Your Stove Vent

When was the last time you looked above your stove? The vent and hood of your stove can take as much of a beating as your oven does. Everything that you cook on your stove top rises and if you use the fan when you cook like many of us do, you'll have some nasty surprises waiting for you up there. It is very important for your health to make sure that you keep this area clean as well as your oven and here's why.

 

Say you are cooking on your stove top even if you are just boiling water. The heat from your pot and the stove top rises and heats up your vent. When this happens, everything that has built up over time heats up too including grease that can and will drip down into whatever you are cooking. Mixed in with all the build up is dust and germs that are going right into your meal that you are preparing and when the fan is on it gets spread around even more.

 

Cleaning your vent is a pretty easy job in itself. It doesn't take long but may require some flexibility on your part if you can't move your oven out of the way. In this case you will have to lean over it. Out of your caddy, grab either your Scrubbing Bubbles or Power Paste. Both do a great job at breaking down grease. Both products will cause some dripping as you let them sit to do their job so you may want to put something over your stove top if you don't want to clean that when you are done. Newspaper or a towel will do just fine. If you do use news paper, tape it down so it stays in place.

 

Pull down the cover or filter that protects the fan blades. You can throw that into the dishwasher to clean. Now that you have full access to you vent and fan, saturate everything top to bottom with the cleaning product of your choice. Let it set for about 10 minutes if you are using the Power Paste and less if you are using the Scrubbing Bubbles. Scrubbing Bubbles contains bleach so it can leave bleach stains if you leave too long so be sure to keep an eye on it.

 

After the cleaning product has had time to do it's work, use some of your old rags and get them wet with hot water. Wipe away the mess and be sure to pay special detail to the fan blades. They will have considerable build up if they have never been cleaned. Everything that gets sucked up has to go through there. If you are having some trouble spots, use your Brillo scrubby to remove them. These scrubbies work very well but on surfaces like these you need to limit how much pressure you use so you don't scratch the paint. When you are done, replace the filter that you threw in the dishwasher and you are done. Check your vent on a weekly basis to keep up with it and make your job easier next time around.