Maintaining good kitchen hygiene is vital at all times, especially for food-related businesses whose reputation and licensing could be at risk if they fall short. But every season brings its own challenges and in summer there can be major issues if your extractor is not clean.
Some of the summer hygiene issues are obvious:
· In hot weather, food, especially meat, starts to go off faster.
· Bacteria breed more rapidly
· Flies will be looking for food and bringing loads of germs with them.
· Research has shown that food poisoning is much more frequent in summer than at any other time of the year.
Insects of all kinds will also be looking for liquid spills to drink, get some sugar and to help them breed, while the bins will need to be emptied regularly for the same reason.
Why Is Keeping Kitchen Extractors Clean So Important In Summer?
These issues will apply in any kitchen, but even more so in a large one where there are more devices, more places spills can leak and, of course, large extractors.
Extraction cleaning needs to be carried out regularly, but summer is a particularly good time to do so.
One of the reasons is that extractors help reduce humidity in kitchens and this is crucial because the greater the humidity, the more favourable conditions are for bacteria to grow in. Summer, of course, is a time when humidity levels are higher than the rest of the year.
This raises the obvious problem: If your extractor isn’t very clean, it won’t be doing its job as efficiently as it should. It will be sucking less moisture out. If that happens in summer when humidity is higher, bacteria will have a field day in your kitchen.
So, while you need to keep surfaces wiped down, spills mopped up and meat in the fridge, you should never neglect your extractors. By keeping them clean and clear, you can create a better, healthier atmosphere, protecting the health of kitchen staff and diners alike.
