Can I live without one?

[Minimalme]

We 'made' a kitchen out of freestanding furniture - it looks lovely and is very functional. It cost £2k and will last years because it is solid wood.

The refurb money is now spent with nothing left over. I think I can live without a cooker hood but FiL and dh think we need one.

In previous houses we've had Cooker hoods which I didn't use because I don't like the noise of thee fan.

Putting this to MN for opinions!

Our extractor doesn't vent outside and I find that the kitchen gets very steamy when cooking vegetables, pasta etc. And the kitchen sometimes has cooking smells the next day. Could you get a nice bathroom extractor fan as a compromise? You can get really quiet ones.

Please can you post some photos of your kitchen - sounds amazing!

We haven’t got one at the moment so I open the back door or window and it is fine. I’d also love to see pictures of your kitchen please if you are happy to share as have been thinking of doing similar in new house.

They are not yet a legal requirement but moving in that direction

UK building regulations state that “if you carry out any building work, and there is an existing extract fan, or a cooker hood, extracting to outside in the kitchen, you should retain or replace it

I am just making a blind for the window so will post so pictures once that's up!

I am really happy with it!

This is our forever home so no plans to move. We moved 200 miles back to where dh grew up and own outright - it is the first time in years that we have had any security.

I don’t have a fan I just open the window. I do put up a fly screen in the summer. I think also you learn to cook to suit your surroundings. I use steamer baskets so kitchen doesn’t really get steamy. Airfryer rather than a frying pan to avoid grease smells.

I tend to open a window instead, the only reason I've ever used a hood was the light in it. I think the size of the kitchen might decide whether you need an extractor.
I wanted an unfitted kitchen, would love a photo.

I have a cooker hood and i almost never use the fan. I do use the lights though. If you can open a window then you will be fine.

I've only ever had a cooker hood once. Never again. Vile, stinky, greasy thing (due to previous house owners) right by my head when I was cooking and blocking the light from the window. When I had a new kitchen, it was removed and hole in wall blocked up. My builder did tell me I was supposed to have one but soon got the message. In all the houses I ever lived in without a cooker hood, nothing bad ever happened.

Cooker hoods are a new fangled thing

Course you can live without one
Open a window

I quite like a cooker hood for the light but in our old house, it wasn’t ducted so we also had an extractor fan on an outside wall. Is that an option? I do think you need one if you’re cooking E.g. lots of pasta in winter.

I've never had a cooker hood. I just open the back door with steamy things and burn a candle for smelly things.

Your kitchen sounds amazing!

Historically kitchens were separate rooms - when you cooked you could close door and open a window or back door. No one had cooker hoods and if anything there was more grease due to open chip pans etc. I grew up in 60 s and never saw a cooking hood until 1980s, my mum and gran never had one

but, I moved into my new home about 2 years ago. The kitchen is in a big lounge, kitchen dining room open plan space 🤦‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ ( not my preference but downsizing due to divorce and no bloody decent houses). I had an extractor put in last year during other building work as without a hood to filter air and capture grease it was starting to already leave a fine layer of cooking residue on walls/ceiling around stove and I don’t want that, over time extending to my sofa, dining table etc. kitchen surfaces can be washed regularly with detergent to remove this build up but soft furnishing and wood furniture can’t and are porous. This build up happened quickly despite opening window right above hob (windows don’t extract- they can actually move air flow in reverse!) , and not using any deep fat frying, or even fried food- just a bit of sauté or light griddle. I’ve white walls and you see everything.

I also made the mistake of continuing with my pickle making in my “ new kitchen” before extractor- bloody hell 😱. All the soft furnishings stank of vinegar for about a week. Terrible. That was even with door and window open.

you only have to see how much grease builds up on an extraction filter to see that, in open plan rooms, that’ll be deposited on the everything.

No cooker hood here, i open the window and its fine

We have neither hood nor fan and it's fine however it's a decent sized kitchen with good air flow. I just open a window if needed.

Kitchen sounds lovely. Would love to see photos too. I hate our noisy kitchen hood and we can't speak when it's on. If you can open a window that'll do.

Cooker hood that vents to the outside. Ours never used to, it just filtered smells. Even with an open window each time we cooked the kitchen got a bit steamed up on the other windows, and over time all the cupboards get a greasy film on and especially the very high tops where you don't tend to wipe down.

Blatant place marking post because I want to see the pictures .

We don't have a cooker hood, we just open a window. For us it was a case of why spend money running a noisy extractor when you can do it quietly for free? I'm also not keen on how they look, but it's personal preference really.

I think it’s a bit grim not to have one - have been living without one in our rented house and I hate it, especially if it’s cold and I don’t want to waste the heating by opening the window! (Open plan nightmare)

I've always wanted a freestanding kitchen. Looking forward to photos

Me too!

If you've had one before and didn't use it then you are unlikely To need one now, just open a window when required.

Haven't had a cooker hood in 20 plus years in 3 different properties!

Don't cook a lot of greasy food on the hob anyway. Hob near a window so just open the window. (It's an induction hob so okay to be near a window. Apparently it couldn't be if it was gas)

Close kitchen door if making anything smelly (normally only bacon!). Anything else smelly tends to be made in the instant pot which really helps with containing smell.

If there is a smell I just open windows for a through draught - even in winter. It's always good to change the air over.

Last time I had a cooker hob was as a child/young person in my Dad's home. We only ever used it for the light! The extractor fan part was too noisy and inefficient.

I bloody love you lot. The cooker hood is cancelled!

Here is a pic - big spend was a free-standing sink unit from The Olive Tree in Weatherby for £1,500 - it came with the Belfast sink, work surface and taps and they painted it the F&B colour of my choice, Cooks Blue.

The unit to the right is an old Ercol one from eBay (£50) and the one next to the cooker is IKEA secondhand (£25).

The breakfast bar in the middle is an old science lab table (£160).

Walls are Jasmine white Dulux and tiles are cheapies from the Topps tiles range in Bone.

I know it's not exactly a show kitchen but it is sturdy and practical and I love it.

Oh I absolutely love it . I so wanted exactly this when we moved house but I was completely outvoted. Am going to show my DH now .