Hood Cleaning Services in Scarborough
Hood Cleaning Services in Scarborough are the scheduled degreasing of the three parts directly over a commercial cook line: the stainless canopy, the baffle filters slotted into its back edge, and the plenum chamber behind those filters. Scarborough Hood Cleaning lifts the filters into a soak tank, strips the canopy and plenum back to bare metal, photographs every surface before and after, and hands over a signed certificate referencing the published NFPA 96 standard. The interval follows the cooking, so a wok range on Sheppard Avenue East and a griddle in Cliffside sit on different schedules. Single-hood kitchens start from $385 per visit.
Canopy, baffle filters and plenum: what hood cleaning services cover
The canopy is the stainless shell everyone in the kitchen can see. It exists for capture and containment. Capture is pulling the rising column of heat and smoke off a charcoal grill or a wok burner into the hood. Containment is keeping that column inside the lip until the fan has drawn it through the filters.
The baffle filters are the row of metal panels along the rear of the canopy. Each one forces the air through a series of sharp turns. Grease is heavier than air, cannot make the turns, and ends up on the blades, then in the trough underneath.
The plenum is the sealed chamber behind the filter track, ahead of the duct collar. Everything the filters let past condenses on its walls and ceiling, out of sight of the line. Where the duct goes after the collar is explained on the kitchen exhaust cleaning page, and the fan that drives the whole system on the exhaust fan repair page.
Baffle filters vs mesh filters in a Scarborough kitchen
Baffle vs mesh. Mesh is a woven aluminum pad. It holds grease inside the weave, and a grease-soaked pad above an open burner is a fuel load hanging over the line. A baffle has no pad to soak. It sheds grease down its blades into the trough, which is why NFPA 96 expects baffles over grease-producing appliances. Some older takeout units along Danforth Avenue still run mesh in a track designed for baffles, and the quote itemises a properly sized baffle set for those.
The soak-tank method. Filters travel to a heated caustic soak tank rather than the dish pit. A dish cycle removes the surface film and nothing more. The baked-on layer inside each fold needs the soak to soften it, and a pressure rinse to clear it, before the filter can turn air again.
When to replace. Bent blades stop turning the air, so the grease passes through untouched. A split frame, a handle rusted off, or a filter that leaves daylight at the end of the track is swapped for new. Replacement goes on the quote as its own line and is approved before the visit.
Why new filters bought online do not fix the problem. A supplier website ships a new set of hood filters in days, and the set slides into the track in minutes. It slides into a plenum that still carries every gram of grease the old set let past. The front of the hood looks new; the chamber behind it has not changed. Inspectors measure the plenum, and no filter purchase cleans a plenum.
Wall canopy, island and backshelf hoods across Scarborough
Three hood styles turn up from Agincourt to the Bluffs, and each one loads in a different place.
Wall canopy. Fixed to the rear wall over a straight cook line. It is the hood in most plaza restaurants on Sheppard Avenue East and most grills on Kingston Road. Grease collects along the rear of the plenum and packs into the two corners against the wall.
Island canopy. Suspended over a line in the centre of the room with no wall on any side. Capture depends entirely on overhang, and the filters load from both faces at once.
Backshelf hood. A low, shallow hood set close behind a counter line, common in quick-service units and dessert kitchens with limited ceiling height. The plenum is compact and fills within weeks on a busy line.
Best commercial hood cleaning in Scarborough for a wok, charcoal, tandoor or spit line
The appliance under the hood and the hours it runs decide the interval. The calendar does not.
| Wok range vs charcoal grill vs tandoor vs shawarma spit vs fryer bank vs griddle | What it does to the hood | Interval that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Wok range | Throws oil into the airstream instead of holding it in the pan. | Quarterly as a floor, tighter for a seven-day lunch and dinner line. |
| Charcoal grill or charbroiler | Carries particulate as well as grease. Soot bonds the grease to the blades, and embers can travel into the hood. | The tightest interval NFPA 96 publishes, because charcoal is solid fuel. |
| Tandoor | A hot column straight up from the mouth of the oven. | Quarterly for gas. A charcoal tandoor follows the solid-fuel row above. |
| Shawarma spit | Runs from open to close with fat rendering the whole time. Hours, not heat, do the damage. | Quarterly, with the filters checked at the halfway point. |
| Fryer bank | Vapour off hot oil is the heaviest grease load per hour of any appliance. A dessert fryer that never cools is the worst case. | Quarterly, with baffles rather than mesh a condition of the schedule. |
| Griddle or flat-top | Fine aerosol rather than droplets. It slips past the blades and settles on the plenum walls. | Semi-annually for a breakfast-only unit, quarterly for one open into the evening. |
NFPA 96 publishes its own frequency table by cooking volume, and that table lives on the NFPA 96 page. The kitchens behind each row are profiled on the who we serve page.
Where to find kitchen hood cleaning service near me in Scarborough
Scarborough Hood Cleaning works every neighbourhood from Milliken in the north to the Bluffs in the south, with one price list for all of them.
The building usually decides the hood. Plaza units on Sheppard Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue East and the strips along Kingston Road are wall canopy territory. Quick-service counters near Scarborough Town Centre and stalls at the Golden Mile plazas tend toward backshelf hoods. Banquet halls and campus kitchens are where island hoods appear. Every neighbourhood is listed on the areas served page.
How much does commercial hood cleaning cost in Scarborough in 2026?
Scarborough Hood Cleaning charges from $385 per visit for a single-hood kitchen up to ten feet and from $725 per visit for a multi-hood kitchen of two to four canopies. Anything larger is quoted on site after a free walk-through, with the written quote back within 24 hours.
Canopy length, canopy count and filter condition move the number. The base price covers one wall canopy up to ten feet with baffles in good order. Filter replacement, where needed, is its own line on the quote.
Next step: call 647-370-3454 or send the details through the contact page. Useful things to mention: the number of canopies, baffle or mesh, and the hottest appliance on the line. Every service is listed on the services page.
Hood cleaning services in Scarborough: frequently asked questions
Is exhaust hood cleaning the same as kitchen exhaust cleaning?
No. Exhaust hood cleaning stops at the duct collar: canopy, baffle filters, plenum. Kitchen exhaust cleaning starts there and runs to the roof. Scarborough kitchens usually book both for the same night, and the duct scope is on the kitchen exhaust cleaning page.
Can kitchen staff run the hood filters through the dish machine?
Yes, and a weekly cycle keeps surface film off the blades. It cannot reach the baked layer inside each fold, so the filters still go into the soak tank at every visit.
Why does a shiny canopy still fail a Toronto Fire Services inspection?
Toronto Fire Services checks behind the filters. Nightly wiping keeps the canopy face bright while the plenum goes untouched for months, and a plenum ceiling at 0.078 inches fails the hood regardless of how the front looks.
Does a hood visit include the fan on the roof?
The rooftop fan is opened and degreased on every full-system visit and inspected on every hood visit. Mechanical work on the fan is a separate quote, described on the exhaust fan repair page.
How long does a single-hood kitchen take?
One overnight window covers a single wall canopy with sound baffles, including the soak, the plenum, the photographs and putting the line back. Multi-hood kitchens and island hoods run longer, and the walk-through comes with a time estimate.