Cooking without a range hood

[Mjx]

Does anyone else have a kitchen without a range hood, and have you found a useful workaround?

 

The building I live in was built in 1937, and the kitchen is small, narrow, and has no range hood; presumably, it never did, as I don't see any place that it could have vented, though the original window may have had one pane modified to accommodate a vent. The current window is just one large sheet of glass, so that wouldn't be an option, now.

 

I cook quite a bit, though I don't fry much, but I'd love to not have to scrub the entire kitchen every time I sauté or stir-fry.

 

I've looked for some sort of effective alternative to a conventional, installed range hood, but haven't found anything. Have any of you?

 

[palo]

I'm sure you have explored this but some hoods have the option of non-venting - air is sucked in and rather than being vented are recirculated through a filter usually a metal fine mesh screen which mainly traps the grease and can be washed - won't do anything for odors or smoke - it's a poor second choice but it may be the only one open to you

 

p

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My apartment has a non-functional range hood.  At best it recirculates the grease.  The hood does have a light in it which is useful.

 

[Orbit]

We don't have a hood. It's annoying but I don't think there's an easy fix.

[Maison Rustique]

No hood, just a small "exhaust" fan that only circulates the grease and smoke. 

[Duvel]

I live in a rather new "ultra energy efficient" house. The insulation concept (incl. some "holes" in the structure) does not allow for a range hood ventilating to the outside. So we have a circulation hood, including two sets of stainless steel coalescence filters* for filtering the circulated air. It is efficient, easy to clean (the filter go in the dish washer) and after 7 years of usage you don't see any grease deposits on the ceiling, where the exhaust fan ventilates to. Of course, if you fry fish you'll still need to air out the house. But other than that I am ok with the solution ...

 

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* at least that's what I'd call them ...

[weinoo]

49 minutes ago, Duvel said:

we have a circulation hood, including two sets of stainless steel filters* for filtering the circulated air. It is efficient, easy to clean (the filter go in the dish washer) and after 7 years of usage you don't see any grease deposits on the ceiling, where the exhaust fan ventilates to. Of course, if you fry fish you'll still need to air out the house. But other than that I am ok with the solution ...

 

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* at least that's what I'd call them ...

 

Same here - in addition to the stainless filters, the hood has an internal, large, thick (and expensive) replaceable charcoal filter.  It is suggested to replace the charcoal filter every x number of hours of use, which I tend to overlook and just replace it annually. I do put the external stainless filters in the dishwasher every week or so. I'm surprised at how well the recirculating hood works at reducing odors and removing grease from the air.

Edited June 9, 2022 by weinoo (log)

[Mjx]

@weinoo @Duvel Please tell me more about the range hoods you're using, including where you got them!

[Duvel]

11 minutes ago, Mjx said:

@weinoo @Duvel Please tell me more about the range hoods you're using, including where you got them!

 

I use a Siemens iQ300 model, similar to this one (my one is not sold anymore):

 

Siemens LC67BHM50 iQ300 Dunstabzugshaube/Wandhaube / 60 cm / LED-Beleuchtung / touchControl / Metall | Dunstabzugshauben | Haushalt | Monbeck

 

I had it installed together with the kitchen, but you can order online (see above, also at Amazon, etc.) and ask a contractor ...

[weinoo]

4 hours ago, Mjx said:

@weinoo @Duvel Please tell me more about the range hoods you're using, including where you got them!

I'd be using that Siemens in Europe!

 

I have a Wolf product, as it matched very nicely the range.

[Mjx]

5 hours ago, Duvel said:

 

I use a Siemens iQ300 model, similar to this one (my one is not sold anymore):

 

Siemens LC67BHM50 iQ300 Dunstabzugshaube/Wandhaube / 60 cm / LED-Beleuchtung / touchControl / Metall | Dunstabzugshauben | Haushalt | Monbeck

 

I had it installed together with the kitchen, but you can order online (see above, also at Amazon, etc.) and ask a contractor ...

 

How important is the amount of space available in which to install it? If it recirculates, it seems as though it wouldn't need much more space than is needed to accommodate it, but I may be mistaken.

[palo]

The one I have (Home Depot) has an interior baffle that can be removed to vent outside - it looks and is the same size as a regular range hood

 

p

[Duvel]

2 hours ago, Mjx said:

 

How important is the amount of space available in which to install it? If it recirculates, it seems as though it wouldn't need much more space than is needed to accommodate it, but I may be mistaken.

It doesn’t. Either you keep the sides free at “the top” or you leave maybe 10 cm free between the top and the ceiling.

 

I use the latter, as I had the ventilation installed inside a cupboard. You pull out the base to activate the hood. The exhaust is at the very top - you can see a light shadow/reflection from the metal “pipe”. Please ignore the messy kitchen …

 

[paulraphael]

We have the standard NYC grease-recirculating hood. I almost never turn it on, because adding lawnmower sound effects to the cooking process, while slightly changing the direction of the smoke and splatter, doesn't strike me as much of a value-add. 

 

My workaround is that I often have to clean pans before cooking, in addition to after. We also use window fans, and a huge HEPA air filter. They get turned almost every time I cook on the range, because I use a lot of heat. Eating good food without smoke and splatter means ordering takeout. 

[lindag]

My last home where I lived for over 14 years had no hood and no exhaust other than the rinky-dink microwave pretend fan.  When my new house was being built a hood was a must-have.  Worth every penny being as I was deprived for so long.

[Mjx]

Thank you, and apologies for being so slow to reply: I was buried in work.

 

On 6/10/2022 at 5:56 PM, Duvel said:

It doesn’t. Either you keep the sides free at “the top” or you leave maybe 10 cm free between the top and the ceiling.

 

I use the latter, as I had the ventilation installed inside a cupboard. You pull out the base to activate the hood. The exhaust is at the very top - you can see a light shadow/reflection from the metal “pipe”. Please ignore the messy kitchen …

 

This is appealing, though a bit expensive, and I'd probably have to leave it behind when I move...and I wonder how difficult it would be for me to install on my own. Installation looks relatively straightforward. There's a more or less open space immediately above the stove:

 

18 hours ago, paulraphael said:

. . . . 

 

My workaround is that I often have to clean pans before cooking, in addition to after. We also use window fans, and a huge HEPA air filter. They get turned almost every time I cook on the range, because I use a lot of heat. Eating good food without smoke and splatter means ordering takeout. 

 

I have a very tightly edited selection of kitchenware, and put away almost everything except my microwave and vacuum sealer (they're covered in a thick cloth; the black thing to the right of the stove), because cleaning any more often than I already have to would drive me mad. I'd love a window fan, but it isn't an option, because the window is one large pane, and either tilts open at the top (it's like this almost year-round), or can be opened completely, which is great for ventilating in a hurry, but otherwise useless if I'm cooking, because it opens against the front of the stove:

 

 

I'm intrigued by people's extremely varied experiences with recirculating fans; it sounds as though are a lot of useless models, and just a few effective ones.

[weinoo]

32 minutes ago, Mjx said:

I'm intrigued by people's extremely varied experiences with recirculating fans; it sounds as though are a lot of useless models, and just a few effective ones.

I think the thing with recirculating exhaust hoods is that the filters are of prime importance.

 

Dishwasher safe ones are great, and the addition of a charcoal filter can only help.

 

 

[paulraphael]

27 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I think the thing with recirculating exhaust hoods is that the filters are of prime importance.

 

Dishwasher safe ones are great, and the addition of a charcoal filter can only help.

 

 

And I think some of them have powerful blowers. In some cases they're designed to either be a proper venting hood or a recirculating hood, depending on if you hook them up to ducts or to a filter unit.

 

Others are like mine. Understandable more as retro / ironic art installations.

[weinoo]

51 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

And I think some of them have powerful blowers. In some cases they're designed to either be a proper venting hood or a recirculating hood, depending on if you hook them up to ducts or to a filter unit.

 

Correct - on my hood, the recirculating kit is an additional part; it replaces the standard chimney with a vented chimney, duct diverters, and the charcoal filter.

 

 

The vents seen are on both sides of the hood.

[rotuts]

@Mjx 

 

I love the window you have in your Kitchen.

 

it opens '' In ''

 

as far as I can tell

 

mostly here 

 

windows open out

 

then I though about it 

 

and Im not sure how the windows 

 

Ive had in apartments over time

 

opens.

 

yours seems good sized !

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 6/12/2022 at 2:23 PM, paulraphael said:

We have the standard NYC grease-recirculating hood. I almost never turn it on, because adding lawnmower sound effects to the cooking process, while slightly changing the direction of the smoke and splatter, doesn't strike me as much of a value-add. 

 

My workaround is that I often have to clean pans before cooking, in addition to after. We also use window fans, and a huge HEPA air filter. They get turned almost every time I cook on the range, because I use a lot of heat. Eating good food without smoke and splatter means ordering takeout. 

 

You don't keep your pans in the kitchen do you?

 

[Duvel]

20 hours ago, Mjx said:

There's a more or less open space immediately above the stove:

 

I'd say that "shelf" is pretty much a placeholder for a circulation vent. I also agree on your assessment that installation should be straightforward, as it is pretty much a contained unit, that you have to fix onto the wall and plug in. So ... let's go for it 🤗

[paulraphael]

21 hours ago, weinoo said:

The vents seen are on both sides of the hood.

 

The vent on mine is aimed at my face.

[paulraphael]

18 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You don't keep your pans in the kitchen do you?

 

 

I do. It's not the best arrangement. We're shopping for a new place right now, and I'm insisting on a place where we can put in a 36" range and a commercial-style hood that vents outside. Without ripping the place down to the studs.

[weinoo]

32 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

 

I do. It's not the best arrangement. We're shopping for a new place right now, and I'm insisting on a place where we can put in a 36" range and a commercial-style hood that vents outside. Without ripping the place down to the studs.

 

Where are you looking - because that tends to not be an apartment building? However, a friend recently bought an apartment up near Morningside Heights, and it actually came with what you're looking for. The vent goes into some sort of air shaft that the building had been fitted with; since it's an older pre-war, I'm guessing it was retrofitted to handle cooking ventilation.

 

As I may have mentioned somewhere previously, when we renovated (down to the studs), I had hopes of venting to the outside, at the top of my kitchen window. But that involved an engineering nightmare, and by the time all was said and done, would probably have worked no better than what I have now, since it involved multiple turns in the ductwork - each turn crushes the efficiency of the venting.