As I am re-doing my kitchen it seems that I need some sort of venting system for the stove. The previous stove didn’t have one and I never felt I needed it. Any smoke from the stove was very small.
It must be important because it’s almost the 1st question that is asked when I say that I am replaceing the stove.
The oven OTOH is where most of the smoke comes from. Sometimes broiler dished are left in and the oven isn’t cleaned as often as it should but it’s just vented into the room.
Why? Why is it so important that the stove is vented? Why is it not important that the oven is not? Why am I here?
He may have a built-in oven and a seperate range top (that’s what we have). Is that the case? AFAIK, my oven isn’t vented; I really can’t see, looking at it, how it could be, either.
I don’t know the answer, but I’m going to watch this thread for it - I’m also curious.
Well, I think that your assumption about most of the smoke coming from the oven may be due to the type of cooking you do. If you do a lot of frying, then you do get a lot of grease and smoke. You also can get a lot of moisture which you may or may not want in the room, depending on the season.
OTOH, you’re dead right about broiling generating a hell of a lot of smoke. Mine used to set off the smoke alarm in the next room (even on those rare occasions where I didn’t burn dinner). I think the problem with venting the oven may partly logistics and part safety. Most of the fumes from the stove top are probably boiling point of water or less by the time they hit the hood. If you vent the broiler, you have vent temperatures as high as 500 degrees – easily enough to pose ignition problems with flammable materials such as grease. This would require a whole new level of safety codes for safe venting. Also, if you vent the oven, you’d have to allow air to flow in, thus resulting in more energy usage. So from an engineer standpoint, it’s probably just as easy to hope the over-the-oven hood can handle the smoke discharge when the oven is opened.