Pure Maintenance Austin TeamQuick answer: Cooking puts grease, moisture and odors into your home's air every day, and in a closed-up Austin house most of it stays inside. Run a range hood that vents outdoors every time you cook, wipe greasy cabinets a few times a year, and clean the spots people forget: the fridge drip pan, the trash can and the disposal.
Why does the kitchen matter so much for indoor air?
The kitchen is one of the biggest daily sources of moisture, grease and odors in a home. Searing a steak, frying tortillas or simmering a pot of beans sends tiny droplets of oil and water into the air. Some of it leaves through a vent. The rest settles on cabinets, walls, ceilings and even the HVAC filter.
In a tight Central Texas home, closed up for most of a long cooling season, whatever goes into the kitchen air tends to stay in the house. A few habits keep it from building up.
Is your range hood vented outside or recirculating?
It matters, because the two types do very different jobs.
- Vented (ducted) hoods pull air through a duct to the outside. They carry away moisture, heat, grease and cooking odors, which makes them the most effective type.
- Recirculating (ductless) hoods pull air through a grease filter, and often a charcoal filter, then blow it back into the kitchen. They catch some grease and some odors, but the moisture and heat stay in the house.
- Many over-the-range microwaves are set up to recirculate, even where a duct could be added.
To find out which you have, look for a vent cap on the roof or an outside wall near the kitchen. Or hold a paper towel near the hood while it runs: if air blows back out the top, it recirculates.
Tips for either type:
- Turn the hood on before you start cooking, and leave it on 10 to 15 minutes after.
- Use the back burners when you can, since the hood captures more from them.
- Clean the metal grease filters every month or two. Most can go in the dishwasher.
- Replace charcoal filters in recirculating hoods as the maker suggests, often every 3 to 6 months.
If you're remodeling, plan for a hood that vents outside. A contractor can tell you whether a duct run is practical in your kitchen.
Does gas cooking affect indoor air more than electric?
Yes, a little. Both add grease and moisture from the food itself, but a gas flame also gives off combustion byproducts: water vapor, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases. That's why a hood matters most over a gas cooktop.
For gas cooktops and ovens:
- Run the hood every time you cook, not only for smoky meals.
- Keep burners clean and adjusted. A steady blue flame means good burning. Mostly yellow or sooty flames are worth a call to your gas appliance pro.
- Keep a working carbon monoxide alarm in the home, as with any gas appliance.
- Crack a window for a few minutes during big cooking sessions when the weather allows.
Electric and induction cooktops don't burn fuel, but a hood is still the best way to move grease, steam and odors out.
How do you get cooking grease off cabinets and ceilings?
Warm water, a little dish soap and a dry towel handle most of it. Cooking grease travels farther than most people think, and it settles as a thin, sticky film on:
- Cabinet doors, especially above and beside the stove
- The top of the refrigerator and upper cabinets
- The kitchen ceiling and light fixtures
- Nearby walls and window blinds
That film catches dust and holds odors. Wipe these spots a few times a year, then dry them. For heavier buildup, use a degreaser made for kitchen surfaces. And don't forget the top of the fridge.
Why does the fridge drip pan smell?
Many refrigerators have a pan underneath that collects water from the defrost cycle. It sits in a warm spot and almost never gets cleaned, which makes it a quiet source of odor.
- Pull off the front grille at the bottom of the fridge. Some pans slide out the front; others are reached from the back.
- Empty and wash the pan once or twice a year.
- Vacuum the coils while you're down there. Clean coils help the fridge run better, too.
- Wipe up spills inside the fridge right away, and toss old food weekly.
How do you stop trash and garbage disposal odors?
Empty the trash often and keep the disposal and sink drain clean. In an Austin summer, a kitchen trash can turns sour fast.
- Take the trash out often, and use a can with a tight lid.
- Wash the trash can every month or so and let it dry in the sun.
- Run cold water while the disposal runs and for a few seconds after.
- Freshen the disposal now and then by grinding ice cubes and a few citrus peels.
- Clean the rubber splash guard in the sink drain. Food collects underneath it.
- Check the sink trap. A dry or slow trap can let sewer odors in. Our drains and dry traps guide explains more.
How does kitchen grease reach your HVAC system?
The return pulls kitchen air, grease and dust included, through your filter, and over time some of it can coat the indoor coil. Change the filter every 1 to 3 months, and sooner if you cook a lot. Gold Eagle Services handles filters, coil cleaning and ductwork. For more everyday trouble spots, see 10 places your home's air gets stale.
This guide is about comfort and odors. Medical questions about anyone in your home belong with your doctor.
When does a whole-home treatment make sense?
When the kitchen is clean but the rest of the house still smells stale. Cooking leaves traces far beyond the kitchen. Our whole-home dry fog treatment uses the patented Pure Maintenance VaPURE dry fog system to reach every room, surface and closet, plus the HVAC ductwork, without getting things wet. It helps reduce the bio-load and lingering odors, and it's done in one day.
Get a free phone consultation
Pure Maintenance Austin, brought to you by Gold Eagle Services, serves all of Central Texas, out to College Station (about 2.5 hours), including Round Rock, Georgetown, San Marcos, Bastrop and Marble Falls. Book a free phone consultation: a Comfort Advisor calls you, learns what's going on in your home and sends a written quote based on square footage. Call 512-904-4646 or email IAQ@goldeagleservices.com. We're open Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm.