Grease hood cleaning is the same NFPA 96 work as any hood service, named for the thing that actually drives it: accumulated grease. Grease is the fuel, the reason for the interval, and the measure a fire marshal uses when deciding whether your last cleaning counted. Kitchens searching for this by name are usually the ones that can see the problem already, with visible buildup on the canopy edge, drips at the filter track, or a hood that has gone tacky to the touch.
A heavy-buildup service starts with the visible surfaces and then goes after the parts that hold the real volume. Baffle filters are removed and soaked rather than wiped. The canopy interior, the grease trough and the filter track are scraped before any chemical goes on, because degreaser applied over a thick deposit mostly runs off. Reachable duct surfaces are scraped and pressure washed. The fan housing and blades are degreased separately, since blade buildup unbalances the fan and reduces the airflow the rest of the system depends on.
Grease load is what NFPA 96 uses to set your schedule, which is why buildup rate matters more than kitchen size. Solid fuel cooking over wood, charcoal or mesquite puts a kitchen on monthly cleaning regardless of overall volume. High-volume and 24-hour operations are monthly as well. Moderate-volume kitchens are quarterly, and low-volume or seasonal operations fall to semi-annual or annual. If your hood looks bad well before the next scheduled visit, the schedule is wrong, not the observation.
This service is for kitchens with genuine grease problems: charbroilers and wok ranges, fry-heavy menus, steakhouses with wood-fired grills, late-night operations, and any kitchen that has skipped a cycle or inherited a system from a previous tenant. Heavy buildup also tends to mean the deposits reach further up the duct than a routine visit assumes, so ask whether the quote covers the full run or only the hood.
Compare providers by location in our directory of hood cleaners by state, or read the hood cleaning cost guide before you request quotes.