Bosch DHI 635 H

...hoods. I chose the Bosch DHI635HGB by default. It was the one my kitchen designer included on his first plans. With dimensions of 302mm height, 598mm width and 280-443mm depth it allowed me to have a shallow cupboard above my hob in which I could keep spices (in front of the ducting) which I thought was a nice feature. I wanted something unobtrusive, inexpensive but effective. It also had to require little in the way of maintenance. It seemed to ...
...the region of £150, the Bosch DHI635HGB seems to be quite a modest offering compared to some but I find it hard to think of anything I would want that it doesn't do. Gone are the days when I would have streaming eyes on entering a kitchen in which onions had been cooking. While, inevitably, some grease still collects on the tiles at the back of the hob, it is very localised whereas it used to be all over the kitchen. All in all, on balance, I'm very ... more

My childhood memories of kitchens are of hot steamy places where the odour of cooking one meal never quite fully dissipated before preparation of the next was started. There were painted walls on which condensation collected and drips slowly descended towards the tiled floor. Periodically the air would be thicker still thanks to the smoke from a piece of burnt toast or the fumes from a hot chip pan. We would then open both the window and the door in an attempt to "blow through" with cold clean air. On laundry days a different kind of dampness permeated as the smells of detergent and starch joined the mix.

Nowadays no self-respecting kitchen designer would omit a system of air extraction. And so it was that when I had my kitchen designed a few years ago I was faced with a prolific choice of ducting arrangements and associated devices including cooker hoods. I chose the Bosch DHI635HGB by default. It was the one my kitchen designer included on his first plans. With dimensions of 302mm height, 598mm width and 280-443mm depth it allowed me to have a shallow cupboard above my hob in which I could keep spices (in front of the ducting) which I thought was a nice feature. I wanted something unobtrusive, inexpensive but effective. It also had to require little in the way of maintenance. It seemed to fit all my requirements so I confess I did not research alternatives.

I well remember coming home from work on the day the hood had been installed. My builder had deliberately left its light on, so in an otherwise darkened room the whole of my ceramic hob was bathed in a pool of light. It seems strange now to think that I used regularly to cook in my own shadow from a single central kitchen light. It takes just two standard 60W candle bulbs at the back of the device - and in five years of frequent use I've not yet had to replace either. It took me a while on that first evening to find out how to switch the light off as the switch is only accessible when you have pulled the telescopic slide out, thereby causing the extraction fan to start up, something I was not looking to do immediately.

A second switch revealed alongside the light switch enables the selection of "Fan power level". There are 3 levels of operation (enabling 260, 320 or 420 cubic metres of air to be extracted in an hour when blowing freely with 120mm diameter removal duct). From a user's perspective these are: noisy, very noisy and extremely noisy respectively! This, for me, is the downside of any extraction device, as I often seem to receive phone calls while I'm cooking. I will often use the device on its lowest setting, if necessary putting up with some steam about the place, just so I can hear myself think. I've no reason to believe this model is any better or worse than any other in this regard, but it is a point worth noting when evaluating its overall contribution to the kitchen atmosphere.

Looking at the installation manual I notice that the DHI635HGB hood can be installed to be used in either "Exhaust-air mode" or "Recirculating-air mode". My experience is entirely based on an "Exhaust-air mode" installation where the ventilator fan draws the vapour straight through a metallic grease filter into ducting that takes it outside into the open air. Additional carbon filters would be required to operate in recirculating-air mode and I cannot comment on their effectiveness.

The whole of the mechanism including the fan and ducting is incorporated into my above-hob cupboard and screened from view. The section that slides out is only about an inch in height, in a metallic finish that matches other stainless steel appliances, so it certainly meets my criterion for unobtrusiveness. Unfortunately in my kitchen I find it could do with sliding out an extra inch or so to do the job properly. If I'm cooking on the front rings of my hob, some steam still manages to bypass the hood which is annoying, so the exact positioning at installation time is critical for its effectiveness.

With regard to maintenance, there is one task that needs to be undertaken on a regular basis and that is cleaning the filters. The manual recommends doing this about every 10 weeks. If you don't, grease will accumulate and can become a fire hazard. The task is nothing like as bad as it sounds. The filters which look like large very fine cheese graters are very easily removed and can be put in the dishwasher. However, to be safe, you should disconnect the electricity before removing the filters as it's not possible to get at them without opening the slide and thereby turning the fan on. It is a point of annoyance for me every time I do this that I have to go to the fuse box in my garage. If only I had thought to have an accessible switch at installation time!

Putting the filters back is very easy, but only if you paid full attention as you removed them so you know which order they came out in and which way round and up they were. Otherwise, as I know from experience there are 16 possible ways you can try to position them in only one of which works.

As I survey the market for cooker hoods, I am as bewildered today as I was five years ago by the number of different models and variety of features available. At a price in the region of £150, the Bosch DHI635HGB seems to be quite a modest offering compared to some but I find it hard to think of anything I would want that it doesn't do. Gone are the days when I would have streaming eyes on entering a kitchen in which onions had been cooking. While, inevitably, some grease still collects on the tiles at the back of the hob, it is very localised whereas it used to be all over the kitchen. All in all, on balance, I'm very happy with my purchase. It has stood the test of time and I recommend it to anyone with a small kitchen wanting a trouble-free, unobtrusive and effective extraction solution.

 

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