Outdoor Kitchen Exhaust Fan

by Sandy Vieille
(Tampa, Fla)

QUESTION:

We are building an outdoor kitchen. We have purchased a 33 inch outdoor barbeque with 48000 BTUs and the entire kitchen will be under roof on our lanai.

Do we require an exhaust fan /blower for this and if so, can we use 300CFM vs 600 CFM.We currently use a portable CharBroil grill and have never had any damage to our lanai ceiling. The exhaust/blower is not required by our county. Thanks, Sandy

ANSWER:

Sandy, if you currently grill under the lanai without any unpleasant smoke build-up or damage to the ceiling, then it's not likely to change unless you change how and what you typically cook in your outdoor kitchen. And a fan will add noise.

High heat pan frying/stir frying will create a lot of smoke, but if you are usually grilling meats and veggies then you should be fine.

Also, if in the future you do find it too smoky a fan is something that can be added to the outdoor kitchen fairly easily. If you do decide to do it, I'd go with the 600 cfm. The 300 is likely to be too weak.