I"ve seen some Kobe's that have a low profile, but I don't remember if they recirculate. And they probably take up space in the cabinet.

Of course, not turning it on would accomplish the same thing. (yes, I am one of those who believes that recirculating hoods are fairly useless. And I wouldn't want 600cfm blowing in my face while trying to cook.)

I like the Kobe a lot and it is only 5.5" hi but it only goes up to 400 cfms and I need 600

How come 600?

The CFMs only really matter if you vent outside - if you're recirculating, 600 CFM is only going to blow the hot air back into the kitchen faster than 400 CFM.

I thought I need 600 because all the appliance sales people and many on this forum say that's what's necessary for the 30" high BTU range I want to buy. I also do lots of stir frying and sauteing.

The 300 cfm microhood I have that died recently never seemed effective. I try to put the fan on before cooking and open the window and the terrace door, but this can be a problem when it's raining, snowing, too hot, too cold or windy. Basically, most of the time.

Even with a hood with better intake, I wonder if 400 cfm will be enough?

As W said, that 600cfm number only applies if you are exhausting to the outside. It doesn't matter if you are recirculating since by definition all the air stays inside the house.

elisamama, even before posting "I thought this and that",
you already had the answer staring you in the face,
in weissman's post, and therefore you could have just as easily
posted to say "thank you, now i get it". (!)
The reason I am writing this out is so that future readers will see they can
drop the mental model when they get a single piece of information,
instead of needing to post what they thought they learned previously
in prior readings.

weedmeister confirmed what weissman said.
i hope my words written above confirm this too.

that makes three people affirming the same thing.

Weedmeister & weissman. Thanks to you, I now know that I can consider range hoods less than 600 cfm! I looked this weekend but won't settle on any until I see the Kobe in person. Good suggestion!

Does anyone have the Kobe Recirculating Hood RA-038-30" and is happy with it? Is it as easy to clean as the ad copy claims?

davidro - weedmeister asked a question: "How come 600?" elisamama answered it. No need to be rude. "HTH"

I agree that recircs are far from ideal. But anybody who has ever cleaned the filters on their hood knows how quickly they can accummulate grease. If they didn't, hoods wouldn't have filters. Do they magically stop collecting this grease if the air is discharged into the room rather than outdoors? If not, I suggest they're better than nothing. That said, I wouldn't want the turbulence of 600CFM blowing around the kitchen.

Kobe is 5"high

Check out the slideout models. And if you can manage, a 36" model might help with the stir frying. I have the GE Monogram slideout which is around 600 CFM. I vented mine and threw out the recirc kit so I can't say how well it would work as a recirc, but the low profile of the slideouts is nice in small spaces. And while the guts take up some cabinet space, the cabinet itself can be a little lower and it's much easier to reach inside so assuming you're doing new cabinets, you can gain some usable storage. (Lower cabinet plus you can stuff the hood back in an don't have to stretch over it to get into the cabinet.)

Mine is mounted a little high and I'm a little short so my photos tend to show the undersides of things--here it is extended (if you bump it with your head it'll just slide in instead of hurting):

(Why wouldn't more CFM stick more grease into the filter than less? I think it would.)

Thanks, Fori. You have a beautiful set up. I won't be getting new cabinets, though. In fact, I think we may even have the same white cabinets! I will definitely check out the slide out models, thanks.

Foodonastump - thanks for coming to my defense. I had decided to take the high road to avoid fighting since the majority of posts are so nice throughout the site. And I agree that while any grease filtering is good, 600 cfm back in my face is not ideal at all.

I just returned from yet another shopping trip and the sales person was pretty convincing telling me that none of the low profile vents will work. He wants me to lose my upper cabinet altogether to put a VAH ARS CWEAH6-K in because he claims other recirculating vents are just not going to be effective. Tough decision in an already packed kitchen: find space for the microwave and all the dishes in the 30x18 cabinet OR have effective venting?