It really works

I recently built my first completely custom home, playing designer, general contractor, and several subcontractor positions. The kitchen was probably my big design focus, and I wanted to have a very open but functional layout with the cooking surface on an island. My choices for ventilation were a free-standing overhead vent ($2k plus the obstructed view), a conventional cooking surface with a separate pop-up downdraft vent installed behind it, or a cooking surface with built-in downdraft. I decided that the built-in downdraft would be the most cost effective and easy to install, and after deciding to go with a slide-in smooth-top range as opposed to a cooktop with a separate double-oven (again, more cost effective, and left more counter surface area free in the area where I otherwise would have installed the oven), my choices were Jenn-Air or Jenn-Air. The only real choices were whether to go modular (grill/griddle inserts available and convection optional) or not (true single smooth surface on top, convection standard) and what color to choose. It turns out that to buy a modular range with two smooth top modules was more expensive even without convection, so I ended up with my first convection oven.

The things I would like to comment on are the smooth top, downdraft vent, and convection oven. Most of us by now have seen or heard about smoothtop ranges - they're pretty and easy to clean. If you get a burnt mess that doesn't come off with the provided mild abrasive cleaner, you can even take a razor blade to the surface. It may not be fully as durable as other cooking surfaces, gas burner or coil electric, but it's stood up to my cast iron chicken fryer so far. It also has two medium burners and two dual-element (small or large), which makes it the most flexible burner layout you can find without adding a center warming area.

The downdraft vent was my biggest worry - would it really cut it? My uncle had a similar model, actually the modular downdraft Jenn-Air range but over a decade old. He had not routed the vent duct very well; it had a lot of turns to get around some electrical wiring in his basement, and was 3" diameter instead of the recommended 4". He ended up needing a booster fan at the outlet to keep a decent flow rate going. I was careful to run a single elbow under the floor and a straight 4" duct out through the wall, and I'm happy to report that it really works. Only when I have a large pot boiling next to a heated saute pan will the rising heat and humidity start to overwhelm the suction - my old overhead microwave/hood combination at the last house did no better. The downdraft also runs outside instead of going through a grease trap and then back into the kitchen, so it does a much better job expelling cooking odors.

Next up: Convection oven cooking. As I mentioned, I have not used a convection oven before, and wasn't sure what it would do for me. I've found that it results in more uniform temperatures for baked goods, and faster cooking for large roast items like turkey. The only warning for something like a big turkey with fatty skin is that the circulating air may deposit some of the melting fat on the oven door, where it will run down to the oven floor.

While this was the most expensive appliance I bought for the nice new kitchen, I think it was still the most cost-effective combination, and it looks great and works well. If a model had been available without convection and with a pop-up downdraft system at the back edge of the cooking surface for a similar or better price, I might have picked it, but I'm not sure it would have been any better.