Best venting hobs for 2025: expert reviews and buying advice

Venting hobs have two very important tasks: preparing your food and removing the smells and spills of cooking from your kitchen. The best venting hobs to go through our test lab do both brilliantly.

A venting hob is an induction hob with built-in extractor functionality. Also called extractor hobs, air venting hobs or hobs with venting cooktops, these 2-in-1 appliances do away with a separate cooker hood, giving you a sleeker look, more flexibility on where to install your oven and extraction at cooking level.

Go straight to our venting hob reviews for the lowdown on all the models we've tested.

Best venting hobs for 2025

These Best Buy induction hobs with built-in extractors are excellent all-rounders, offering speedy heating, effective venting and easy-to-use controls.

Venting hobs by price

• Venting hobs under £1,200
• Venting hobs under £1,600
• Venting hobs under £2,000
• Venting hobs under £3,000

Why you can trust our venting hob reviews

Venting hobs are a pricey purchase, so you're probably going to read product reviews before you buy, right? But who is writing what you read?

Which? is independent – we work for our members, not brands or advertisers. We buy all the products we test ourselves and we don't accept freebies from product manufacturers or retailers.

Our product recommendations are influenced only by the impartial results from our test labs.

We test each appliance to the same standard, so it's easy to compare different models. Our unbiased advice will help you make the right choice the first time and avoid costly mistakes.

Where to buy a venting hob

• Appliance City sells venting hobs priced between £700 and £3,400. It stocks brands including Hisense, Neff and Siemens, and most hobs come with a two-year warranty as standard.
• Marks Electrical has a range of around 40 venting hobs from several big brands like Bosch, AEG and Smeg. You can expect to pay at least £1,000, while pricier models come in at over £3,000. You'll likely qualify for free delivery, and the company may be able to recycle your old appliance for an extra £20.
• Currys stocks a small selection of venting hobs between £1,600 and £2,400. You can opt to have an engineer disconnect your old device and install your new one for a £120 fee, or for £125 they'll also test the new appliance, give you a demonstration to how it works and take away the packaging.

How do venting hobs work and are they effective?

Venting hobs are hobs with a built-in extractor, generally positioned in the centre of the hob. These are designed to capture cooking vapours before they’ve had a chance to waft around your kitchen.

Grease particles get stuck on a metal filter, while water and steam collect in a small condensation unit. Underneath the hob, there’s a larger safety tank – of around 700ml to 2-litre capacity – for any major mishaps (such as pasta water boiling over or an explosion of sauce). The motor is designed to handle an accidental splash, so it shouldn’t stop your cooking entirely.

When we test venting hobs, we find models that can cope with grease, steam and odours, leaving your kitchen fresh as soon as you’re plating up dinner. Others fail in one area, either leaving you with sticky surfaces, a damp hob or the persistent smell of last night’s cooking.

Installing a venting hob: air extraction vs air recirculation

How well your venting hob works depends on whether you extract or recirculate kitchen vapours.

Getting rid of the air is more likely to work best, although it does depend on how well your duct is installed. If there are gaps in the sealant, or it takes a winding route to the outside, then it won’t be as effective.

If installing an extractor kit is going to be a struggle, you might be best off recirculating the air. This option requires some carbon filters to be fitted in the cabinet below the hob. They will need changing every four months or so, and the filters are usually less than £10 each.

How to buy the best venting hob

If you're buying a new venting hob, these questions may help:

• How much can you spend? How much you spend will determine the features and level of extraction you get (larger kitchens need more extraction). The cheapest venting hobs cost around £1,000, while the most expensive can be upwards of £3,000.
• Where will it go in your kitchen? If you want a kitchen island with a hob on it, a venting hob prevents an overhead hood from dominating the space. If you don’t mind the hob staying against the wall, though, you'll have more options for venting your appliance.
• Can you vent the extracted air outside? Venting fumes outside involves installing an exhaust air kit on the unit and a hose through the wall, which is easiest if your hob is against an exterior wall. If your venting hob is on a kitchen island, you can still vent outside by running it under the floor. If this isn’t feasible, the air will need to be recirculated. Carbon filters sift out the grease and steam before releasing it back into your kitchen.
• How much space do you have on your counter? Venting hobs range from around 55 to 90cm wide. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean more expensive, so choose based on how much space you have and the size of the pans you cook with. The most heating zones any vented hob has is four, so if you’re used to the flexibility of a fifth ring on a frantic Christmas Day, you might need to choose a different type of hob.
• How much cupboard space do you need? One of the key benefits of a venting hob is that it gets rid of a large extractor hood. But it might not save space overall, as you still need space below the hob for its motor and collection trays. Some brands have found a way around this, so look out for models with compartments on either side of the motor if you want to store some smaller utensils or ingredients under your hob.

Venting hob types explained

Induction venting hobs

Electric induction venting hobs are the most common type. They contain an element that reacts with your pan to heat it up, which it typically does more quickly and efficiently than any other type of hob.

These hobs tend to be the most hi-tech, but also the priciest. Venting hobs are almost always induction.

Looking for induction-friendly cookware? See how to buy the best induction hob pans.

Gas venting hobs

Gas venting hobs are harder to find, as only a few brands (such as Elica) have a range. We currently have no gas venting hobs on test.

These might tempt you if you’re looking to save some money after the huge outlay; £2,500 is around the top-of-the-range price for one. They’re typically cheaper to run than induction models, since gas is currently cheaper than electricity (though electricity is a better choice if you're trying to be green).

With their cast-iron pan stands, they have a more rustic look than the typically sleek and modern induction venting hobs.

If you can't decide between gas and induction, head to our guide – gas vs induction: which hob type is right for you?

How are venting hobs different to downdraft extractors?

Downdraft extractors are separate to your hob and can be popped up when needed to draw smells, steam and grease away from your kitchen at cooking level. They're much chunkier than the neat integral extractor on a venting hob.

See our round up of the best cooker hoods.

Best venting hob features to consider

If you're choosing a new venting hob, some of the following features might be useful:

• Flexible heating zones A popular feature on higher-end vented and non-vented induction hobs, this gives you the option of combining heating zones for bigger pans, or setting different areas for boiling, simmering and warming. Some Neff models can also be programmed to transfer your cooking settings over when you move your pan to a different zone.
• Adjustable venting speeds Simmering and deep-frying emit different levels of steam and smells, so you’ll need an adaptable vent for the task. Variable settings can help you strike the balance between suction power and noise. And some brands, such as Miele, Neff and Samsung, adjust automatically depending on your cooking or the level of odour in the room. Look for a wifi-enabled model if you want control via an app.
• Pause function If you need a quick break from cooking to set the table or answer the door to your guests, a pause button cuts the heat briefly, returning your exact settings as soon as you get back.
• Delayed switch-off When you want to sit down to eat straight away, or you’ve cooked an especially smoky dinner, you can set your extractor to run for an extra few minutes before automatically turning off.
• Safety features Most induction hobs now come with a child lock, but it’s worth double-checking if you’re worried about small hands near the stove. Cookology goes one step further with ‘pan detection’, which means the hob won’t start to heat if something small like a spoon (or finger) lands on it. Neff has a frying sensor that shuts off when the pan gets too hot, to avoid ruining your morning bacon.

See how we test venting hobs to find out how we uncover the best models.

How much space do you need for a venting hob?

The main thing to measure for your new venting hob is the width and depth. Make sure it fits the unit or work surface you’d like to place it on, and that no cupboards hang over the hob.

Can you have drawers under a venting hob?

Installing a venting hob means losing a large amount of cupboard space to a motor. If you’re keen to save as much storage as possible, though, it’s worth asking your kitchen fitter for sink drawers. These wrap around the motor and are a decent compromise if you need all the space you can get in a busy kitchen.

Can you put a venting hob above a built-in oven?

You can't have an oven below, as you need cupboard space directly under the hob for the motor.

Why are venting hobs so expensive?

Even if you’re eyeing up a cheaper model, a venting hob is still going to take a hefty chunk out of your kitchen renovation budget.

Sellers advertise this appliance as a 2-in-1 that saves you from buying a separate hob and cooker hood. While that’s true, it doesn’t mean it will save you any money.

If you were to buy both the most expensive cooker hood and the most expensive hob we’ve tested, you could expect to pay around £3,200 – about the same as a top-of-the-range venting hob.

Buy the cheapest products we’ve tested, though, and it’s a totally different story. With a combined price of around £150, the least expensive cooker hood and hob to go through our test lab come in at around £800 cheaper than an entry-level venting hob.

So why do they cost so much money? It might be because they’re still a fairly niche product. Much like a boiling-water tap or integrated wine cooler, they’ve become symbolic of a luxury, no-expense-spared kitchen equipped with the latest tech.

As more brands bring out their own new models, we might start to see the price come down slightly. That's much like induction hobs, which were pricier until they became more popular.