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Extraction cleaning - cuisine
Not all kitchens grease up at the same rate. Wok and tandoor cooking - fierce heat, high volume, heavy grease and carbon - loads an extract system far faster than gentler cooking, which is why these kitchens need cleaning sooner.
The short answer
Wok and tandoor cooking is exactly the kind that greases up an extract system quickly: very high heat, high volume, and cooking styles that throw off a lot of grease, smoke and carbon. That heavy loading means the extract reaches a dangerous grease level sooner than in a lighter kitchen, so wok and tandoor kitchens need their extract systems cleaned more frequently to control the fire risk. Intense cooking demands a shorter cleaning interval.
Why these kitchens are different
Wok cooking uses intense, high heat with a lot of oil, tossed and flamed at volume - it throws off a great deal of grease-laden vapour and smoke, drawn straight into the extraction. Tandoor cooking runs a fierce charcoal or gas oven at very high temperatures, producing heavy smoke, grease and carbon from the meats and breads cooked in it. Both are among the most demanding cooking styles an extract system has to cope with.
The result is an extract system loaded far harder and faster than in a kitchen doing gentler cooking. The combination of high heat, high volume and inherently greasy, smoky methods means the canopy, ductwork and fan accumulate grease and carbon at a high rate - so the hidden build-up that drives the fire risk arrives quickly in a wok or tandoor kitchen.
The carbon factor
Wok and especially tandoor cooking add carbon to the picture, not just grease. The very high heat bakes deposits hard, and the smoke from intense, sometimes charring cooking lays down carbon as well as grease in the extract system. That baked-on, hardened material is tougher to remove than softer grease and, left to build, forms thick, stubborn deposits in the ductwork and fan.
This makes the loading heavier in quality as well as quantity. A system caked with baked carbon and hardened grease is both a serious fire risk and a harder clean, and the longer it is left, the more entrenched those deposits become. The intensity that defines wok and tandoor cooking is exactly what produces this tough, fast-building build-up.
Why sooner
Because the fire risk rises with the grease in the system, and wok and tandoor kitchens load grease fast, their extract systems reach a dangerous grease level sooner than lighter kitchens. Put on a generic cleaning interval - especially a lax annual one - such a system will be well over a safe level long before its next clean, carrying a high fire risk in its concealed ductwork and fan for much of the cycle.
So these kitchens sit at the frequent end of the risk-based cleaning schedule. The heavier and greasier the cooking, the shorter the interval needs to be, and wok and tandoor cooking is about as heavy and greasy as it gets. The right interval is set by measuring how fast the system actually builds up, which for these kitchens tends to be a short cycle - cleaning sooner and more often to keep pace with the loading.
What it means in practice
For a wok or tandoor kitchen, the practical implications follow directly. The whole extract system needs cleaning, not just the canopy, because the fast-building grease and carbon create their fire risk in the concealed ductwork and fan. The interval needs to be short, matched to the heavy loading rather than a generic assumption. And it should be set and confirmed by measuring how quickly the system actually greases up, so the frequency fits the real cooking.
This is more cleaning than a lighter kitchen needs, and it is exactly proportionate to the higher, faster-building fire risk the cooking creates. A wok or tandoor kitchen that cleans its extract on a light-use schedule is under-controlling a serious hazard; one that cleans the whole system frequently, on a measured interval, is keeping pace with the intense cooking that makes it necessary.
The takeaway
The principle is the same one that governs all extract cleaning, applied to an extreme case: match the cleaning frequency to how hard and greasy the cooking is. Wok and tandoor kitchens cook fiercely and greasily, load their extract systems fast with grease and baked carbon, and reach a high fire risk sooner - so they need cleaning sooner and more often, on the whole system, verified each time.
For operators of these kitchens, that is not an imposition but the sensible control for the real, fast-building hazard their cooking creates. The intensity that makes the cuisine also makes the extract a high fire risk, and frequent, full-system cleaning is what keeps it in check. Clean sooner because you cook harder - the schedule simply keeps pace with the wok and the tandoor.
Questions
Because their fierce, high-volume, high-grease cooking loads the extract system with grease and carbon fast, so it reaches a dangerous grease level sooner than a lighter kitchen - requiring more frequent cleaning to control the fire risk.
Very high heat, high volume, and inherently greasy, smoky methods - wok cooking throws off grease-laden vapour, and tandoor ovens produce heavy smoke, grease and carbon at fierce temperatures. Both load an extract system harder than gentler cooking.
The very high heat bakes deposits hard, so wok and tandoor systems accumulate baked-on carbon as well as grease. That hardened material is a serious fire risk and tougher to remove, becoming more entrenched the longer it is left.
On a short, risk-based interval matched to how fast the system loads up - which for wok and tandoor kitchens tends to be frequent. The exact frequency is set by measuring the real grease and carbon build-up.
No. The fast-building grease and carbon create their fire risk in the concealed ductwork and fan, so a canopy clean leaves the danger in place. The whole system needs cleaning, frequently, and verifying.
Its extract system will be well over a safe grease level long before the next clean, carrying a high fire risk in its concealed ductwork and fan - and likely lapsing its compliance and insurance cover too.
We clean wok and tandoor extract systems whole, through the baked-on grease and carbon, on a short interval matched to your cooking.
