Kitchens suffer from heat, moisture and nuisance odours but a perfectly working cooker hood connected to a suitable ducting system helps to eradicate these problems. To get the best out of your cooker hood you have to use it properly though and give it simple maintenance from time to time. Here are ways to keep the hood performing at its best throughout the year.
Starting up –When do you normally turn your cooker hood on, do you leave it until a pan of vegetables are steaming away? Start switching the hood on a little earlier and let air circulate in the room. The moment you start prepping in the kitchen switch the hood fan on a low setting, you can always turn it up to a higher speed once you get food in the oven and on the hob.
Shutting down – Always leave the cooker hood running for a while after you have finished cooking. This helps to clear any excess moisture particles that are lurking in the air, it also gets rid of cooking smells that like to linger in your kitchen. Just switch it back down to its lowest setting and have the hood humming quietly away in the background.
Cleaning – Get into the habit of cleaning around the outside of the hood with soapy water on a regular basis, you can use specialist cleaners if you prefer to remove stuck-on grease. The more you clean the cooker hood the less chance fat and grease has time to build up. Lift any washable filters out of the hood when you are cleaning too, give them the once over and clean around the housing before placing the filters back.
These are basic tips for looking after cooker hoods, as long as you follow them and the ducting inside the system is okay your kitchen should be steam and odour-free!
