We had tenants in our house for 6 months, and they obviously did a lot of frying. The metal mesh filters in the oven extractor hood are very clogged up with grease. I know from experience that these are hard to clean - there must be a good way to do it. Any suggestions?
Wipe off as much as you can, and put them through the dishwasher. I've done that with mine for years.
Put them with the oven racks in a bag/pouch of Oven Clean.
Owain
I did read somewhere a while back you shouldnt wash in dishwasher, cant remember why maybe to do with some coating or other on them. Google may throw up some answers.
Depends on what they're made of. Mine are stainless steel - I'd be reluctant to do it with aluminium ones.
The instructions for my Lamona cooker hood say:
======================================================================= First remove the grease filters by pulling down on the handle and pulling them away from the extractor.
? Soak the grease filters in hot water and washing up liquid for about an hour. ? Rinse them off thoroughly with hot water. ? Repeat the process if required. ? Refit the grease filters once they have dried. =======================================================================
If it is used in recirculation mode the carbon filters will probably need replacing. These are about £20 a pair.
(I don't use the fan on mine as it is too noisy even at the slowest setting, and since it doesn't actually extract to the outside I don't see the point in it. The light is useful though.)
Thanks to all. The filters are aluminium. In the past I've not had much success using the dishwasher to clean them. Presumably "soaking in hot water for an hour" means put them in hot water (with detergent) and leaving them for an hour, not keeping water hot for an hour.
Probably, but I'd use hot water for rinsing, so the grease does not congeal again. And preferably brush them while rinsing.
Pressure washer, to get the bulk out? Possibly using one at the clean-your-car places -- coin in, X seconds pressure wash time?
Thomas Prufer
Steam cleaner?
soak in bleach
+1.
Soak in caustic soda, realise mistake too late, buy new ones?
:-)
dishwasher is sometimes good
Unless they're made of aluminium!
I do remember from about 50 years ago the effect of NaOH on Al. Naively I've been thinking that some organic solvent should deal with the grease, something like mineral turps, petrol or kerosene, but nobody has suggested that.
I suspect that pyrolytic products of cooking have a significant polar component and would not be soluble in a non-polar solvent. Something like acetone might be worth experimenting with, but personally I'd stick to hot water and detergent. Though I'd agree that it would be interesting to know if anyone has any experience with organic solvents.
detergents are essentially 'organic solvents' in that they do bond directly to hydrocarbons.
All caustic does is to turn fats into soaps,anyway.
Burnt on fat is something I have never been able to shift except by brute force...
The instructions for the one in our holiday let said use the dishwasher.
Jonathan
Me neither. But the deposits on cooker hood filters aren't exactly burnt on, in the way that oven linings and baking trays have a sort of fat-based enamel.
I leave ours in asink full of warm and very soapy water overnight.
AS good as new in the morning.
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