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Some various thoughts from different related threads. I would go a step further and argue that western kitchens are built incorrectly and should be outside of

Some various thoughts from different related threads. I would go a step further and argue that western kitchens are built incorrectly and should be outside of the living areas and in fact outside of the building itself. My wife and I typically cook outside only using an outdoor kitchen. It is impossible to properly vent cooking pollutants from a house. You would end up having to use a commercial vent hood and with that most likely design a makeup air system to prevent a vacuum inside of the house, not worth it imo. Induction is awesome but does have its limitations. I think it would be pretty hard to replicate wok style cooking with induction, you want not only the bottom but the sides to get hot as well. My own experience most 30+ asian households would prefer to cook on gas, younger generations just eat out and do not care. High temp searing on induction can cause premature failure in the unit. Have seen it happen across the spectrum of prices, there is just too much heat going into the induction unit. With that said, induction is indeed awesome. If I did not have access to an outdoor kitchen I would prefer the style of a Chinese apartment kitchen. I am sure it can vary but most/all of the chinese apartments I have seen have a kitchen setup in such a way that it can be isolated from the rest of the unit. When cooking you can slide the glass doors closed, open the window and turn on the vent hood. Almost like being outside.

anthlax 4y ago
Do you have sources for the claim that “western kitchens are built incorrectly”? Or are you referring to the same studies as in the OP? It feels intuitive but I would like to see the extent of damage. As someone looking to build a home this could be extremely relevant.
- infecto 4y ago
  I don't have studies to back this claim up directly and I think this is one of those areas that are hard to study because I am assuming it would require recording participants through their lifetime. I do think this will be something that seems obvious once we do look back at it. Here is my line of thinking, apologies it is not well put together and is only a stream of thoughts. 1. We now accept that cooking with wood causes lung disease/cancer. There are studies that show an increased rate of lung issues with women in developing countries due to inhalation of smoke. 2. We are increasingly seeing studies that show inhaling any pollutants is not safe/healthy. I am not fear mongering about it but I do try to be more aware because of this. 3. When I cook in my kitchen I see pm2 and voc measurments spike almost instantly even on measurement devices in a bedroom across the house. This is without having central air on at the time. Our home is 20ish years old and not modern air tight. I once burned some bread in the oven slightly, just the smallest bit of visible smoke came out of the oven, readings spiked and stayed that way for 2hours even with two medium size hepa filters on. 4. I originally came to my conclusion prior to the more recent studies showing indoor natural gas combustion can be an issue. Originall I was more concerned with pollutants that come from the cooking process as it is very hard to ventilate inside a house. When I originally read some of these studies and it appeared that the main issue was burners that were combusting improperly. So its mostly my own extrapolation based on what has been seen in populations that are exposed to pollutants on a regular basis. I could be overthinking it but it makes sense to me that its best to reduce exposure where possible. I cook outside and it keeps both the smells and the pollutants out of the home. And I also just make my original statement with the functionality of chinese style apartment kitchens. The kitchen is almost like a wetroom in a sense but for smells. It closes off from the rest of the unit and is open to the outside so you can do whatever you want cooking wise and not impact the rest of the unit.
  - nemo44x 4y ago
    > Our home is 20ish years old and not modern air tight. I once burned some bread in the oven slightly, just the smallest bit of visible smoke came out of the oven, readings spiked and stayed that way for 2hours even with two medium size hepa filters on. This is the part it seems like most people are not considering. The actual cooking of food, especially if something gets burnt, creates far more "hazardous" vapors than anything else, unless you have malfunctioning equipment. I put it in scare quotes because at the end of the day you have to live your life and if you mainly take care of yourself you'll have a healthy life, even if you burn some toast here and there. Get a great extraction system that can remove > 500 CFM and start it before you cook and run it for 10m after. > We now accept that cooking with wood causes lung disease/cancer. It's also completely enjoyable. I cook over open fire probably about 20 times a year and over charcoal many more times. I love cooking with wood and smoking food. The process of it is completely relaxing and enjoyable. It's a risk worth taking. It's also done in the most vented possible area - outdoors.
    - infecto 4y ago
      Totally agree on this point. I don't think either need to be villified. I still smoke meats with wood a few times a week and we don't fret over burning anything. Since we cook at home daily we shoot to minimize it though.
em-bee 4y ago
from what i read, modern environmental standards appear to demand that no pollutants are released into the air at all. so an outdoor kitchen or venting to the outside seems not what is desired. that means that in order to reduce pollutants inside we need to change how we cook, prefer electric, grilling only in a closed oven that can trap pollutants, etc...

anthlax 4y ago

Do you have sources for the claim that “western kitchens are built incorrectly”? Or are you referring to the same studies as in the OP? It feels intuitive but I would like to see the extent of damage. As someone looking to build a home this could be extremely relevant.

infecto 4y ago
I don't have studies to back this claim up directly and I think this is one of those areas that are hard to study because I am assuming it would require recording participants through their lifetime. I do think this will be something that seems obvious once we do look back at it. Here is my line of thinking, apologies it is not well put together and is only a stream of thoughts. 1. We now accept that cooking with wood causes lung disease/cancer. There are studies that show an increased rate of lung issues with women in developing countries due to inhalation of smoke. 2. We are increasingly seeing studies that show inhaling any pollutants is not safe/healthy. I am not fear mongering about it but I do try to be more aware because of this. 3. When I cook in my kitchen I see pm2 and voc measurments spike almost instantly even on measurement devices in a bedroom across the house. This is without having central air on at the time. Our home is 20ish years old and not modern air tight. I once burned some bread in the oven slightly, just the smallest bit of visible smoke came out of the oven, readings spiked and stayed that way for 2hours even with two medium size hepa filters on. 4. I originally came to my conclusion prior to the more recent studies showing indoor natural gas combustion can be an issue. Originall I was more concerned with pollutants that come from the cooking process as it is very hard to ventilate inside a house. When I originally read some of these studies and it appeared that the main issue was burners that were combusting improperly. So its mostly my own extrapolation based on what has been seen in populations that are exposed to pollutants on a regular basis. I could be overthinking it but it makes sense to me that its best to reduce exposure where possible. I cook outside and it keeps both the smells and the pollutants out of the home. And I also just make my original statement with the functionality of chinese style apartment kitchens. The kitchen is almost like a wetroom in a sense but for smells. It closes off from the rest of the unit and is open to the outside so you can do whatever you want cooking wise and not impact the rest of the unit.
- nemo44x 4y ago
  > Our home is 20ish years old and not modern air tight. I once burned some bread in the oven slightly, just the smallest bit of visible smoke came out of the oven, readings spiked and stayed that way for 2hours even with two medium size hepa filters on. This is the part it seems like most people are not considering. The actual cooking of food, especially if something gets burnt, creates far more "hazardous" vapors than anything else, unless you have malfunctioning equipment. I put it in scare quotes because at the end of the day you have to live your life and if you mainly take care of yourself you'll have a healthy life, even if you burn some toast here and there. Get a great extraction system that can remove > 500 CFM and start it before you cook and run it for 10m after. > We now accept that cooking with wood causes lung disease/cancer. It's also completely enjoyable. I cook over open fire probably about 20 times a year and over charcoal many more times. I love cooking with wood and smoking food. The process of it is completely relaxing and enjoyable. It's a risk worth taking. It's also done in the most vented possible area - outdoors.
  - infecto 4y ago
    Totally agree on this point. I don't think either need to be villified. I still smoke meats with wood a few times a week and we don't fret over burning anything. Since we cook at home daily we shoot to minimize it though.

em-bee 4y ago

from what i read, modern environmental standards appear to demand that no pollutants are released into the air at all. so an outdoor kitchen or venting to the outside seems not what is desired. that means that in order to reduce pollutants inside we need to change how we cook, prefer electric, grilling only in a closed oven that can trap pollutants, etc...