Kitchen rangehoods

We fit a standard 600mm range hood and vent outside where we can or simply recirculate.

In either case if the tenant cooks with a lot of oil the rangehood filter will get saturated with oil to the point where the sag downwards. The tenant will not clean them regardless of them dripping oil (if they actually do that). If the filters are saturated then we always find that the inside of the rangehood will also be covered in oil and consequently when you run the rangehood even after cleaning the filters there is still the old cooking smells. In the case that the filters are beyond cleaning(saturated) then we simply replace the rangehood for a cost of $80-90.

We just recently cleaned a unit which was only occupied for 2 years. The rangehood filters were OK but the whole kitchen had a coating of grease including all the kitchen cupboards. Took many hours to clean the whole kitchen and stove/oven. I suspect that the tenant did not often use the ranghood. I would rather have replaced the rangehood and saved half the cleaning time.

One thing we have found is that the rangehood manufacturers lack consistency as to where they locate the power cord and even the vent outlet. This means some extra holes in the cupboard to accommodate the new rangehood.

Cheers

 

What's the deal with these things, how do you 'season' them properly to reduce the smoke? Never managed to master it myself.

 

Anyone else got any experience with the Ikea rangehood?
Sounds pretty good.

 

The seasoning is only to make it non stick and stop rust. There are several methods. Some people do it in the oven to do an all over seasoning, I do it on the stove just for the inside.

Wash it with soap and water and rinse well. This is the last time you ever use soap.
Brush the inside with extra LIGHT olive or something else with a high smoke point.
Heat it up til it gets really hot and smoking. Do this for 20m.
Turn off heat. Let it cool. Wipe off excess oil.
Repeat.

There are 2 things happening here. The cast iron pores expand and the oil gets in and becomes trapped. Also the high heat changes the molecular structure of the oil and produces a non stick coating.

For cleaning...

While food is cooking, boil water in the kettle. As soon as the food is off pour in some water. The heat of the griddle will make the water boil like crazy and do most of the cleaning. Once it it cools wash in the sink with a very stiff brush and hot water. Never soap.

Finally how to cook perfect steak. This takes some practice, but this it what Heston does.

• Decide how long to cook the steak. This is the hardest part and takes practice.
• Steak must be at room temp. Oil and lightly salt the steak.
• Get the griddle very hot. I use the wok ring on max.
• Put the steak in the griddle. Turn every 30 seconds until time has elapsed. Heston turns every 15-20, but I can't be bothered.
• Place in plate with foil on top and rest for 1/2 the time it spent cooking.
• The amount of smoke is crazy which is why I spent $2600 to buy and get my rangehood fitted. The kitchen was getting a greasy film. Yuck.

This has never ever failed me and works nicely with pork also.

 

From the link pic there an odd looking thing the way the fans are setup compared to what's been standard with pre-filter, how are they cleaned?
Hexy at $900 (with shipping) and potential warranty issues compared to ~$100 from local retailers

 

A 60cm one is around $500.

The difference between using one of these vs the cheapy $100 are

1. Your house doesn't stink at the end of it
2. They last for a very long time. My parents on is still going after 20 years. Still wipes the floor with the newer current models.
3. Your kitchen cupboards don't have a layer of grease. This layer of grease is made especially worse when you recirculate instead of venting out.

http://stores.ebay.com.au/dtvcentre/ <-- This store actually has a store front located in Campsie NSW. That said, if you walk around your chinatown precinct, they'll be readily available.

There's also one that looks like the typical slide out rangehood... except its not
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Slid-out...inlessSteel-/261115011625?hash=item3ccbaae229

The filters can be soaked in hotwater and cleaned. But they sell the filters quite cheap so you can simply keep replacing them if you don't want to clean them. I can't seem to find a picture, but from memory the filters are $5 or less. So not exactly expensive to change them once a month.

 

Thanks for your input on this neK. One of my mates whos a pretty serious cook has a meiya since he moved in. Tells me he's never even checked or cleaned the oil catch in 3-4 yrs and hasn't noticed any degradation! Will stop by and check them out along with the place in campsie you listed (also for ricecookers!)

Unfortunately, my place is double storey and i suspect it's going to be a tough route to vent outside. Seems hard to find any reviews or info about ducting installers/prices, but i guess that would be mainly ad-hoc pricing. Still, a rough guide would be nice =/
Ideally, if i spend around $500 on the rangehood (can only go 60cm i think) I wouldn't want to spend much more in the ducting.

Currently have a entry level ikea recirc rangehood which does absolutely nothing.

 

Meiya store is in Strathfield (Corner of Hume Highway and The Boulevard).

My sister's unit is on the top floor, they vented it into the ceiling cavity

I think the install was about $200.

I know if you buy from Meiya they can install for you. That's the option ill take. But there aren't any pretty looking Meiya's.

 

Hmm, I think top floor units are not the same as my example. I can't vent into the floor between ground/top. The kitchen shares a wall with the garage, so thats the only other easy location. Unless i do another 90 degree bend to get into the garage then onto the garage roof.

Oh well, good to know Meiya do installs, because id prefer it all done from one company.

No pretty rangehoods?
Function over Form anytime!
Will check them out this thurs.

edit: heres another similar company
http://pacifickitchenlife.com.au/

 

I'd probably take some pictures of your place to bring to them so they can assess whether its possible to install.