Buying a house with 10 year old Jenn Aire 2 burner plus grill gas top
with downdraft, no hood. Have read the Google history of discussions.
Conclude from that the grill is too cool to be useful, and we need more
burners anyway. Some say the downdraft may suck the flame away from the
burner area, others say it works "ok".

Would it be better to buy a 2 burner cartridge unit (about $200) to
replace the grill cartridge, or buy another brand without the downdraft
and install a hood?

Thanks.

Sandy > wrote:

>Buying a house with 10 year old Jenn Aire 2 burner plus grill gas top
>with downdraft, no hood. Have read the Google history of discussions.
>Conclude from that the grill is too cool to be useful, and we need more
>burners anyway. Some say the downdraft may suck the flame away from the
>burner area, others say it works "ok".
>
>Would it be better to buy a 2 burner cartridge unit (about $200) to
>replace the grill cartridge, or buy another brand without the downdraft
>and install a hood?
>
>Thanks.

As a recovering Junk Aire owner, I'd suggest doing both. Having the
extra burners will greatly increase the utility of your current
cooktop while you take your time figuring out what to replace it with
when you have the hood installed.

My downdraft cooktop is installed in a island cooktop, so I'm stuck
with it - there's absolutely no way to put in a hood which would be in
any way acceptable to live with. I replaced the Jenn Aire with a
4-burner Amana downdraft which is significantly more powerful, but
still has the same heat-sucking problem with the fan. Consequence is
that we never use the fan. The Amana won't simmer worth a damn either
- I'm seriously considering junking gas altogether and getting a
smoothtop electric.

Cheers,
David
------------------------------------------------------
David Eastwood -

If you can, replace downdraft with a hood. Junk the Jenn-Aire. The
downdraft definately pulls heat away from the burners.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"Sandy" > wrote in message
...
> Buying a house with 10 year old Jenn Aire 2 burner plus grill gas top
> with downdraft, no hood. Have read the Google history of discussions.
> Conclude from that the grill is too cool to be useful, and we need more
> burners anyway. Some say the downdraft may suck the flame away from the
> burner area, others say it works "ok".
>
> Would it be better to buy a 2 burner cartridge unit (about $200) to
> replace the grill cartridge, or buy another brand without the downdraft
> and install a hood?
>
> Thanks.

My sister has had a Jenn-Air drop in with downdraft for over twenty
years. She had a hood vented to the outside installed almost immediately.
Apparently the problem was less drawing away heat as failing to draw
steam and cooking odors. The stove has old fashioned coil heating
elements and like most owners, she rarely uses the grill or griddle
attachments. She has remodeled and upgraded the kitchen several times but
swears by her stove after it was properly vented.
I on the other hand just bought a new place and installed a Jenn-Air
smooth top. Looked great. However, it is a bitch to clean even with razor
scrapers and all the recommended chemicals. It never looks clean and you
starve to death waiting for the elements to transfer heat to the pots and
pans. Once it gets going, at least two of the burners are acceptable. I
would think long and hard before ever getting one of these again. Next
time if I can't have gas, I will look for a used one with coils like my
sister has.
Arch

"Sandy" > wrote in message
...
> Buying a house with 10 year old Jenn Aire 2 burner plus grill gas top
> with downdraft, no hood. Have read the Google history of discussions.
> Conclude from that the grill is too cool to be useful, and we need more
> burners anyway. Some say the downdraft may suck the flame away from the
> burner area, others say it works "ok".
>
> Would it be better to buy a 2 burner cartridge unit (about $200) to
> replace the grill cartridge, or buy another brand without the downdraft
> and install a hood?

I have a JennAir gas range. I find the grill to be underpowered and the
downdraft inadequate. I put in a new over the range convection/microwave
oven last year and vented it to the outside. My previous OTR microwave was
not vented because I assumed the downdraft would be sufficient. That was a
mistake as the smoke detector went off every time I tried to grill. The
additional overhead ventilation (300 CFM) solved the problem. I would
recommend that you use the JennAir a few times and see if the burners and
grill meet your needs. If so, keep it and get the left-side burner
cartridge. Also, get the a hood installed as the downdraft isn't going to
get rid of all the smoke. If you don't like the JennAir, then simply
replace it without spending additional money on the extra cartridge. I have
two burner cartridges and the grill cartridge. I seldom use the extra
burners and simply keep the gill set up all the time except for large
holiday meals. You can put pans on the grill side. It works fine for
heating things like vegetables and making sauces.

Vox Humana wrote:
>
> "Sandy" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Buying a house with 10 year old Jenn Aire 2 burner plus grill gas top
> > with downdraft, no hood. Have read the Google history of discussions.
> > Conclude from that the grill is too cool to be useful, and we need more
> > burners anyway. Some say the downdraft may suck the flame away from the
> > burner area, others say it works "ok".
> >
> > Would it be better to buy a 2 burner cartridge unit (about $200) to
> > replace the grill cartridge, or buy another brand without the downdraft
> > and install a hood?
>
> I have a JennAir gas range. I find the grill to be underpowered and the
> downdraft inadequate. I put in a new over the range convection/microwave
> oven last year and vented it to the outside. My previous OTR microwave was
> not vented because I assumed the downdraft would be sufficient. That was a
> mistake as the smoke detector went off every time I tried to grill. The
> additional overhead ventilation (300 CFM) solved the problem. I would
> recommend that you use the JennAir a few times and see if the burners and
> grill meet your needs. If so, keep it and get the left-side burner
> cartridge. Also, get the a hood installed as the downdraft isn't going to
> get rid of all the smoke. If you don't like the JennAir, then simply
> replace it without spending additional money on the extra cartridge. I have
> two burner cartridges and the grill cartridge. I seldom use the extra
> burners and simply keep the gill set up all the time except for large
> holiday meals. You can put pans on the grill side. It works fine for
> heating things like vegetables and making sauces.

Thank you Vox, and thanks to Arch , Louis, and David for your input. I
think Vox has an excellent cost effective approach here. We will
definitely plan to put in the hood immediately as our first improvement,
and then try out the existing unit without using the downdraft feature.
That will give the Jenn Aire the benefit of the doubt. If it is
satisfactory, a new cartridge should finish the job. If not, we will be
back to see what the current thinking on the best replacement would be.

Sandy

"Sandy" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Vox Humana wrote:
> >
> > "Sandy" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Buying a house with 10 year old Jenn Aire 2 burner plus grill gas top
> > > with downdraft, no hood. Have read the Google history of discussions.
> > > Conclude from that the grill is too cool to be useful, and we need
more
> > > burners anyway. Some say the downdraft may suck the flame away from
the
> > > burner area, others say it works "ok".
> > >
> > > Would it be better to buy a 2 burner cartridge unit (about $200) to
> > > replace the grill cartridge, or buy another brand without the
downdraft
> > > and install a hood?
> >
> > I have a JennAir gas range. I find the grill to be underpowered and the
> > downdraft inadequate. I put in a new over the range
convection/microwave
> > oven last year and vented it to the outside. My previous OTR microwave
was
> > not vented because I assumed the downdraft would be sufficient. That
was a
> > mistake as the smoke detector went off every time I tried to grill. The
> > additional overhead ventilation (300 CFM) solved the problem. I would
> > recommend that you use the JennAir a few times and see if the burners
and
> > grill meet your needs. If so, keep it and get the left-side burner
> > cartridge. Also, get the a hood installed as the downdraft isn't going
to
> > get rid of all the smoke. If you don't like the JennAir, then simply
> > replace it without spending additional money on the extra cartridge. I
have
> > two burner cartridges and the grill cartridge. I seldom use the extra
> > burners and simply keep the gill set up all the time except for large
> > holiday meals. You can put pans on the grill side. It works fine for
> > heating things like vegetables and making sauces.
>
> Thank you Vox, and thanks to Arch , Louis, and David for your input. I
> think Vox has an excellent cost effective approach here. We will
> definitely plan to put in the hood immediately as our first improvement,
> and then try out the existing unit without using the downdraft feature.
> That will give the Jenn Aire the benefit of the doubt. If it is
> satisfactory, a new cartridge should finish the job. If not, we will be
> back to see what the current thinking on the best replacement would be.

Just one observation. If you have the grill burner and grates installed,
the downdraft comes on when you turn on the gas for that side. There is an
override switch that is activated by the drip pan for the burners. Unless
you have the burner and drip pan installed, the downdraft will operate when
using the left side of the range. Of the two problems (flame defection and
smoke) the smoke is the bigger problem and the hood will solve that.