With conventional hood systems, the expectation is that the larger particles within the entire grease particle spectrum are collected by the baffles, and the smaller particles are ejected into the outside air, with only modest condensation or impact collection by the duct. To deal with the entire particle spectrum with a filter pack is a challenge, and probably unaffordable in cost for most residential users. If the Amazon rating is based on comparison to outside venting, the result above might be reasonable. As a commercial example, the Wells WVU-31CT filter system is described below: "Filtration Completely self-contained filtration process reduces emissions below that allowed in NFPA 96 and ANSI UL710B using the EPA 202 test method and includes stainless steel grease baffle filter with grease cup, fiberglass pre-filters, high-efficiency (Particulate Air) filter/ carbon-charcoal filter pack. All filters are easily removable with out tools. Air flow sensors continually monitor air flow optimizing performance and grease removal while an interlock system will not allow cooking appliances to function if filters are missing, clogged or in the event of a fire." About $18k. Electric surfaces only.

Expanding on what emho23 and jhmarie said, it is helpful to bear in mind that there's a difference between "the best possible," "optimum" and just "okay" (a/k/a what emho called "fine" or what I have called "acceptable compromises for the budget, design and circumstances.") Emho mentions wrestling with the issues. Many of us have wrestled with the resolving of choices of appliance compromises. At some point, we all wind up spinning and thinking "why is this so hard?" And if you think choosing a hood is hard, wait til you get to choosing a washing machine! LOL. So, let's try sorting through your preferences to see if we can make this a little easier for you to figure out. First, let's clarify what you meant when you said you "didn't realize all the $300-1000 ones in the big box stores were all recirculating or weren't a complete package." Are you thinking most are recirculating because the product tagline descriptions on the big box store websites rarely say a hood is "ducted?" The key here may be in knowing that almost all hoods at the big box stores will vent to the exterior by default but can be switched over to ductless. IME, the tagline descriptions in the product listings that say "ducted" or "ductless" are used only for the models that can't be switched from one mode to the other. If the tagline doesn't say one of the other, the hood is one you can vent to the exterior. Does this clarification maybe open up a wider range of choices for you? Second, you say you want a focal point hood on a wall between two windows. So, I'm thinking, maybe what you have in mind is a wall space without cabinets where you are looking for a pyramidal-shaped, wall mounted, canopy style of hood with a kind of chimney rising from the top of the hood. A hood with a canopy is a good thing because the canopy (as opposed to a flat base) is big assist in capturing the rising plumes of steam, heat and vaporized cooking effluents. A flat base can be acceptable if you have to do that route (as I did) but a canopy is better. With a good canopy, there is less concern with large numbers in the fan CFM ratings. As Kaseki has often explained here before (in excellent technical detail for those who want it), capture area is as important to hood efficiency as the fan power, and often more so. That likely gives you a much wider array of choices of hoods. Third, emho mentioned getting a 36" wide hood for the Jenn Air version of your Kitchenaid range. That reflects a standard recommendation here. The extra width enhances the hood's ability to capture cooking effluents (steam, aerosolized grease, etc.) which rise in an expanding cone. That brings us to the compromise in most less expensive hoods. Many are only 19" or 20" deep, front to back. Put a big pot of pasta water to boil on a big front burner on your stove and maybe some steam gets by the front of the hood. Neither the best nor the optimum design, but maybe okay for everyday living and cooking? Fourth, your builder's reluctance to install a vented hood in your kitchen might be understandable if the new house will be very tight, as many newly built homes may be. In that case, adding an unplanned-for hood may pose regulatory and practical problems. If your jurisdiction has adopted International Residential Code Section M1503.4 and/or International Mechanical Code Section 505.2, you might be able to avoid regulatory issues by simply choosing a hood with fans rated at 400 CFM or less But, there is still basic physics to deal with when the new house will be very tight. While you might avoid those kind of regulatory issues by choosing a hood rated at 400 CFM or less, and/or putting it in yourselves as DIY project, you've still got to look at the practical concerns. The biggest practical concern is one of safety. This concern arises when there are fireplaces or gas appliances from which CO can be backdrafted regardless of whether your range hood is rated below 400 CFM. You might avoid the CO backdrafting concerns if there are no fireplaces or wood-burning stoves and if the heating appliances have their own powered air intakes and exhausts sealed off from the rest of the house. However, a tight house still poses a practical physics problem akin to sucking air out of a closed box. (For that matter, I've seen a house so tight that the even bathroom fans didn't work well.) Where things can get really complicated (and therefore) expensive is when you have sought something like a LEED certification, or your builder is trying to meet the performance-based standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (e.g., ASHRAE ¶ 62.2), or the house is built in a state with it's own performance-based interior air quality standards such as those that Minnesota, Wisconsin and California have adopted. That means expenses for measurements and testing and maybe MUA expenses before adding an unplanned range hood to the design. OTOH, the builder may just be looking for a way to avoid dealing with the problem so as to move on to the next project. Or, maybe, all of the above.

54-inches (4.5 ft) x 2 ft = 9 sq. ft. Desired volumetric flow rate to achieve 90 ft/min across the hood aperture is 90 x 9 = 810 CFM. Blower rating needed to pull 810 CFM with decent MUA will be around 1200 CFM, as you noted. Fantech provides 'fan-curve' data in the form of tables, and also plots. A 1200 CFM unit (at zero static pressure) will show a value near 810 CFM at some pressure drop (about 1.2 inches, w.c., for the FKD10XL). Excluding MUA, most pressure drop will be from the hood baffles, unless one has several tens of feet of duct. It would be useful for you to obtain pressure loss vs. flow rate data from Bluestar. Fantech in-line blowers are, I think, axial blowers (like a turbo jet pressure section) rather than a flat plate with radial fins (like turbo chargers use). Broan blowers, including inline, appear to all be the plate type. There is nothing wrong with these, but they may have a different characteristic fan curve shape than Fantech's blowers. I've never plotted both together. (It is important for residential blowers operated at uncontrolled pressure losses and any speed from low to high that they have monotonic fan curves. Else they might 'hunt' at some setting. That would be annoying.) Plate type blowers are least conspicuous built into a roof cap. Commercial up-blast blowers use induction motors often tied to the fan assembly via a belt and sheaves. These can be tailored to provide the desired CFM at lower fan speeds, thereby reducing noise. They are, however, significantly more conspicuous on the roof. The primary advantage to using a hood manufacturer's specified blower is that it will directly adapt to whatever fan speed controls are built into the hood. Other blowers may require some type of adapter or control replacement. So a Blue Star hood's control nature might have to be determined. My Wolf hood adapts to my Wolf blower, made by Broan/NuTone, and likely would work with any other single wire pair induction motor blower up to some motor power limit. The Fantech FKD10XL data sheet show curves for a 5-step transformer control, and for no control. One would have to check with them for compatibility with whatever the Bluestar hood uses, such as phase control. If you use an in-line blower, you also have to find a suitable roof or wall cap. Fantech many sell these. You should have a damper at the hood and also at the roof cap. You need to plan out the entire hood duct path. Is there room for a silencer? Can the duct path rise over its entire length (desirable)? What elbows are needed? Fantech makes some duct couplings that may prove useful. Hanger strap material will be needed. Sound dampening material may or may not be needed depending on blower assembly vibration, which is mostly, I expect, due to blower fan assembly balance quality. Best to match MUA actual flow rate to hood actual flow rate (ex: 810 CFM). This avoids all (well most) pressure drop in the house, conferring safety with combustion appliances and keeping the wall dust in the walls. If active MUA is needed to do this (depends on combustion appliances and their MUA, if any) then a blower that can provide the required CFM at the MUA path pressure loss (usually any air filters, but could include the heating scheme if hydronic). As usual, the duct diameter in the hood exhaust should support a full speed flow rate of 1000 to 2000 ft/min. The otherwise clean MUA path is not grease deposition constrained, but larger will reduce pressure loss if there is room -- useful particularly with passive MUA. I'll skip MUA control in this message, but it needs to be addressed. Commercial rigs usually run at constant speed (exhaust and MUA), so tuning is easy. Residential variable flow rate, along with perhaps a need to deal with other exhaust fans and fireplaces, imposes more difficult conditions for blower control. You might need a Fantech MUA setup, or their 10V control type blowers run by a controller trying to keep house pressure relative to outside within some bound.

You can likely improve upon the microwave (recirculating?) non-venting with a Vent-a-Hood ARS recirculating hood system. See this link: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2347276/vent-a-hood-ductless-ars-range-hood-update#n=65 I would suggest induction cooking over gas cooking for cases without real air extraction to the outside, particularly if the gas cooktop is one of the more powerful "pro" models. This is for air quality reasons. For evaluating duct paths to achieve actual venting, one needs intimate knowledge of all your wall construction and joist spaces, including second floor walls. In some cases a second floor chase could be used or a thicker wall to encompass the ducting. A contractor may be able to help you. Success may depend on circular vs. rectangular duct, and the sizes that will fit. Any candidate approaches can be compared to the duct sizes desirable for different hood sizes.