Few people here recommend an OTR microwave for precisely the reasons you mention.

They are also less powerful than a good ducted range hood, which you need for a professional type range.

For a regular range, get a 600cfm hood and put the microwave or combI oven somewhere else.

As a european I find these OTR micros an eyesore. And I can imagine a decent range hood is stronger (we don't have OTR over here) and has more coverage. Plus it can be hung up higher. And microwaves aren't great for your vitamin c.

Get a proper hood fan.

As others have said, this is the nature of an OTR microwave, and you will not be able to eliminate the issue. The exhaust power of the OTR MW is almost none; consequently, the effluent of your cooking, which floats up, will hit your MW and stay there, having nowhere else to go. Even if your MW was installed more forward, all that would mean is that the underside of your MW would be coated. The grease still won't be exhausted out.

Make sure when you buy a hood that it is 24" deep front-to-back. You'll also need additional backsplash tile (if you have backsplash tile currently behind the range). That is because the distance from the cooktop to the bottom of the hood should be 30-36", but the distance from the cooktop to the bottom of the OTR MW is 18-24". So there will be a space there on the backsplash once the hood replaces the OTR MW.

I think LG makes an OTR MW with a vent that "pops out" to cover the front burners. I have no experience with it, so I can't say if it works well.

OTR microwaves are also dangerous when you consider unless you're 6' tall you're reaching up to remove stuff from the MW. If you have gas that makes it doubly unsafe.

Cleaning. I have a hood, but the underside gets very dirty and cleaned weekly (at least) with Windex with Vinegar and a microfiber. The filters go through the dishwasher every couple of weeks. That's the only solution that I know of!

When shopping for a vent hood, find a model that has baffles instead of mesh filters. Much less likely to clog up all the time.

ANYTHING above a range gets dirty. Clean it. You have other posts going with regards to the kitchen Joe. Maybe you are eating too much fried food? : )

Cooking oil goes everywhere, whether you are sauteing, or frying, or searing. It's on your cabinets, and it will be on the face of any hood over time, right up to a nine foot ceiling..Don't kid yourself. Regardless of hood position, or venting. This is why "spring" cleaning best happens twice a year. A microwave front is as - you - clean - up - the - kitchen and DAILY. Squirt and WIPE, and inside too.

Haha @JAN MOYER I do like fried food.. The challenge with cleaning is that a simple dry/wet wipedown is not enough. Even wiping with a degreaser such as dishwasher liquid is not enough because the oil sticks very strongly to the microwave. On the cabinets it is worse because cleaning can dull the stain/paint/glaze.

The bigger issue is that a 30” microwave CAN NOT go over your proposed amalgam gas/induction combo cooktop that will be 36”++ That would be a fire code issue, with having wood above your cooking surface. Your 36” cooktop needs a 42” hood. If that cooktop section gets bigger because of the needed counter support and more modules, the hood also has to get bigger. 6” bigger than the whole cooking surface below.

Joe?! I said DAILY! If it's that hard to remove with a spritz of 409 an hour after a meal? You're waiting DAYS Lol

The good news is if you're consuming this stuff every day? You may not live long enough for it to matter.

Put that fryer outside:) Also search "oven fried" recipes.

Our former home had a small kitchen. The only place to put the microwave, was above the stove. Even though the microwave was vented to the outside, it did a lousy job...more accurately, it didn’t do anything to contain odors and grease. Not only was the microwave always a greasy mess, but the cabinets on each side of it, always had a film which was hard to remove. For the record, we do not fry foods.

When we moved into a new home and gutted the kitchen, we installed a Thermador rangetop, with a Vent A Hood hood above. This kitchen also has cabinets on either side of the hood. The Vent A Hood is fantastic. The cabinets do not get greasy. Smells are contained. The only thing that gets greasy, is the inside of the vent hood...as it should be.

An over the range microwave, is never going to do what a good vent hood will.

I have a cheap ass noisy pullout hood (the type built into/under a cabinet..), about 2' above my cooktop with metal 'filters' and the vent pipe goes 20 feet up, cook daily (with oils and butter), but I hardly ever have to clean it.. How is this possible?

Lol! You need glasses?' Even some "cheap ass" readers?!

rinq wrote:

"I have a cheap ass noisy pullout hood (the type built into/under a cabinet..), about 2' above my cooktop with metal 'filters' and the vent pipe goes 20 feet up, cook daily (with oils and butter), but I hardly ever have to clean it.. How is this possible?"

My guess would be that there is practically no flow so oils and lint do not get into the filter.

I have a cheap ass noisy pullout hood (the type built into/under a cabinet..), about 2' above my cooktop with metal 'filters' and the vent pipe goes 20 feet up, cook daily (with oils and butter), but I hardly ever have to clean it.. How is this possible?

Same situation, sorta'. Only with an over the range microwave/ hood vented to outdoors. When I removed it a few years ago, I discovered that a baffle plate to allow the air to flow thru the ductwork had never been removed. (The interior of the ductwork was pristine.) Yes, MW's do a lousy job of venting but that one never had a chance.

Oh, the date of mfg (and presumable install) was 1987.

Sooo, maybe there is a baffle or other blockage that is preventing air flow? Likely if the hood is a dual design...i.e, installer's choice of whether to set it up as a recirculating hood or an exhaust hood. (As was the design of that old MW I removed.)

Wait, the OP is getting a 36" wide cooktop? I wish he'd said that in his OP, and my response above would have been different. Echoing what live_wire_oak said in case it was overlooked--if you have a 36" cooktop, you must get a 36" hood, and it would be better if is 42" wide if you don't already have upper cabinets in place. This whole question about an OTR MW is moot, due to your 36" wide cooktop.

I have the LG over the range currently with the "pop out" for the front burners. It's Okay. It helps with steam just okay. That said the cabinets above are losing their finish because of the heat coming from the microwave. I'm getting ready to remodel and changing to a 36"cooktop with a 36" hood. Where to put the microwave has been a big issue. I'm thinking of a MICROWAVE DRAWER in the island or under built in oven??? Anyone have experience with a Bosch Microwave Drawer?

@Miranda33 I am planning a 36" cooktop in main kitchen and 30" in guest kitchen. I am leaning towards a microwave drawer in main and an over-the-counter in guest.

Whoa @JAN MOYER I just read that you said DAILY. Are you serious? Do people generally clean that stuff daily?? How do you all find the time? It is easily days if not weeks before I get around to cleaning. Sometimes even a couple months.

Daily?, I clean after each use, maybe 2-3 times a day.

I am currently using disposable Clorox wipes.

Joe, are you a DIY?

Joe, I was dead serious : ) If you splatter it matters, and a vertical surface is no different than the horziontal surface below it!t You clean off the cook top and counter around it? Yeah...........look up and do that too. No wonder you can't get it off.

I strongly advise you to consider WEEKLY cleaning help. Everything in your home will look better, and last longer.

A properly venting hood won't need daily cleaning. A poorly operating hood or a microwave hood is an altogether different story. If you can't get all the greasy fumes to be contained and vented, then they'll inevitably go somewhere else and get things dirty.

Of course, even with a working hood, the aperture and the baffles do get dirty over time. The good news is that the baffles go into the dishwasher, and the small part of the aperture that is exposed, but not part of the baffles, can be wiped down.

Depending on how frequently you cook greasy foods, this could be once a week or once a month. Of course, if you have a mesh filter, you have to be really good about doing so a lot more frequently. These meshes clog up quickly and can even become permanently blocked. They also don't clean as easily in the dishwasher.

Before advising people to "put their microwave somewhere else" keep in mind that many of us live in very small spaces and there is nowhere else to put it -- the choice is an OTR micro hood or none at all. That was the situation with my last house. I was a single parent to two teenagers, a full-time job, a commute and a closet-sized kitchen. A microwave got heavy use. The vent wasn't great but it helped minimize cooking vapors in my very small open concept living/dining/kitchen space. My life has greatly simplified since then so in my current (small) home I opted for NO microwave because I wasn't willing to give up precious space. I don't miss it.

And no, I don't clean my range/counters/floors daily. I wipe up the big gobs and call it good. Deep cleaning happens before guests are scheduled to arrive. I don't think I'm unusual in my housekeeping habits.

Try Softscrub and a Dobie mesh sponge.

I have been in that situation with a small kitchen before. And honestly, "no microwave" was the correct answer to this problem. Lived like that for eight years and didn't regret it at all.

Forgive me. Wiping up the big globs leaves a LOT behind. Just saying. Nothing is beautiful..... dirty. Sorry, I do so hope that much "casual" housekeeping is unusual. Believe it or not, a ten year old kid can be taught to clean up ( very WELL, b.t.w ) after a shared meal or solo snack.

Different people have different standards.

The internet does not suffer poor souls kindly.

@M well, you must never eat leftovers. I can't imagine getting together dinner for 3 most nights (including one kid who may or may not eat what the adults do) without a microwave to help out. impossible. I'd give up the stove first.

I agree with Jan. Fifteen minute cleanup after a meal and grease doesn’t accumulate into a big project. I sold a home where they thought my 18 year old chrome top range was “new.” And, yes, I had a job and three kids that took up my life too.

15 minutes to wipe down a OTR microwave?!

Maybe less than 10 seconds.

FYI...... I do my own cleaning in my own home. I have also stuck my head in more client toilet bowls on a glamorous powder room install than you can even count. Elitist I am not, nor is basic daily cleanup of a kitchen, or wipe down of a bath, or making your darn bed. Infirmities aside, nobody is that "busy".

For all the angst that goes into any kitchen, any room for that matter; with all the focus on "does this look nice with that and all the rest? Hardly make sense to cruddy up your results.

Half the time when someone wants to redecorate? They'd be half there if they simply tidied, cleaned and purged the junk. I suppose that advice is "elitist" too.

I have very specific ideas about how I like to organize and decorate my house, and I realize that not everybody shares these ideas. I have come to terms with the fact, that there are people who might consider this elitist. And you know what, I don't actually have a problem with that. I am not going to clutter up my house, just to make others feel better about their houses. And I am not going to stop engaging in activities that I enjoy, just because others prioritize their lives differently.

If that's elitist, then so be it. Happy to make my own choices. And by the same token, I won't force anybody else to copy what I am doing (not that I actually could force anybody anyway).

Being born and raised in Germany I was taught to clean clean clean. I did. Now that I'm not so young I think of all of the time and years I spent cleaning that maybe I should have spent doing other things. Not to say I should not clean. But the German obsessiveness with cleaning is over the top. I'm now happy to overlook things and quite frankly most people my age need glasses to see the stuff close up. I entertain in the evening and turn the lights down low no one can see anything accept the smell of the wonder full dinner about to be presented. :)) Just kidding and trying to add a bit of humor to the situation. Cheers to all and a Happy New Year

Inga AKA Ingeborg

Instructions for the average microwave will include that you should not put it near the heat of the stove so, I'm guessing, those over the stove microwaves do not last as long as the free standing kind.

Also, if you have two things combined -- exhaust and microwave -- if either one goes out, both will need to be replaced.

If you've not already purchased a microwave/hood combo, consider not doing so.

Jmm1837 so true. Getting back to the topic at hand and not at all commenting on cleaning is key.

My experience with over the range microwaves and their fans is that the fans are poor. ;)

rinq wrote:

"I have a cheap ass noisy pullout hood (the type built into/under a cabinet..), about 2' above my cooktop with metal 'filters' and the vent pipe goes 20 feet up, cook daily (with oils and butter), but I hardly ever have to clean it.. How is this possible?"

My guess would be that there is practically no flow so oils and lint do not get into the filter.

My answer: a piece of paper stays up there when I turn it on, so there's airflow :) Basic test.

And sorry, I got a little over exited because of Jan's comments..

Sticking a piece of paper to a filter proves that the filter is not clogged fully and that the fan can pull some negative pressure. It does not tell us much about flow rate or whether there is some blockage. Suggest cutting a 1 x 6 inch piece of tissue or toilet paper and hold one end 6 inches from the filter under the hood. Does it get pulled up?