Have you cleaned your hood lately (or ever!)?

So a couple weekends ago I was home alone. A vacation of sorts and time to get down & dirty. I felt it had been a while since I had inspected the hood of my cooking range. (When I actually figured out the last time I cleaned it, I was pregnant and in nesting mode with MAX! Yeah we are talking 10 years people.) I don't fry, but I do saute and have been known to get on quite a stir-fry kick, so I guess someone that cooks almost every night should know they need to clean their hood on a regular basis. However, that was not happening.

I took apart my hood which is a story in and of itself. However please witness what was up there:


There was about 1/2 to 3/4 cup worth of GREASE the consistency of soft carmel (that would be thicker than honey, and more gooey than butter). I was alone in my kitchen yet still embarrased. I could have only been more embarrassed if Jim Mackay was in my kitchen and had pointed it out to me ;) Luckily, this part of the hood is designed to run through the dishwasher. Which I did after soaking it for about an hour beforehand. The fan was another peice of nastiness which, by the time I finally got it out of it's housing, I was too tired and too stickydirty to pick up the camera and photograph it.

The moral of the story is clean your hoods.