Frankly I think the requirement for a recirculating fan might put a damper on your plan. There is no magic to "self clean", the oven just goes on afterburner for 3-5 hours and burns everything to ashes (hopefully not taking too much else out with it). All of that can create a lot of smoke and will use a ton of gas.

Then again, you might currently have a self-cleaning oven and it's not an issue.

Just something to keep in mind.

-Stooxie

I am also interested in the 30" Culinarian self clean for a Manhattan condo where I can only install a ductless vent.

This weekend I finally got to see a 30" manual Culinarian in person at a showroom. The oven seemed really small, and this was a manual clean. I was told the self clean version is a tad smaller, so I am really concerned about usual space.

The bigger issue is that the store manager said I couldn't get a Culinarian because it needs a ducted fan to the outside. I can only do recirculating, so I am not sure what to do now.

palomalou, have you made any decisions? If you went with the Culinarian, did you see the oven size? Which vent did you get?

You can use your Culinarian without an outside ducted hood. And I think it's highly unlikely any code says that you must have one. There are many on here who live in apartments or Co-ops and have no outside vented hood.

Vent-A-Hood has ductless vent hoods with an elaborate filtering system. They look impressive. Since I Don't know anyone who has one, I can't comment on how well they work. However, I think Vent-A-Hood has a very good reputation and manufactures very high quality goods.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vent-A-Hood Duct Free Ventilation

I sold one of the Vent-A-Hood duct free vents recently to go over a Capital 30" Precision range and my customer says it works quite well. The only thing it won't do is remove the heat from the kitchen, although it will move the heat around to some degree (no pun intended).