Humber College located in Toronto, Canada is now operating a new kitchen facility without a hood. At least in the traditional sense. The brand new kitchen went operational last month. It was designed with a technology used in Europe for a number of years but never before seen on the North American continent.

The owner is reported to be very satisfied with the virtually silent operation, cleanliness and openness of his new kitchen and is planning to follow through with two other facilities within the academic complex.

The entire kitchen ceiling is designed to act as a normal canopy would and exhausts all smoke and by-products of the cooking process. The cooking equipment looks the same as any other kitchen with one exception. No large canopy or hood interferes with your view across the entire room.

The Ventmaster Company developed the design, obtained ULC approval, fabricated and installed the complete ceiling exhaust system. It uses traditional fire safety suppression equipment plus typical exhaust ducts and fan equipment.

Ventmaster tells us a second installation is now being fabricated and will be shipped to Vancouver, BC, Canada in March. This installation is in an exhibition cooking restaurant owned and operated by Chef Rob Feenie, a celebrity chef who also hosts a program on the highly watched Food Network.

Watch the UP YOUR STACK™.com Newsletter for further details in future months as we watch this new technology development very closely and report back to you.

In a related development, Ventmaster agreed to be acquired by the Halton Company on February 4, 2005. Completion of the sale is expected in March. Rick Bagwell, Halton’s President reports that both companies will continue to operate independently.