Cooker hood reviews: Features explained

When looking for the best cooker hood, think carefully about the type and size of the hood you need and the features it comes with. Buying a cooker hood that’s great at extracting and easy to use will make your life much easier.

Cooker hood features explained 

Check out our video to see key cooker hood features explained including control panels, power settings and grease filters.

Types of cooker hood

Built-in cooker hoods - Built-in cooker hoods are compact at 52 to 60cm wide and designed to fit into kitchen cabinets. They're suitable for use above a traditional four-ring freestanding cooker or hob.

Chimney cooker hoods - Chimney style hoods are made of stainless steel and glass and comprise a canopy to capture the steam and smells and a chimney fitted with a fan to extract them. They need to be fitted to the wall and can be found in sizes big enough for four ring hobs or large eight-burner 120cm wide range cookers.

Freestanding cooker hoods - Freestanding cooker hoods should be fitted directly to the wall above a four-ring cooker or hob. Freestanding hoods are the least powerful and the cheapest of the hoods available.

Integrated cooker hoods -  Integrated cooker hoods are designed to fit snugly into integrated fitted kitchen units. They're not as powerful as chimney or island hoods and are suitable for use with a four-ring freestanding cooker or hob.

Island cooker hoods - Island hoods are the biggest of the cooker hoods available and the most expensive. Island hoods attach directly to the ceiling so you’ll need a big kitchen with a lot of space to accommodate an island hood.

Cooker hood features

Controls - Cooker hoods with the controls on the front are easier to use than those with the controls on the inside or the underside.

Power settings - Most cooker hoods have two or three speeds and some come with a short high-power burst option to quickly clear a kitchen of steam and smells. Some hoods come with helpful indicator lights that tell you the speed the hood is operating at and when the grease filter is saturated.

Grease filters – Grease filters capture grease as it rises from your hob and they can be made of aluminum, stainless steel, fleece material or paper. Metal filters are dishwasher proof, and will need to be washed regularly. Fleece and paper filters are disposable and will need to be replaced regularly.

Canopy - Chimney and island cooker hoods are made up of a stainless steel chimney housing the duct and a glass or stainless steel canopy where you'll find the extractor fan and filters. Glass canopies are easier to clean than those made of stainless steel, it’s also easier to see when they are dirty.

Lights - Most cooker hoods come with two or more halogen or incandescent lights to illuminate your cooking.

Extraction or re-circulation - Cooker hoods can be set up to extract air through a duct to a vent in your wall or to pass extracted air through carbon filters before re-circulating back into your kitchen. We test all cooker hoods in extraction mode which is the most effective way of removing steam and smells.