Under-sink grease traps are a vital component in any commercial kitchen since they prevent fat, oil, and grease residue on dishes from ending up in your plumbing or the city sewer line. Grease can quickly clog drain pipes, and clogged pipes are very expensive to fix—preventing the clogs from forming in the first place by trapping the grease is a much better option.

Of course, under-sink grease traps will eventually fill up, and they need to be cleaned before they start to overflow. It's not an appealing task, since grease traps are full of bacteria and food waste, but it needs to be done. To find out how to clean your under-sink grease traps and how often you should be doing it, read on.

How Do You Clean an Under-Sink Grease Trap?

The first step is to remove the lid from the grease trap. If you have a plastic grease trap, the lid will pop off easily. For a stainless steel grease trap, you'll need to lift the lid using a pry bar. Be gentle when using the pry bar, since there's a rubber gasket underneath the lid. It prevents the smell from the grease trap from escaping into your kitchen, so you should take care to avoid accidentally damaging it.

Once the lid has been removed, use a ladle to scoop up the grease floating on top of the water. Deposit the grease into a nearby trash bag. Once all of the grease on top is gone, use a wet/dry vacuum to remove all of the water, solids, and remaining grease from the grease trap. Empty the vacuum into the trash bag when you're done.

Next, you'll need to scrub down the grease trap using soap, water, and steel wool. If large clumps of grease have adhered to the sides of the trap, scrape them off using a steel spatula. You can remove the baffle from the grease trap in order to clean it more easily.

Once you have cleaned the grease trap, throw out the trash bag full of grease, replace the baffle, and put the lid of the trap back on. Run the water in the kitchen sink for a few minutes in order to flush soap residue out of the grease trap, and you've finished the job.

How Often Should You Clean an Under-Sink Grease Trap?

The best way to keep your grease trap clean is to have one of your employees clean it every week after your restaurant closes. Frequent cleaning will prevent grease from adhering to the sides of the trap, which makes cleaning it much easier. You'll usually only have to scoop the grease off of the top and vacuum up the rest of the solids, and you won't have to spend a lot of time scrubbing the sides with steel wool in order to remove the built-up grease.

If you don't have enough time to clean the grease trap weekly, you'll need to check your city health codes. Most areas regulate how often you need to clean the grease trap. Typically, you'll have to either clean it once it becomes 25% full or once a month, whichever comes first. You can measure how full the grease trap is by inserting a dipstick into the trap and checking the grease marks on the dipstick.

You can also hire a commercial kitchen grease trap cleaning service to clean your under-sink grease traps for you. Professional grease trap cleaning is inexpensive, and it's a good option for restaurants whose employees aren't familiar with how to clean a grease trap or who are unhappy with the amount of grime and horrible smells involved. When professionals clean your grease traps, your employees will be able to spend time focusing on other tasks instead of cleaning.