Beyond the immediate hygiene problem, dripping grease is a sign about the whole system, not just the canopy. For the canopy to have loaded up to the point of dripping, the system has been running with grease accumulating faster than it is cleaned - and the canopy is only the visible, accessible part of that. The same heavy loading that has overloaded the canopy has been loading the ductwork and fan too, from the same greasy air. So a canopy loaded enough to drip is a strong indication that the ductwork behind it is also heavily loaded - and the ductwork, being where the fire risk is greatest, is the more serious concern.
This means dripping grease is a prompt not just to clean the canopy but to have the whole system professionally cleaned, ductwork included. Cleaning the canopy would stop the dripping, dealing with the immediate hygiene problem, but it would leave the ductwork - which the dripping implies is also heavily loaded - still full of grease and its fire risk unaddressed. So the sensible response to dripping grease is a professional clean of the whole system, treating the dripping canopy as the visible sign of a system that has become heavily loaded throughout. The dripping is the alarm; the loaded ductwork behind it is the deeper reason to act. So read dripping grease as a whole-system signal: the canopy is overloaded, and the ducts behind it almost certainly are too.
What to do about it
The response to grease dripping from the canopy has two parts: deal with it now, and stop it recurring. Dealing with it now means having the system cleaned promptly - not just wiping the canopy, but a proper clean of the canopy and, given what the dripping implies, the ductwork and the rest of the system too. This stops the dripping, removes the accumulated grease that was contaminating the food, and addresses the fire risk in the loaded ducts behind. Given that the grease is dripping onto food, this is urgent - a clean to be arranged now, because every service it continues is contamination.
Stopping it recurring means addressing why the build-up outpaced the cleaning in the first place. If the canopy loaded up to dripping, the cleaning regime was not keeping up - so the canopy likely needs cleaning more often, and the whole system needs a cleaning interval that matches how fast it actually loads. Dripping grease is a sign the current interval is too long for the kitchen, so it is a prompt to review and shorten it. So the full response is: clean now, to deal with the immediate hygiene hazard and the loaded system, and then clean more often, to stop the grease getting ahead of the cleaning again. Dripping grease should be a one-off wake-up, not a recurring event - and preventing its recurrence means setting a cleaning frequency that keeps up with the grease. Treat the dripping as the sign it is: clean now, and clean often enough that it never drips again.
The takeaway
Grease drips from the canopy when it has built up faster than it is being cleaned, accumulating until it pools and runs - a sign the cleaning has fallen behind the build-up, whether because it is too infrequent or the system is loading heavily. What makes it especially serious is where it drips: onto the cooking line below, contaminating the food with old accumulated grease - a real food hygiene hazard happening in real time, which raises the urgency above most grease signs to a clean-now, not clean-soon, level. And a canopy loaded enough to drip signals that the ductwork behind it is heavily loaded too, the more serious fire-risk concern.
So the response is to clean now and stop it recurring. Clean now means a prompt professional clean of the whole system - canopy and ductwork - to stop the dripping, remove the grease contaminating the food, and address the fire risk in the loaded ducts. Stop it recurring means addressing why the build-up outpaced the cleaning: the interval was too long, so the canopy and system need cleaning more often, matched to how fast they actually load. Dripping grease should be a one-off wake-up, not a recurring event. So read it as the clear clean-now sign it is - grease on the food, a loaded system behind it - and act now, then clean often enough that it never drips again.
Questions
Because grease has built up on and in the canopy faster than it is being cleaned, accumulating until it is heavy enough to pool and run. The canopy catches grease from the cooking air, and normally it is cleaned before it builds up far - dripping means the cleaning has fallen behind the build-up, whether because it is too infrequent or the system is loading heavily.
Because it drips onto the cooking line below, contaminating the food with old accumulated grease - a serious food hygiene hazard happening in real time. The canopy sits directly over the cooking, so grease running off it falls onto the food and surfaces beneath. That is the kind of thing that fails a hygiene inspection and makes dripping grease a clean-now, not clean-soon, sign.
Almost certainly. For the canopy to have loaded to the point of dripping, the system has been running with grease accumulating faster than it is cleaned - and the same heavy loading has been loading the ductwork and fan from the same air. So a canopy dripping grease strongly indicates the ductwork behind it is also heavily loaded, which, being the fire-risk part, is the more serious concern.
No. Wiping stops the immediate dripping but leaves the ductwork - which the dripping implies is also heavily loaded - still full of grease and its fire risk unaddressed. The dripping is the visible sign of a system that has become heavily loaded throughout, so the sensible response is a professional clean of the whole system, canopy and ducts, not just a wipe of the canopy.
Urgent - a clean to arrange now, not later. Because the grease is dripping onto food, every service it continues is contamination, so it cannot be allowed to carry on. The hygiene dimension raises the urgency above most grease signs: where a stale smell is a prompt to clean soon, dripping grease onto the food is a prompt to act now.
Address why the build-up outpaced the cleaning. If the canopy loaded to dripping, the cleaning interval was too long for the kitchen - so the canopy needs cleaning more often, and the whole system needs an interval that matches how fast it actually loads. Dripping grease should be a one-off wake-up, so shorten the cleaning frequency to keep the grease from getting ahead again.
Grease dripping onto the food means the system is overloaded and cleaning has fallen behind - our extraction cleaning removes the build-up from canopy and ducts, and we help set an interval that keeps up.
