Chimney

 Chimneys are like dark chocolate! Few love them and few think they are not needed. Some prefer the traditional exhaust fan. Anyways, there are 3 kinds of set-ups that can be made to keep your kitchen free of fumes and smoke.

• Physical structural chimney
• Exhaust fan
• Electrical chimney installation

In recent times, most houses have 2 kitchens – one being used for more oily food preparations and the other for lite work.

In the active kitchen, you can have a physical chimney hood (pogai koondu) above the stove. The major drawback is the wasted space, as it is an elaborate fitting with tiles and exhaust set-up above. On the other hand, if the exhaust fan alone is fitted, the oily fumes travel up and stick to the   walls and tiles. Over a period of time, the interiors and appliances get dirty.

Electrical chimneys effectively sucks up all oil and fumes, and make the environment fresh and free from smoke.

Choosing the chimney that best suits your need

Size

 Choose the chimney size to suit your stove size. As it is a one time investment, consider going for 3 feet, 3 filter models.

Capacity

The first point to keep in mind while considering chimney choices is the ‘suction capacity’ – naturally this depends on your cooking frequency and set-up. 

If you have an open kitchen or diner-attached kitchen, we would suggest around 1000 m³/hour suction (especially for non-vegetarian and deep fry cooking)

You might be rooting for a ‘Auto Clean Model’ – even this requires periodic cleaning every fortnight or month (again, based on frequency of cooking)

A 3D chimney is stylish and versatile! Especially suits island kitchen set-up.

Noise level

This is another major thing to consider when choosing a chimney. Ensure the noise is less than 50 decibel. Ensure that your outlet pipe is not too long (to reach outer air)

Easy cleaning

Don’t choose chimneys with a mesh filter. Choosing the model with a baffle filter is ideal for self cleaning.

Hob and Gas pipeline 

Here I choose to give you insights about why a concealed gas pipeline is best for stove or fitted hob. This is the best solution to avoid drilling holes in your countertop.

You might wonder why! If you or your maid clean vessels in the sink, water might get into the counter top hole. The frequent dampness might cause damage. A simple valve control on the gas pipeline will easily convert the gas flow when you change from stove to hob or vice versa.

Counter top 

You might be amazed at the choice of kitchen slabs available in the market.

Wooden countertops are beautiful and ideal to avoid spreading microbes. But, it needs high quality maintenance to avoid discoloration and damage.

Whatever your kitchen counter type, please don’t break coconut on it, then none will guarantee its life.

 As per survey, majority(more than 70%) of the people use black countertops that are made up of granite. Only 8% of people who use white countertop are happy that they made right choice, and are able to maintain it. But 10% of the people who use white countertop felt that they made wrong choice, and do not recommend it to others.

In our next blog, let’s explore the dos and don’ts when designing your kitchen.