The Best Cooker Hoods

A good cooker hood is a must for any kitchen. They remove grease, steam and excess heat, keeping you cool and your cupboards and appliances clean. Many also provide a useful light, so you can see what you’re doing while working on the hob.

As modern kitchens have developed in complexity and functionality, so have extractor hoods. Now you can choose from a broad range of types and sizes to perfectly match your needs and preferences.

Once you’ve found the right style and size for your kitchen, it’s essential that it is powerful enough to keep it smoke and odour free. Other key details to look for include energy efficiency, noise level and how easy it is to clean.

In the following list, I will introduce you to what I consider as the best cooker hoods available in the UK today. Each provides excellent aesthetics, build-quality and impressive functionality. I’ve included examples from the most common categories and sizes to help you quickly find what you’re looking for.

The cooker hoods in this list all require a vent in your kitchen. If you do not have one already or it is not possible then check out our guide to the best recirculating cooker hoods.

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Best Cooker Hoods

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Best 60cm Cooker Hoods – SMEG KD61XE2

The KD61XE2 from SMEG features a sleek, stainless steel design that will complement most kitchens. It’s 60cm wide, making it well suited to standard sized cookers and small enough to fit even if space is limited.

If you can install an external vent, you can use it to extract, but you can also adapt it for recirculation. Although you’ll need to buy a separate charcoal filter for recirculation, this is a great option for those who can’t install ducting above the cooker. Great for collecting grease and foul odours, this classically styled extraction hood will keep your kitchen looking and smelling fresh.

What’s really impressive is that it has a maximum airflow rate of 580 cubic metres per hour. Most hoods fall between 200 and 600 cubic metres per hour, so this one will quickly extract grease and odours with no trouble. However, to do this, the motor has to work hard and can produce a noise of up to 70dB.

While the KD61XE2 has many excellent features, it only achieves a C for energy efficiency. This isn’t ideal, but it clears kitchen fumes super quickly, so I’m happy to overlook this downside. You also have the option of three speeds, so if you’re conscious of reducing your energy expenditure, you could use one of the lower settings.

Overall, this sleek cooker hood offers excellent value for money with its powerful motor and bright LED lights.

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ZANUSSI ZHB62670XA

With an impressive maximum airflow rate of 600 cubic metres per hour, the Zanussi ZHB62670XA is one of the fastest-acting hoods I’ve seen. It comes in a stainless steel finish and bold contemporary design that will fit seamlessly into most kitchens, particularly if you have other stainless steel appliances.

This is a chimney style extractor with a width of 60cm and two easy to remove aluminium grease filters. They’re simple to clean and can be washed in hot soapy water or even put in the dishwasher. There are three-speed settings and two powerful LED lights which are all controlled by a set of small push buttons.

As with many cooker hoods with this extraction power, the energy efficiency isn’t brilliant and it only received a rating of C. It’s also quite noisy and can reach 68dB when working on full power. However, if you make use of all three speeds, you can keep your power usage to a minimum and even reduce the noise level to its 51dB minimum.

There are a couple of downsides here, but overall I was impressed with the build quality, power and appearance of the ZHB62670XA.

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Best 90cm Cooker Hoods – RANGEMASTER LEIHDC90BC

Cooker hoods don’t need to be made from stainless steel to look sleek and professional. The Rangemaster LEIHDC90BC has a striking black chrome finish and simple push buttons to quickly clear any steam, smoke or grease from your kitchen.

This is a large extractor hood with a width of 90cm, making it suitable for wide hobs or range cookers. It has three removable, metal grease filters which can be cleaned and replaced with ease. You also get two extra-bright halogen lights so you’ll never be in the dark when whipping up your favourite recipes.

Suitable for extraction or recirculation you can either fix it up to ducting or implement the carbon filters that come with it. The carbon filter recirculation option is particularly useful if your cooker isn’t against an outside wall or you live in a flat or apartment.

For such a large hood, it’s quieter than you may expect but can still reach a substantial roar at 65dB. However, this reflects the speed with which it will clean the air with its maximum airflow rate of 530 cubic metres per hour. Despite this power, it is surprisingly efficient and has an energy rating of B.

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SAMSUNG NK36M5070CS

If you’re looking for something more on the minimalist, contemporary side to match your treasured 90cm range cooker, look no further than the Samsung NK36M5070CS. It has everything from quality construction and modern design to powerful suction and low-maintenance operation.

With suction power up to 558 cubic metres per hour, it’s effective, but noisy with levels reaching 69dB. However, the touch controls and LCD display allow you to switch between four speeds. The noise is much more tolerable on lower settings.

What I particularly love about this cooker hood is its incredible glass and chrome design. The filter vents are cleverly designed to draw in the air from across the glass screen without the need for a full-width filter. The filters themselves are easy to take out and are dishwasher safe to make cleaning a breeze. That being said, it’s worth wiping the surfaces of this hood down regularly as well, to prevent any greasy build-up on the surfaces.

Although this is a well-designed piece of kit, what you gain in stylish appearance you lose in sturdiness. It’s not as solid as the other models on this list, but in the right hands, it should still last you for many years.

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Best Budget Cooker Hood – LOGIK L60CHDX17

The L60CHDX17 budget cooker hood from Logik provides exceptional value for money. The trade-off for the lower price is that it can only reach an airflow of 347 cubic metres per hour. However, in every other aspect, it can battle it out with the other 60cm extractors on this list.

It’s well built with a classic stainless steel exterior and sloped appearance. It can be fitted to extract or recirculate the air, but you will need to buy the carbon filters or extraction ducting separately. There are three speeds and one LED light which are all easy to operate with the front-mounted buttons. Because it provides less power, I would’ve liked to see lower noise levels, but it still reaches 64dB on its highest setting.

All the surfaces are easy to wipe clean and the two metal grease filters can be easily detached and washed by hand or in the dishwasher. If you’re on a budget, this excellent cooker hood will be a welcome addition to your kitchen.

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Conclusion

All of the cooker hoods included in this list perform to a high standard and provide fast clearance of odours and cooking fumes. They are all in a chimney style, which while not the only type available, is the most popular and versatile. Also, they offer the option of converting them to provide recirculation instead of extraction.

If you’ve found this list useful or you’ve had experience with any of these hoods – I would love to hear about them – so drop me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.