Summer is here, which means a lot more time outdoors playing sports, exploring the wild and enjoying meals at cafes and pubs on the streets. Amidst the pleasant smells of flowers and grills, however, your nose may detect less pleasant odours – that of a public restroom, for instance, or from the garbage in your local landfill.
But why does this happen? Is your nose just acting up, or is it something deeper? And what “smelly” challenges do commercial kitchens face due to meal preparation? Let us take a closer look in this blog post:
The mystery behind the “smell” during summers
To understand why smells exacerbate during summertime, we need to go back to our high school physics class. Liquids, when heated, get the energy they need to pass into the gaseous state. And if you have enough heat, you can turn solids into gases too.
So when temperatures outside go up during summer, the particles in liquid and solid waste that cause odours now have enough energy to vaporise and become gases. And as we know, gases travel much further than either liquids or solids – which is why even a landfill located three streets down from you can make you hold your nose. But wait, there’s more.
Increased temperatures also create congenial conditions for odour-producing bacteria to grow in, boosting their enzyme activity and increasing the production of bad smells. High heat also boosts humidity, which traps these molecules and causes them to spread faster and last longer.
And finally, it has been proven that the odour receptors in your nose work better in warmer conditions, which makes you pick up smells faster. When the air warms up and humidifies, it is similar to what our body temperature would be, compelling the nose to operate optimally.
Foul odours a problem for commercial kitchens
No one likes foul odours, which can cause all kinds of nasty illnesses if left unchecked. Even if rigorous measures are taken to keep everyone safe and maintain hygiene, it is not uncommon to look up and wonder about the “smell.”
For commercial kitchens, besides making good food, controlling ventilation and airflow and keeping the drains clean are essential.
Different commercial kitchens generate different smells. For instance, a Chinese takeaway produces higher levels of grease and odour. On the other hand, a kitchen cooking only soup will have lower grease levels but powerful odours.
Many pubs also generate high levels of grease and odour. Unfortunately, grease accumulates over time and remains mainly insoluble, forming a layer over wastewater and decreasing dissolved oxygen (DO) content.
Therefore, they must have a solid odour control plan, including the right products for their place of operations. So if you are running a commercial kitchen, it might seem like those pesky odours are always getting the better of you – here are some things you can do to fix that:
1. Examine your ducting system and get it professionally cleaned
The ducting system is what transmits odours out of the building, so how odour-free your commercial kitchen is will depend primarily on what your ducts look like.
There are several factors here, like how straight and short the ducts are, whether they are circular (better airflow) and what material they are made of.
It is probably not feasible to redo all your ducting, but you can still keep foul odours at bay by hiring professionals to clean them at intervals.
Not only will they get rid of any nasty grease and smoke build-ups, but they will also maintain the ducts so that they stay structurally sound and are protected against new build-ups.
2. Get a stainless steel canopy
If you do not already have one, this is an absolute must in any commercial kitchen. Canopies collect all the grease and smoke generated while cooking and send them through to the air ducts, and stainless steel is most effective for this. Ideally, you should also get a grease filter so that deposits do not build up and cause odours.
3. Invest in BiOWiSH® Aqua FOG
It is a natural solution specially formulated for wastewater or influent streams with fat, oil, and grease content over 100 mg/L. By using it regularly, you can significantly improve the efficiency of grease traps, aerobic treatment systems, dissolved air flotation (DAF) units, and oil-water separators.
Moreover, it can help you control odour by operating as an effective Facultative Anaerobe that minimises the emission of volatile organic compounds in grease traps. BiOWiSH® Aqua FOG is 100% natural, non-toxic and sustainable. It speeds up solids degradation in grease traps, thereby eliminating sludge production, deep cleaning and pump-out costs.
Over to you
In short, a smelly commercial kitchen can be a nightmare for any business, but with proper cleaning and maintenance, it does not have to be.
We recommend working with professionals who use products derived from plant oils, which are gentler in action and better for the environment than chemicals, while checking all the boxes regarding efficacy.
Or, you can use BiOWiSH® Aqua FOG to keep your commercial kitchen grease-free and odourless. We are an exclusive partner of BiOWiSH® in the UK, and you can purchase the product through us. Contact us today if you would like a free consultation.
With just a little extra planning, you will be all set to welcome summer – and stay healthy and odour-free even on the hottest days.
