EXPERT INSIGHT

Hob extraction

James Rayner, bespoke product manager at Westin, on finding the best choice for your kitchen

Extraction is vital if you plan to cook. A properly specified cooker hood based on your individual circumstances and cooking preferences should get rid of smoke, fumes and moisture and, just as importantly, ensure that the whole home is free from odours.

Firstly, look at where you would like the hood to be situated in the kitchen. For best results and ease of extraction, a hood against an external wall with the shortest duct route is best. Island extraction remains a firm favourite, but knowing which hood will work best for you can be tricky.

If you regularly cook intensively, a conventional downdraft – which is usually built into a unit behind the hob and rises when switched on – may not be right for you, as it is a local solution designed to take as much of the fumes as possible as soon as it leaves the hob. Fine for everyday low intensity cooking, but on the occasion that you cook a steak, a curry or a stir fry, it may fall short. A ceiling hood can be a better option as this is an environmental solution and allows the air to move naturally before extracting.

There is one tip that works across the board – turn your hood on 10 minutes before you start cooking. This creates a current for the air and aids extraction massively.

For built in (to furniture or a mantle) hoods, always try to overlap the hob size. For an 800mm wide hob, for best results use a 900mm hood. Try to stick to minimum distances between hob and hood of 650mm for induction, and at least 800mm for gas hobs. The key is to cover as much of the hob as possible, ideally 50mm shorter than the front of the hob.

Ceiling hoods are a little bit different as if they are positioned in the highest point in the room, they will collect everything although not as ‘instant’ as an over-hob hood.

A lot of hood manufacturers recommend a maximum height of around 2.7-2.8m. Westin has no maximum height efficiency. As long as the hood is in the highest point in the room, with no vaulted sections or areas where the air can escape into, the hood will collect everything, even at 3metres plus.

Gone are the days when a cooker hood would be stainless steel only, and purely there for function. Nowadays a hood needs to work well, and look good doing it. At Westin, we offer a unique bespoke service. Painted hoods have always been popular. We have also seen a rise in metallics such as brass and bronze, and especially antique variations of these, a trend that doesn’t show any sign of going away any time soon.