It is the question care home managers ask most often, usually at insurance renewal or just after an inspection: how often does the kitchen extract system actually need cleaning? The honest answer is that it depends on what the kitchen cooks — but TR19 gives a clear framework.
The three usage bands
TR19 Grease ties the cleaning interval to how many hours a day the kitchen cooks:
- Heavy use — 12 to 16 hours a day: clean every 3 months.
- Moderate use — 6 to 12 hours a day: clean every 6 months.
- Light use — 2 to 6 hours a day: clean every 12 months.
Where most care homes sit
A typical care home kitchen producing three meals a day plus snacks and drinks falls squarely into moderate use — so six months is the usual starting point. That surprises some managers, who assume a care home is "lighter" than a restaurant because it isn't serving the public. It isn't. A restaurant closes on quiet days; a care home kitchen cooks every single day of the year, including Christmas.
What pushes a care home into heavy use
Several things commonly shorten the interval:
- Texture-modified and fortified diets. Pureed and IDDSI-level meals mean long cooking times and a lot of sustained heat.
- Finger-food menus in dementia units. These involve far more frying and baking than a standard menu.
- Cooked breakfasts daily. Bacon, sausage and fried eggs put more grease into a canopy than any other single item.
- One kitchen serving multiple units or a day centre. Volume rises without the kitchen getting any bigger.
What can stretch it
Smaller residential homes doing lighter cooking — regenerating pre-prepared meals rather than cooking from raw, or with little frying — can genuinely sit at the lighter end. The point is that the interval should be set on evidence, not assumption.
Grease depth is the real test
The bands are a planning tool. The actual measure is grease depth, taken at measured points along the system. TR19 treats an average of 200 microns as the point at which cleaning is required. A system measured at each visit tells you whether your interval is right — if it's consistently well under, you may be cleaning too often; if it's over, you're running a risk.
Why the interval matters to your insurer
An out-of-date certificate is one of the most common reasons a grease-fire claim is challenged. Setting a realistic interval and sticking to it — with the certificates filed — is what keeps that conversation short. It also sits neatly in the fire-safety section of your Care Inspectorate Wales evidence.
If you're not sure which band your kitchen is in, tell us what it cooks and how long the stoves run, and we'll give you a straight answer. More on the sector on our care home kitchen cleaning page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is six months a legal requirement?
No. TR19 is guidance, not legislation. The legal duty comes from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which requires you to manage fire risk — and a documented cleaning schedule at a sensible interval is how you evidence that for the extract system.
Who decides which band our kitchen is in?
It should be assessed on actual cooking hours and what's being cooked, ideally confirmed by grease-depth readings at the first clean. Be wary of anyone who assigns a band without looking at the kitchen.
Does the interval change in summer?
For a care home, rarely — unlike seaside hospitality, care catering is one of the most consistent year-round loads there is. That consistency is why a fixed schedule works well.