Hood format is mostly decided by your kitchen rather than your taste. Where the hob sits, whether there is a wall behind it, and what is above it will rule out three or four of these before you have looked at a single price.
So work through the formats first, then the extraction rate, then the finish.
Chimney and wall-mounted
The default. Mounts to the wall behind the hob with a chimney section running up to the ceiling. No cabinet needed, no cutout, and the whole capture area sits in the open above the hob.
Bosch's 90 cm wall hoods, including the DWB98JQ50B, DWB97DN60B, DWB97CM50B, DWB97BK61T and DWB91PR50A, are all 898 mm wide and 500 mm deep. Extraction across that group runs from 399 m3/h up to 602 m3/h on the DWB91PR50A. The DWK91LT60 is a glass-fronted variant at 441 m3/h.
Needs a wall behind the hob. Rules itself out on an island.
Telescopic
Hides inside a wall cabinet and pulls out when you cook. Popular in compact kitchens because it disappears, and because it keeps the cabinet above the hob usable for storage.
The catch, and it is a big one: telescopic hoods need a cabinet aperture, and the required aperture varies enormously between models. Three Bosch 60 cm telescopics, all 598 mm wide as products, need cutouts of 598 x 300 mm (DFT63CA61B), 524 x 290 mm (DFS067A51B) and 460 x 280 mm (DFT63AC50). If you are reusing an existing cabinet, check the specific model.
Extraction on this format tends to sit lower. The DFT63CA61B and DFT93CA61B are 310 m3/h, the DFT93AC50 368 m3/h, the DHI623GSG and DHI923GSG 380 m3/h. Teka pushes harder here, with the CNL 6415 BK at 730 m3/h.
Slimline
A flat panel that mounts under a cabinet with almost no visual bulk. The Mayer MMSL901SM is 898 x 100 x 500 mm and the MMSI900LEDHS is 900 x 120 x 420 mm. Fujioh's FR-MS series is 120 mm tall.
They look excellent and they are the lightest touch on a kitchen. Performance is where the compromise sits: the Fujioh FR-MS2390 and FR-MS2370 are rated 260 m3/h. That is fine for pan cooking in a ventilated kitchen and it will not keep up with a wok.
Canopy and built-in
Built into the underside of a cabinet or a purpose-built canopy, with only the filter visible. The Bosch DHL755BM and DHL755BL are 730 mm wide, need a 700 x 350 mm opening, and manage 468 m3/h and 379 m3/h.
Teka's built-in group goes harder: the GFX 72 at 725 mm wide is rated 750 m3/h, and the GFI 97350 Integra at 892 mm is 766 m3/h. If you want serious extraction without a visible hood, this format is the strongest option available.
Island
Suspended from the ceiling over an island hob. The Bosch DIB98JQ50 is 898 x 600 mm and rated 445 m3/h. The Teka CC 485 is a tubular island hood, 400 mm across and 900 mm tall, at 1200 m3/h, the highest figure in our range.
Island hoods need ceiling structure to hang from and a duct route through the ceiling void, so they are a renovation decision rather than a retrofit.
Downdraft
Rises out of the worktop behind the hob. No ceiling clutter at all, which is why people choose it. The Teka DDI 90 is rated 1000 m3/h and the FIH 16760 TOS modular unit 630 m3/h.
The cost is cabinet space below the worktop, and the physics is working uphill, since the hood is pulling steam downwards. It performs better than the theory suggests when the pans are close to the intake, but a good overhead hood at the same rating captures more.
Now the extraction rate
Across the cooker hoods we list, published rates span 260 m3/h to 1200 m3/h. That is a factor of nearly five, and it is the spec that determines whether you are happy in two years.
The way to think about it: European test conditions assume European cooking. If your kitchen is enclosed and you regularly cook at high heat with oil, treat anything under about 400 m3/h as light duty. If you mostly steam, boil and pan fry with the door open, the quieter low-rated hoods are genuinely pleasant to live with and much less noisy.
Noise is the flip side nobody mentions in the showroom. A 1200 m3/h hood at full speed is loud. Most people run a powerful hood on setting two and are happier than they would be running a weak one flat out.
Match the width to the hob, not the label
Use real numbers. A 78 cm hob is around 780 mm of glass. A 90 cm hood is 898 mm. A 60 cm hood is 598 mm. Pairing a 78 cm hob with a 60 cm hood leaves 182 mm uncovered, so the outer zones vent straight into the room.
Our 60 cm cooker hoods and 90 cm cooker hoods are split for this comparison, and the hobs and cooktops range lists hob widths so you can check the pairing before ordering.
Work out your duty cycle from what you cook
Extraction ratings mean more once you know what you are asking of them. Char kway teow needs a wok held at smoking point, and sambal stingray in banana leaf fills a kitchen with belacan smoke. If you cook either regularly, the 260 to 310 m3/h end of the market is not for you.
Common questions
Which hood type is best for a small HDB kitchen?
Telescopic or slimline, because both preserve the cabinet above the hob and neither dominates the room. Check the extraction rating carefully, since both formats include some of the lower-rated models in our range.
How much extraction do I need for wok cooking?
More than the low end of the market offers. Our range tops out at 1200 m3/h and the strong performers sit between 600 and 800 m3/h. If you wok several times a week in an enclosed kitchen, aim high and run it on a lower setting most of the time.
Are expensive hoods quieter?
Generally yes at the same airflow, because better motors and better acoustic design cost money. But any hood is loud at maximum. The practical advantage of a higher-rated hood is that you rarely need maximum.
Can I fit a chimney hood on an island?
No. Chimney hoods mount to a wall. For an island you need an island hood suspended from the ceiling, a downdraft unit, or a venting hob with extraction built in.
Does the hood have to be wider than the hob?
It should be at least as wide, and wider is better. Vapour spreads sideways as it rises, so a hood matching the hob exactly still misses some of it. An overhang of 50 to 100 mm each side is a sensible target where the wall run allows.