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A Cautionary Tale about Commercial Kitchen Exhaust System Maintenance

March 3, 2017

A Cautionary Tale about Commercial Kitchen Exhaust System MaintenanceDid you hear about the fire that occurred a couple of weeks ago at Porkie’s Restaurant at 130 1st Ave, Silvis. Firefighters responded to a call at 4:41am and it was extinguished at 5am – but not before it caused about $50,000 of damage (yikes!). What’s most important is that no one was injured. Owner/manager Roger Pulford was in the building when the fire erupted. He tried to put the fire out himself but wasn’t able to do so before firefighters arrived at the scene. Reportedly, the fire started in the kitchen and was most likely associated with an exhaust fan. The restaurant is now closed until further notice pending water and smoke cleanup and an insurance company review.

What a devastating accident! It goes to show that making sure your entire commercial kitchen exhaust system is properly cleaned and maintained can save many thousands of dollars. Making sure the maintenance of your exhaust system remains a top priority is absolutely worthwhile. And let’s not forget, this accident could have been much worse – someone could have been hurt or perhaps even killed. Kitchen fires are extremely dangerous and they can be hard to put out without professional help.

Prevent a kitchen fire from erupting at your restaurant by partnering with Flue Steam today. We provide complete commercial kitchen air control and fire prevention services throughout Southern California. Sign up for one or more of our services and you’ll have so much peace of mind knowing that your commercial kitchen is safe and secure. Services we offer include:

  • Complete kitchen exhaust system cleaning (hand scraping and steam cleaning of fans, hoods, and ducts)
  • Grease filter exchange service
  • Swamp cooler maintenance
  • Exhaust fan maintenance
  • Automatic fire suppression system service
  • Portable fire extinguisher sales and service

Exhaust system cleaning

Making sure your commercial kitchen exhaust system is cleaned regularly is important to avoid flash fires and keep you in line with essential governmental regulations. Kitchen exhaust systems remove hot air and odors from your kitchen and eliminate vaporized grease that’s a natural byproduct of cooking, especially in a commercial setting. Dirty exhaust systems aren’t as effective at removing grease, so many make sure yours is cleaned at regular intervals to minimize your risk of flash fires within your exhaust ducts. As we saw from what happened at the Silvis Porkie’s Restaurant, failing to take care of your exhaust system can be incredibly costly. Not only will you have to call the fire department to put the fire out, but you’ll have to deal with thousands of dollars of damage to your equipment, and the revenue lost from having to close your restaurant to make repairs. Don’t risk a huge interruption to your business – partner with Flue Steam today!

We’d be happy to handle all your commercial kitchen exhaust system needs. Simply give us a call at 800-700-FLUE and we’ll discuss your commercial kitchen’s needs and arrange for cleaning services at convenient, regular intervals.

Enjoy Complete Peace of Mind when you Partner with Flue Steam Inc.

February 19, 2017

Enjoy Complete Peace of Mind when you Partner with Flue Steam Inc.

Do you ever feel like there’s something you need to do, but you can’t remember what it is? It’s like a weird, unsettling feeling that lurks in the back of your mind, even keeping you up awake at night… but you just can’t bring yourself to remember. What was was so important? What did I need to do?

For many commercial kitchen managers, this is a familiar feeling. There’s always a huge litany of essential tasks that need to be taken care of each day, and it can be so hard to keep track of them.

Good news! There’s a way to take a bunch of these important tasks off your list. Partner with Flue Steam and we’ll be happy to handle all your commercial kitchen air control and fire prevention needs. Our goal is to improve the safety, air quality, and energy efficiency of your commercial kitchen and help keep your stress levels low.

Get so much peace of mind when you partner with Flue Steam. We provide the following services to commercial kitchens throughout Southern California:

  • Complete kitchen exhaust system cleaning (including hand scraping and steam cleaning of fans, hoods, and ducts)
  • Grease filter exchange service
  • Swamp cooler maintenance
  • Exhaust fan maintenance
  • Automatic fire suppression system service
  • Portable fire extinguisher sales and service

Learn more detailed information about our services below, and don’t forget to sign up for one or all our services by calling Flue Steam at 800-700-FLUE today.

Kitchen exhaust system cleaning

Flue Steam provides complete, high-quality, fire-code-compliant kitchen exhaust system cleaning for each and every commercial kitchen. Our cleaning services include hand scraping and steam cleaning. Hand scraping is a simple, affordable way to remove major grease deposits from all accessible areas. We recommend your business sign up for hand scraping services about once a month. Steam cleaning utilizes hot, high-pressure water to thoroughly remove grease. While it’s more expensive than hand scraping, it’s definitely more thorough. We recommend businesses supplement monthly hand scraping with steam cleaning 2-4 times per year. Give us a call at 800-700-FLUE and we’ll gladly discuss your kitchen exhaust system cleaning needs with you and give you personalized recommendations.

After each kitchen exhaust system cleaning service, we’ll provide “Certificate of Performance” stickers to prove that you’ve successfully fulfilled your NFPA code obligations. Inspectors will be thoroughly satisfied and you may even save money on your insurance bills.

Grease filter exchange services

Take this cumbersome task off your kitchen staffs’ plate when you partner with Flue Steam today. We provide complete grease filter exchange services to reduce your risk of fire and avoid its potentially devastating impact on your business. Count on Flue Steam for fast, affordable, convenient grease filter maintenance service. You’ll never have to wonder whether your grease filters need to be exchanged again!

Automatic fire suppression system services and portable fire extinguisher sales and services

We provide complete automatic fire suppression system services and portable fire extinguisher sales and services for your commercial kitchen. It’s just one more way we give you complete peace of mind so you can focus on other important aspects of managing your commercial kitchen.

Call us to begin your partnership today! Our phone number is 800-700-FLUE.

 

 

Why Should You Sign up for Our Grease Filter Exchange Service?

February 7, 2017

Why Should You Sign up for Our Grease Filter Exchange Service?Protect your commercial kitchen from dangerous – not to mention, costly – flash fires by signing up for our grease filter exchange service today. Grease filters are an essential part of your commercial kitchen exhaust system because they reduce the amount of vaporized grease that ends up within you exhaust system ducts. If grease is allowed to build up too much, a flash fire can result.

So an important step towards preventing flash fires in your kitchen, besides scheduling regular exhaust system cleaning services with Flue Steam is to make sure your grease filters never get saturated with grease. If your filters become full of grease, they can’t prevent grease from building up in your exhaust system. As a result, your whole kitchen exhaust system will operate with reduce efficiency and there will be a serious accumulation of grease right above your cooking appliances.

Don’t put your kitchen staff and customers at risk – make sure you reduce all likelihood of flash fires in your commercial kitchen by signing up for regular grease filter exchange services from Flue Steam.

If you’ve ever attempted to exchange a grease filter yourself, you know that it can be a cumbersome process. Let us make your life easier! We offer fast, convenient, and affordable filter exchange services. You won’t have to worry about maintaining your grease filter anymore.

What our grease filter exchange services entail

We proudly offer complete grease filter exchange services for commercial kitchens throughout Southern California. At each grease filter exchange service appointment, our technician will deliver fresh, clean filters right to your kitchen at preset intervals of your choice. The technician will haul away old filters for cleaning and install the new filters for you.

We recommend that most grease filters be replaced every 2 weeks. Certain restaurants that don’t use much grease or oil can sometimes get away with waiting to replace their filters every 4 weeks. Give us a call at 800-700-FLUE and we’d be happy to discuss your restaurant and recommend how often your grease filters should be replaced. Rest assured, our top priority is making sure your commercial kitchen runs as efficiently and safely as possible.

We also offer high quality grease filters for sale. We carry most sizes of Kason and Flame Gard brand grease filters at affordable prices. We purchase grease filters in bulk, so we gladly pass along the savings to you.

Other services we offer

Call Flue Steam for all your commercial kitchen air control and fire prevention services including:

  • Complete kitchen exhaust system cleaning (hand scraping and steam cleaning of fans, hoods, and ducts
  • Grease filter exchange services
  • Swamp cooler maintenance
  • Exhaust fan maintenance
  • Automatic fire suppression system service
  • Portable fire extinguisher sales and service

Sign up for any or all of our services today by simply calling Flue Steam at 800-700-FLUE. We look forward to making your kitchen run more smoothly, efficiently, and safely.

Ready for Greasy Cooking this Super Bowl?

January 28, 2017

Ready for Greasy Cooking this Super Bowl?There are so many fun traditions related the Super Bowl. Getting together to watch the big game with friends on a big screen TV. Placing bets on your favorite team. Alternately laughing, groaning, and sighing at the commercials. And perhaps the most ubiquitous Super Bowl tradition is to enjoy some delicious greasy food on game day.

Most people consider anything that’s fried to be acceptable on game day. Vegetables are generally frowned upon, and plenty of soda and beer are requisite staples for the Super Bowl.

Going out to a restaurant to take in the Super Bowl

Many people love going out to watch the Big Game on Super Bowl Sunday. It can be fun to go to a restaurant where everyone is cheering on the same team. You get to feel the whole emotional rollercoaster with dozens of people around you who are going through the same exact emotions.

Plus restaurants often have fabulous big screen TVs that allow viewers to catch every detail of the Super Bowl game, including players’, referees’, and coaches’ facial expressions. Many restaurants are extra busy on Super Bowl Sunday.

But that means that if you’re a commercial kitchen manager, Super Bowl Sunday is definitely go-time. You know that plenty of greasy food orders will be flooding your kitchen, so it’s important to be as prepared as you can before the big day arrives.

Prepare for the Super Bowl today

One essential way to prepare for the influx of greasy food orders on Super Bowl Sunday is to make sure your flue and the rest of your kitchen exhaust system is in tip-top shape. You can do that easily by placing a call to Flue Steam at 800-700-FLUE today. We’ve partnered with hundreds of commercial kitchens throughout Southern California over the years to provide meticulous commercial kitchen exhaust system cleaning services.

Hand-scraping and steam cleaning

We have two methods for cleaning your commercial kitchen exhaust system:

  • Hand-scraping
  • Steam cleaning

Hand-scraping is a simple, inexpensive way to ensure major grease deposits are removed from accessible areas. We recommend that most businesses have hand scraping done once a month to avoid excessive grease build-up.

Steam cleaning is a bit costlier than hand-scraping, but it’s also more thorough. Steam cleaning is accomplished by using hot, high-pressure water to remove grease. We recommend businesses to supplement monthly hand scraping with steam cleaning 2-4 times per year. Steam cleaning once per quarter is a good way to prevent excess grease and avoid the risk of flash fires.

When our technicians come to clean your exhaust system, you can be confident that they’ll strive to reach every inch of it. We start with the hood, then move onto the exhaust ducts, drip cups, and exhaust fans. Every regularly scheduled cleaning visit also includes a complimentary exhaust fan inspection. If your belts are worn out and you have a replacement readily available, we’ll be happy to install the new belt at no additional charge so your exhaust system stays clean for as long as possible.

Ready to sign up? Call us at 800-700-FLUE now.

Set Your Commercial Kitchen Up for Safe Cooking in 2017

January 14, 2017

Set Your Commercial Kitchen Up for Safe Cooking in 2017

When you’re the manager of a commercial kitchen, one of your most important imperatives is to make sure your kitchen is set up for safe cooking at all times. You definitely don’t want to put your kitchen staff and customers in danger by failing to abide by key safety regulations. Plus if a hazardous situation does occur that results in damage to your kitchen, you’re going to have to close for repairs, which will lose your business valuable income. Don’t risk it!

Set your commercial kitchen up for safe cooking in 2017 by establishing your partnership with Flue Steam today.

Flue Steam has successful partnerships with many managers of commercial kitchens throughout Southern California. We’ve been providing quality commercial kitchen air control and fire prevention services to this area for over 55 years, so we definitely have the manpower and expertise to keep your staff cooking safely throughout 2017 and for many years to come.

Safety, air quality, and energy efficiency

Our services will make your commercial kitchen much safer. Commercial kitchens, when not taken care of properly, can be extremely places to work, but you’ll be able to rest assured when you partner with Flue Steam. Our services also improve air quality so your staff and patrons can always breathe easy in your restaurant or hotel. Establishing a partnership with Flue Steam will also make your commercial kitchen more energy efficient. A clean, grease-free kitchen is a more efficient one, which lowers utility bills and saves precious natural resources.

Our services

We offer many popular services for commercial kitchens throughout Southern California including:

  • Complete kitchen exhaust system cleaning (meticulous hand scraping and steam cleaning of fans, hoods, and ducts)
  • Grease filter exchange service
  • Swamp cooler maintenance
  • Automatic fire suppression system service
  • Portable fire extinguisher sales and service

Begin your partnership with Flue Steam and you’ll quickly realize that it’s such a load off from your busy schedule when you don’t have to worry about taking care of any of these essential tasks. After every kitchen exhaust system cleaning session, we provide “Certificate of Performance” stickers as proof that you have fulfilled your code obligations. Not only will code inspectors be glad to say them, your insurance bills may also be lowered!

Let’s talk!

We welcome you to contact us today to talk about your commercial kitchen’s needs and how we can help your day-to-day operations run more smoothly. Call us at 800-700-FLUE or email us at contact@fluesteam.com. We look forward to making your commercial kitchen a safer place to cook every day. Cook up a storm – safely – when you count on Flue Steam for all your commercial kitchen air control and fire prevention needs. We’re here for you!