Food Truck Hoods: What You Need to Know Before You Build
The single biggest mistake first-time food truck builders make? Treating the exhaust hood like an afterthought. In reality, the hood is the most heavily regulated piece of equipment on the truck — and it drives the layout, the electrical load, the propane sizing, and often the fire marshal's approval to open.
Here is everything you need to know about food truck hoods before you buy one.
Yes, Food Trucks Need the Same Hood as a Restaurant
A mobile kitchen is still a commercial kitchen. NFPA 96 applies. NFPA 1 applies. Most state and county fire codes explicitly extend commercial hood requirements to mobile food units, and many jurisdictions have added mobile-specific requirements on top (NFPA 96 covers mobile and temporary cooking operations in Chapter 15) (NFPA 96).
That means for any grease-producing appliance — griddle, fryer, charbroiler, range — you need:
A Type 1 (grease) hood with UL-listed baffle filters
A UL 300 wet-chemical fire suppression system (Ansul R-102 or equivalent)
UL 1978-listed grease duct (double-wall factory-built is the practical choice for trucks)
A UL 762-listed upblast exhaust fan with hinged base
Sizing a Food Truck Hood
Food truck cook lines are typically 4 to 8 feet long. Standard practice:
Overhang: Hood must extend at least 6 inches beyond the cooking equipment on all open sides (NFPA 96 §5.1.5)
CFM: Plan on 150-250 CFM per linear foot for medium-to-heavy-duty cooking
Mounting height: Front edge of hood should sit no more than ~4 feet above the cooking surface for capture
A typical food truck hood ends up being 4', 5', 6', 7', or 8' long, in stainless steel, with 2–4 baffle filters and integrated lights.
Space Is the Enemy — Design Around It
Food truck ceilings are 6' 6" to 7' 6". After you subtract:
Hood height (typically 24")
Duct rise
Roof structure
Upblast fan curb
...you have very little headroom left. Two design moves make this workable:
Use a shallow / low-profile hood — many manufacturers make food-truck-specific hoods only 18–20" tall.
Use factory-built grease duct — UL 1978 listing allows reduced clearance to combustibles (often 0–3" instead of 18"), which is the only way tight duct chases in a truck are legal (UL 1978).
The Make-Up Air Problem
An exhaust fan pulling 1,500+ CFM out of a small enclosed box will pull air from wherever it can find it — the propane compartment, the serving window, or backwards through the fan itself. Every code-compliant food truck needs make-up air engineered into it. That is usually a passive intake with a filter, sized to replace roughly the exhaust CFM, positioned to avoid short-circuiting the hood capture.
Fire Suppression Is Non-Negotiable
The R-102 or equivalent wet-chemical system, actuated manually and automatically, is required on any Type 1 hood — and it is what your fire marshal will focus on during inspection. Plan the tank location, pull-station, gas shutoff, and nozzle placement before the hood is mounted.
Pre-Inspection Checklist
Before your final inspection, confirm:
✅ Type 1 hood with grease filters installed and 6" minimum overhang
✅ UL 300 fire suppression system charged and tagged
✅ Manual pull-station accessible from the exit path
✅ Fuel shutoff (gas or electric) tied to suppression system
✅ UL 1978 grease duct with proper clearance
✅ Upblast exhaust fan hinged for cleaning
✅ Make-up air path documented
✅ Hood cleaned and access panels labeled
Shop Food-Truck-Ready Hoods and Duct
Mr. Hood USA specializes in compact commercial hoods, factory-built grease duct, and upblast fans sized for food trucks, concession trailers, and ghost kitchens. Ship-ready and priced for builders.