The Art of Ventilation

Ventilation has taken yet another turn.  Today we have many different designs to choose from.  These hoods are many different shapes and sizes to accommodate your ventilation needs.  What has been happening in the last two to three years is that there are more artsy styles of hoods on the market.  Some have been around for years and others just entering the market.  The three brands I am going to cover in this article are Abbaka, Zephyr, and Best by Broan.

Abbaka has been selling high performance ventilation for 24 years.  The hoods are designed in Denmark and distributed out of San Francisco.  Abbaka offers many unique artsy designs with enough power to perform as well.  Their quiet remote blower is the envy of the industry boasting a 1400-cfm.  What makes Abbaka unique is their seamless designs.  These hoods must be seen to be appreciated.  The materials used in construction are top of the line and we feel that it is probably the best manufactured hood line available.  With the majority of imported hoods coming from Fabriano, Italy; also gives Abbaka an advantage.  Most of the Italian hoods are similar in looks and workmanship.  The designs are stagnant, even though we sell a fair amount; most do not make a statement.  And if you are tired of Stainless Steel, Abbaka offers a multitude of colors and metal finishes, as well as worked metal, discolored metal, acid washed metal, and the list goes on and on.  They are truly a custom hood.  You can visit their website here: http://www.abbaka.com/ABBAKA_Homepage.html

Zephyr Ventilation is relatively new in the US market.  The filterless designed hoods have been coming from the east for quite some time, and like the Italian hoods, these “Chinese” hoods were copies of each other.  What makes Zephyr better than the other types of hoods is their ease of cleaning and design.  Zephyr hired Fu Tung Cheng to design a line of artsy hoods a few years ago.  Mr. Cheng has come up with some very unique designs for Zephyr and these hoods not only make a statement but work as well.  Although the craftsmanship is not as good as Abbaka it is better than most others.  Zephyr has also come up with a new collection of hoods called Elica.  This collection is very artsy and maybe not so good from a performance standard.  We feel that hoods need not only some power behind them but some capture area as well.  The jury is still out on how well these hoods perform so we do not suggest using them if you do heavy smoky cooking on professional range surfaces.  Again, Elica is a statement hood.  You will not see these in every home.  You can visit Zephyr on line at: http://www.zephyronline.com/

Best by Broan is a Fabriano produced hood.  It is probably the finest product we get from this part of Italy.  They have had some unique designs for some time now.  Although, most of the designs have been copied they still have some unique models to choose from.  Like Abbaka, these hoods are made for performance.  They have many different styles to choose from and offer different powers for your ventilation needs.  These designs are not quite as artsy as Cheng, Elica, and Abbaka but are different enough that one does not see them by every manufacturer   To see the designs go to: http://www.bestbybroan.com/

Ventilation has come a long way in 30 years.  The three to four manufacturers in the sixties have grown to several hundred, partially due to the growing world economy.  I do not Nutone, Broan, or Thermador would ever have imagined that this industry would thrive.  Somewhat due to the professional cooking equipment on the market that was not available for home use until the mid 1990’s, these hoods not only supply adequate ventilation for professional cooking but have an element of art as well.  Come by to see us and we can give you a showroom pass to gain entry to Abbaka, Zephyr and Best by Broan so you can see all the designs they have to offer up close.