Are you going to use the 27k BTU wok burner? If so, I'd have a hood over it.

All sorts of factors go into what's satisfactory, but there's potentially a safety factor, and a smaller space, plus reduced circulation, plus a beefed-up stove-range-top, suggests to me that you might want to think of something.

We limped along without anything (that is, besides a small, recirculating fan and filter) for quite some time. Adding a larger, more powerful range we also added a full baffled hood with 1100 cfm blowers. It's just been great -- nice to have on low for an ordinary one or two pan thing and for certain things we've cranked it up and the contrast is amazing.

With that logic you probably do not need a toilet that flushes

djg1: I'm definitely planning on using the wok burner, which will certainly generate a lot more heat, smoke, etc. When you say the contrast is amazing, what exactly has been the contrast? Smell/residue/etc?

guadapule: wow, I really didn't think there would be snarky trolls on this board considering the audience here is markedly older and presumably more mature than the typical internet message board. I know you're not supposed to "feed the trolls," but I certainly could provide an example along the lines of your useless post to prove you wrong but that would be beneath me and inappropriate for the forum. It seems like a lot of people spend megabucks to cook what essentially amounts to frozen pizzas and baked potatoes. I'm simply not that kind of person, I need knowledge specifically applicable to my situation to fully evaluate the necessity of each part of my future kitchen. Simply saying, "you need one," as an uneducated commissioned-based salesperson would say, isn't motivation enough for me to spend more hard earned money simply to say I spent more.

Even if you are not bothered by cooking smells and smoke, cooking with a 27K BTU wok burner, without any ventilation, is almost certain to set off the smoke detectors in your house, which you may find more annoying. I know that mine go off on occasion when I stir-fry, despite the fact that I have a 600 CFM hood and the nearest detector is two rooms away from the kitchen.

Also, you might want to check building codes in your jurisdiction. These vary considerably, but where I live, ALL new builds and major renos require some kind of exterior kitchen venting. Cooking is a major contributor to poor indoor air quality. Current energy-saving building technologies result in tighter sealed homes, with fewer passive air exchanges with the outside. Even though older homes are may not be so tight, compliance with current codes encourages energy efficient retro-fits.

mrblandings: excellent point.

cooksnews: also a great point... that's an excellent way to put it. The place I'm in now is 120 years old isn't nearly as air tight as the place I'll be moving to, which recently had all new windows and doors put in. I know for certain that the building codes require a carbon monoxide detector on each floor (and my realtor said that they'll be requiring a carbon monoxide detector in each room within the next couple years), so it's safe to assume that exterior kitchen venting would be required.

amphibious - Typically I roll my eyes when people talk about all those cooking fumes and grease build-up, because like you I don't experience them too much either unless I'm deep-frying or searing a steak. If you consider how many people have OTR microwaves and how many people have recirc hoods, both of which most of the "experts" here will [IMO correctly] state are next to useless, and then consider how many people probably don't bother to turn on their hoods regardless of what they've got because they don't like the noise, I think we can draw a logical conclusion that ventilation isn't nearly as big a deal as many here crack it up to be.

That said, I cannot imagine remodeling a kitchen and not installing an externally venting hood unless it's physically impossible to do so, and the thought of wok cooking over 15K BTU let alone 27.3K BTU without proper ventilation would scare me off.

Good luck!

p.s. Unless you get early bird discount dinners at Denny's, I'd venture a guess that guadalupe is your senior. Give her a break! ;-)

I tend to take a different view: range hoods have become more popular as houses have become more air-tight, reducing ventilation in the kitchen: my mother's house (and those of her neighbours, and in fact most London houses) was built with the expectation that the stove would be close to a window, which could be opened when ventilation was required. This is, in fact, what happens in most older houses, especially in areas with moderate climates.
It isn't essential, but will eliminate the gunkiness that can build up and condensation.

On the other hand, my family isn't very good about remembering to turn the thing on - but the gunkiness only seems to form on the outside of the vent itself! - and I can clean that pretty simply. My curtains are washable. Cabinets and paintwork can be cleaned.

Most apartments are built without outside venting, and those people seem to manage just fine. I only had a recirculating fan in my apartment. Yes, it got steamy, but it was manageable.

Many people dislike their houses smelling of food. I have no problem with it - the cooking here is always good :).

So, yes, I have a vent. Do I think it essential? No. I have a window, like my mother . . . Do I think it looks good? Yes. Do I use the lights in the vent hood? All the time. Do people expect a vent of some sort? Yes.
Again, depending on what you cook and at what temperatures, it will be more or less important to you. Restaurant kitchens have venting. I like the vent when stir-frying, and I like it for removing steam from boiling pasta. It makes cooking a more comfortable experience. It can remove some excess heat from the kitchen, which is helpful in summer. Does it avoid gunk building up, and save me spending hours washing the cabinets (like my mother) - Yes. But do I think it's essential? Not really. But that's based on my own cooking style. Others clearly cook very differently and find it invaluable.

Hope all this helps you in your thought process!

" my apartment has 14 foot ceilings... the house has significantly lower ceilings (... 8 feet), ..."
This confuses me.

--

I have written before that some people just don't cook certain kinds of foods, in certain ways, that make smoke (or grease, airborne). Often, I've seen these people order that kind of food in restaurants (the novelty of it is one of the attractions).

I think this is true: "since.., vegetarian and use very little oil/butter when I cook, I don't have the same grease build-up issues as most people..."

The points in favor of getting ventilation have already been made, above.

A vegetarian won't have those cooking Odors from Animals (cooked), that we might find nice-smelling when hungry and when the beast is being cooked. A day later it's far from pleasant. To confirm this empirically, sticking one's nose into any old barbecue pit usually helps.

A wok produces fine grained grease smoke. Vegetarian or not. Oils do go rancid, over time. This is why some people have mentioned washing curtains.

The general house smell your house will have later is yours to manage. Venting oily smoke is a good thing to do: it keeps the house generally cleaner.

Hth

"djg1: I'm definitely planning on using the wok burner, which will certainly generate a lot more heat, smoke, etc. When you say the contrast is amazing, what exactly has been the contrast? Smell/residue/etc?"

Yes, yes, and yes. I don't mind that the kitchen smells like food -- not for most dishes -- or really even a little carry-over into the next room -- that's often enough a fine thing. But my wife is sensitive to smells and things that don't bother me will sometimes bother her. And when things seem too much for me, they really, really seem too much for her. Two things stood out in the very first week. On night one, I seared some steaks in the pan -- five nice thick strip steaks to be specific. The spatter was well contained. And the fumes were a non-issue. My youngest daughter eats like a bird, except that she loves steak -- she walked in from the next room in mid process and asked what we were having for dinner. A few days later I did a sort of butter chicken -- at one point I had onions, garlic, and peppers going, along with tumeric, etc., etc. and my wife was sitting maybe 10 feet away in the corner of the kitchen -- she said she couldn't smell anything at all.

I mean, last Sunday I made gefilte fish, starting with a large pot of fish stock that I made from the bones and heads of five pike, among other things. Not everybody loves that process -- no complaints about the smell this year.

I am vegetarian too and last night I cooked a simple vegetarian stir fry in my wok on my Bluestar 22 K. I had not done it in ages....it reminded me of why I put in the 1200 CFM hood. I honestly could not imagine not having a hood in that situation - the smoke and grease (fine dispersion of oil in steam) were flying up the thing. With the even hotter Miele wok burner you propose, in my book at least, it would be essential. I think it would be a mistake not to put in a vent when remodelling because if you regret it later it will be a major pain, more expensive, and possibly even impractical to do it after the fact. Best of luck.

I have a hood that use all the time. Most of my relatives have an OTR microwave though and they live just fine as well.

One thing I will say is that my tiled backsplash is still full of grease even though I use my hood.

A hood does not help when bacon grease is shooting out of the pan!!