What does UL 300 mean?

UL 300 sounds like a cyborg from the next Terminator movie doesn’t it?  I’m all for abbreviations but sometimes keeping things too short makes it feels so NOT HUMAN.  And UL 300 is actually a pretty big deal when it comes to restaurants and kitchens.   So let’s break this down, step by step and figure out the gears behind UL 300.

WHAT DOES UL 300 MEAN?

UL stands for Underwriters Laboratories.  Its purpose is to help restaurants reduce their risk of kitchen fires by ensuring their cooking equipment and kitchen setups minimize the collection of grease in ductwork and in the air.  Now that doesn’t seem so futuristic, right?

HOW DOES UL WORK? 

UL 300 is a fire test procedure written to ensure all manufacturers are performing the same fire tests, in the same manner, in order to list their products with ULI.

By having every place follow the same standards of practice the general public is ensured a certain level of safety.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

The UL 300 testing conditions are designed to more closely resemble actual field conditions and hazards.

IS IT HOT IN YOUR KITCHEN?

Changing conditions in restaurant kitchens have created the need for big changes in a kitchen hood fire suppression system.  High efficiency fryers heat up much more quickly and cool down much more slowly than older fryers, and vegetable oil burns at a much higher temperature than animal fat, meaning that older methods of kitchen fire suppression are ineffective against it.

To answer these changing conditions, Underwriters Laboratories created the UL 300, a new standard for kitchen fire suppression system testing and inspection.

FINAL THOUGHTS…

UL 300 is all about fire safety in restaurants.  It deals with guidelines and procedures to ensure safety.  It is the standard test that looks at pre-engineered systems installed or/and at hand to prevent fires in restaurants.