#10 Things to Do If You Don t Have a Range Hood or Vent

The absence of a range hood is the scourge of many a rental kitchen. With nothing to catch grease splatters and vent smoke, steam, and cooking smells out of the kitchen, renters often end up fighting sticky, filmy cabinets and an apartment that still smells like fish two days after cooking.

Some rental kitchens have non-venting recirculating fans installed under cabinets, which should capture grease and help with cooking smells. But many people (me included) find them ineffective and bordering on useless.

Feel the same way? Here's what you can do to help mitigate the effects of your range-less kitchen, with specific advice culled from our readers:

1. Use a window fan.

If you're fortunate enough to have a window in your kitchen (or at least nearby), install a small window fan and run it on "exhaust" every time you cook. This will pull the air out, and while it may not do much for grease, it will help eliminate cooking odors. "Works like a charm," one of our readers said.

In our rental, the microwave is an under-cabinet model, mounted over the stove. It has a surface light and a fan, but is pretty worthless and doesn't vent outside. When we cook something that may smoke or has an odor that might linger in the apartment (like frying) we open the kitchen window and put a fan at the other end of the kitchen, to send all the air right out the window. Our kitchen and dining room is a long galley, so that actually works pretty well. - key

I installed a sheer cotton curtain on my kitchen door frame with a tension rod, and put a window fan at the very top of my kitchen window. When I cook anything I know will stink up the place, I draw the curtain closed and put the fan on exhaust - works like a charm! All the air blows outside. - breakdown

It's not going to help with grease, but a small fan in that conveniently-placed window will do wonders for odors. Slim window fans can be had for fairly small money. - detremit

2. Use a portable HEPA air filter.

If you don't have a window, another option is to bring in a portable HEPA filter to capture smells, particularly for things like searing meat or cooking fish.

We don't have a hood but I use a portable HEPA filter in the kitchen when I sear steaks. Really, browning meat seems to be the only thing that really makes me want a hood. - cholderby

In a rental with non-functional venting hood, I bought a small air cleaner that simply plugged into the wall (think nightlight, not lamp) and stayed there. I did eat through filters quickly, but if my ex cooked meat and had the fan going, I could not smell it after I was six feet away. - truepeacenik

3. Use a fan in another room, like the bathroom.

Any moving fan with some proximity to the kitchen is a help to you here. My bathroom is down the hall from our kitchen, but I still turn on the bathroom fan when I'm cooking something particularly odorous or smoky. It really does help cut down on lingering smells.

4. Get a grease splatter guard.

A splatter screen or guard is a device that fits over a frying pan to capture grease splatters. They sell for around $10, which makes it a must-have at that price. You can really reduce the amount of gunk that ends up on your cabinets by never letting it get out in the first place! Emma reviewed this odor-absorbing splatter screen and was super impressed with how well it worked.