Choosing the Right Kitchen Hood

Kitchen hoods are an essential component of any commercial kitchen. Once installed, a kitchen hood and ventilation system will play a major role in keeping your establishment clean. The purpose of a kitchen hood is to reduce the cooking smells, heat and condensation produced by cooking equipment that is used in your restaurant daily. A hood can also trap grease coming off your grills so that it doesn’t get everywhere and reduces the risk of fire. The benefits go much further than that though. Studies show that a well ventilated restaurant is far more likely to attract repeat customers and will have a higher employee morale than one without an adequate ventilation system.

The question of whether or not a professionally installed commercial kitchen hood will be good for your restaurant has an easy answer. Finding the right hood for your restaurant, however, can prove much more challenging. There are a number of different options available and making the wrong choice can lead to an unclean restaurant, violations of codes and worst of all; fire.

The following are 3 considerations that must be made if you want to find the right hood for your restaurant.

1. What type of kitchen do you operate?

The type of food that is being served from your kitchen will help determine if you need a ventilation system that collects grease or not. Kitchens with little to no excess grease being produced can opt for ventilation that doesn’t collect grease. This type of kitchen hood is the least expensive but choosing it when you need a system that does collect grease can be a critical mistake.

If you do have grease that needs to be accounted for then a more heavy-duty system is what you’ll need. This type of ventilation also needs to be regularly cleaned to prevent any dangerous grease buildup. You can schedule regular cleanings with CS Ventilation to be sure your restaurant is not at a significantly higher risk of fire.

2. Vented or ventless?

This will again come down to the type of cooking that is being done in the kitchen. A smaller kitchen with limited cooking being done can opt for a ventless system which simply circulates the air taken in by the hood around the kitchen. Larger operations almost always use a vented system. The vents serve to suck the smells, heat, condensation and grease into the ductwork that is also part of the system and bring it outdoors.

3. Used, prefabricated or custom?

This question mostly comes down to the type of budget that you have set aside for installing a kitchen hood. A used system is the least expensive option but can be difficult to find one that matches the unique specifications of your restaurant. Prefabricated systems are brand new and have lots of options to choose from but you may need to change the way your kitchen is laid out to take full advantage of. A custom system of ventilation is the best way to ensure you are getting a hood that fits your needs and will last. Custom systems will take a little longer to be installed but lead to the highest customer satisfaction.

Getting a professionally installed kitchen hood and system of ventilation is one of the best choices you can make for your restaurant moving forward. We hope we cleared up any confusion around getting a kitchen hood professionally installed. Call CS Ventilation to learn more today.