While the hood over an induction cooktop doesn't have to collect burning gas effluent, it does have to collect just as much grease vapor for the same cooking. The grease production dominates the collection requirement in many cases. Hence, one shouldn't scrimp on collection and containment just because the cooktop is induction. Rather, if a lot of frying, searing, and blackening is going to be done, both high flow rates and large enough hoods are necessary if most of the grease is to be captured and removed. Unfortunately, the trade-off is between price and possibly compromised aesthetics on the side of great venting, and grease condensation on the walls and ceiling and widespread odor on the side of limited venting. Usually, some compromise has to be accepted. According to a summary or NFPA 96 at the Twin Cities Fan Co. web site, commercial ventilation requires baffles and prohibits mesh filters. It also requires the baffle angle to be at least 45 degrees to the horizontal. I doubt my Wolf hood's baffle angle is more than 30 degrees, so even it is making a compromise, likely for aesthetics purposes. Also, residential hoods just don't have the total grease input that commercial hoods have to cope with. Mesh filters clog up, whereas baffles don't. There could be a fire propagation issue, but I don't see an obvious one. If you you are confident that you will clean mesh filters routinely, they may prove adequate for your purposes. This may require deliberate planning if the hood is below your sight-line and the mesh filters are not in sight. High and ugly from grease and fuzz will usually encourage timely attention. kas

I installed a VAH and used it today for the first time. Had some serious reservations about it after reading some threads on this forum. mainly about how loud they can be and about ease of cleaning. I have no issues with the cleaning aspect, and It is quieter than the OTR micro that it replaces. At this point I am very happy with my purchase given the price I found it for. search out kitchenfoundry on ebay and see if they have anything you like. as far as the two you referenced, I would pass on both. I would not put a hood with mesh filters in my kitchen. Find something with baffles. Also, the shallow canopies are less than ideal in my research. something deeper will be more functional. Rule of thumb is to go 6" wider than your cooktop, so you will ideally want to find a 42" wide hood...though you can go 36" modern aire is the other brand I personally was going to buy. I have seen decent things said about kobe as well. good luck

I've never missed a bottom element in the Gaggenau, but I don't use it much for baking. When I have, I've been well surprised at how well it does on convection only. I wouldn't want to be without a broiler in the house (I have another oven for that), so it's good that you have a choice of them with broilers. I have the 24" Gaggenau induction with the knob. It's been six years or so, and they haven't brought it in yet, so I wouldn't hold my breath. It's probably just about paying for UL (Underwriter's Laboratory) testing. At the time I did my kitchen, a lot of members here were self importing induction, so there was lots of good advice. It's not expensive. You just have to find a seller who will ship it to you. Mine came by FedEx, and FedEx took care of the customs arrangements for a $5 fee, at the time. The seller hadn't double boxed it, the box was thrashed, and there were a few small dents in the stainless frame. Under the circumstances, I chose to consider it character, rather than a problem, and my kitchen design is busy enough that it doesn't show. So, what you need to do is be sure it'll pass the building inspection, get a letter from your homeowner's insurance okaying it, and understand that there's no warranty. I did check with the local Gaggenau service to make sure that they'd be willing to repair it if necessary. As far as they were concerned, it was no different than one bought here. They warned me that the current difference could throw the clock off, but, in fact, the unit was made for 50 or 60 amps. I assume it's sold in the Middle East or maybe all their units are dual current. All of that wasn't a problem--my insurance agent took care of getting the insurer's approval. Their only requirement was that the installation be done by a licensed electrician. If any 24" induction were available in the U.S. at the time I purchased (several had been the previous year), I would have seriously considered getting what was sold. I wasn't that thrilled with the controls for the 30" models I'd also been looking at, however, and when I first saw that there was a 24" Gaggenau (I was reading the booklet for the 36" one for a friend, and there it was in the same book), I was sold. Then it was just some whining and whinging about how to get it, and a major success. :) I'm not trying to talk you out of your other choices, or even recommend bringing in your own. Just telling my story. Since the Gaggenau is the same as your 36" minus the pair on one side, I'm sure you know how the big double ring works with your pans. I couldn't say about the others. If they don't have a big double ring, I'd give them a go by. I think the auto on for the hood is a gimmick. You should turn your hood on ten minutes before you start cooking anyway.

That is a popular idea, Walt, but I don't think it completely survives close scrutiny. If a blower could be turned on so that it changes from zero to full blade RPM in zero time (infinite torque applied), there would be a period of lower air flow rising to the steady-state value while the inertia of the household air was overcome by the pressure change at the hood and the pressure losses along the make-up air path reached their static value. This doesn't take very long. Because real blowers speed up over a period of a several seconds for the larger sizes, the flow pretty much keeps up with the static flow that would result at each blower RPM as the blower accelerates to its final RPM. When a burner or hob is turned on, the energy input to the pan raises the pan temperature similarly due to pan base (and perhaps food contents) thermal inertia. The pan only wins if the thermal time constant of the pan is shorter than the time constant to get the air moving in the make-up air path. I think you will find for most cooking examples that the air flow is stabilized before you can smoke the pan, even if it only contains a little butter, if the pan base is at all substantial, and one attempts to set the flame/hob power at a level appropriate for the cooking to be done. Conversely, one may see that really thin pan bases and/or long MUA paths can allow the pan smoke to get ahead of the airflow. Also, my argument above assumes that the hood blower is auto turned on to a level that the pan conditions will require. If the hood is turned on as a function of plume temperature read at the hood, air flow might well lag keeping up with the pan conditions. I fully agree with keeping the fan on for a while after cooking; not all of the plume will be captured during cooking unless the hood is very large and the cross drafts are negligible. So, for the alert cook, this auto blower operation is a frill. Conversely, for those who forget about turning the hood on until it is too late, it is a great help. kas