O.K. This is just my opinion, but I would really be concerned about a downdraft with a Wolf range, or really just about any professional gas range. I know our Wolf spews just a slight amount of gas smell prior to the oven lighting and I always have the hood on before I light it (and yes, it has been professionally adjusted and is within norm).

Downdraft systems can have a high cfm, however, because most of them only come up as high as 6" or so above the range, they can't properly suction steam and grease that come off of taller pots, not to mention any pans/pots on the front burners that are further away from the vent intake.

There are lots of newer hoods out there that are more streamlined than in the past. With your high ceilings, I do realize that a hood could be obtrusive, but IMHO would be preferable to the food smells, grease and steam escaping in those high ceilings (where they are hard to clean) and through the rest of the living areas.

Is there no way to put the range on an outside wall where it would be easier to vent?

Wish you the best of luck with your update!!

No I wish I could have free roam and totally redo the kitchen from scratch but my wife loves the current layout and cabinets. I also had to nix a 48" range, to better fit a 36" in the island.

I'm wondering if there might be a hood/vent we can mount almost flush on the ceiling to catch the smoke/grease/etc...

I have the Thermador 600CFM telescoping downdraft that rises 15" above my Wolf cooktop on my island. Though I know it's not as effective as a hood, it works really well for me. It clears and grabs vapor off my tallest pots. I make sure that anything fried gets put on a back burner. I've used it for 2 years and had no problems with lingering odors or grease. It looks great, and I love facing into the room while I cook on the island. If I had to offer a complaint, it's that the DD is loud because our blower is inside the cabinet. Anyway, there are many on this board who will try to talk you out of a DD, but I wanted to offer my positive experience and recommend the Thermador.

You may be able to get away with a really good downdraft with a high btu range, but NOT if it has a charbroiler/grill. Have you seen the charbroiler in action?? It SMOKES! Your smoke alarms will go off and your kitchen will become coated in oils and grease that the heat generates.

Have you ever watched steam or smoke rise? The farther up it rises the more it drifts off to the sides as well. If you have a vent flush to the ceiling, you will most likely miss most of the steam/grease/smoke as it's already drifted out of range of the vent...and you say you have high ceilings so it would be even worse than 8' ceilings. Yes, you could get a really powerful vent to suck everything straight up, but I suspect it would take pets and small children with it! :-)

Vents are usually mounted approximately 30" above the cooking surface and even then it's advised that you get one 6" wider than the cooking surface in an effort to increase the "capture area" b/c of the sideways drift.

I'm not a proponent of down drafts either, but as long as you don't fry, brown, do any cooking with oil, or use the charbroiler, you'll probably be all right...although you will probably be able to smell the next day what you had for dinner the night before...

I really don't mean to be so negative, but I think you should really think about this. I second the idea that the range should really be against the wall...aside from the venting issue, it's a safety issue as well, especially if you have younger children (unless you have a large overhang in the back...24" or more, and decent space on the sides...again, 24" or more on each side). Most of my time is spent prepping...and that's when I like to be able to see/converse with others. When I'm at the cooktop, I need to pay attention to what I'm doing...and that's even more important if you have gas. You also do not usually spend much time at the cooktop...you put something on a burner & just periodically check it while you're continuing to prep, cleanup, set up, etc. If I had to choose, I would much rather have the sink in the island than the cooktop.

I second what alku said about a downdraft and the charbroiler. I have an 18000 btu grill on my Monogram. There is an opaque curtain of rapidly rising grease and smoke anytime I cook on it. I have a large stone hood with a large capture area so all the smoke is trapped and pulled out. Without a hood, you will end up with smoke damage and grease on your ceiling.. This would cause frequent repainting nightmares as paint won't stick to a greasy wall.

Definitely skip the charbroiler as there is no way you can possibly use it with a downdraft. If you don't want 6 burners, maybe get the griddle. Don't forget, a kitchen can be designed to be aesthetically pleasing and also functional. Good luck with the renovation.

I'll chime in also! I have the Wolf 36" dual fuel with the grill (I love it, by the way).

Wolf recommends a minimum of 1200 CFM for ventilation. I got a Ventahood which is supposed to have a higher CFM count than listed because of their technology (the 900 CFM is supposed to really produce 1200 CFM).

I can say that for this Wolf range and a downdraft, you will not be able to use your charbroiler without opening tons of windows. Whether you will have "grease" coating your kitchen will depend on the fat content of your cooking. I lived with no hood at all in my old kitchen and had no grease. However this grill is a different beast entirely. I routinely cook vegetables and fish on it, and my 900/1200 cfm hood is "sufficient". However I cooked beef one time. One time only!!! There was smoke filling the room despite having the 900/1200 overhead hood on full power. I'll do all future beef grilling outdoors.

Wolf recommends turning the hood on something like 10 minutes in advance to get convection currents throughout the room flowing up through the hood to minimize smoking. You will never establish this room-wide air flow situation with your range on an island with a down draft.

Think hard about this design choice. I think you are likely to have a really expensive range that you can't use.

Emphasis on "smoke fills the room" if grilling beef without a very serious overhead hood!

I'll just echo what everyone else has said. Downdrafts can OK for light cooking, but they simply cannot pull the greasy smoke that will be coming off that grill. All the ratings I have ever read rate downdrafts as "poor" when it comes to handling even moderate smoke. You really have only two choices. Either move the range to a wall that will permit you to have a good strong hood, or forget the downdraft. You really will not be happy with the amount of grease residue that will coat your ceiling in pretty short order.

Pro-grade range in an island + downdraft = expensive paperweight. It's virtually undoable with just the plain high BTU burners. Add in the charbroiler and you've created a mess generator par excellance. Not to mention the whole block will know when you're cooking dinner as the whole house's smoke alarms will go off--not just the ones adjacent to the kitchen.

callieandkarin: I think most people are chiming in about the charbroiler more than anything else. The 15 inch downdraft should catch most of the regular cooking grease but the charbroiler adds a whole other dimension to the idea.