A cooker hood (commonly referred to as hood or extractor) is a white goods appliance that has a fan inserted in the casing; is placed above the stove "Kitchen (appliance)"), and is used to vacuum and extract combustion products, smoke, odors, heat, suspended grease and steam from the air,[1]​ through a combination of filtering and air evacuation.

The first extractor fan for home use was developed and brought to market in the 1940s by the Vent-A-Hood company in the United States.

The hoods are different depending on the type of installation:.

A bell consists of three main parts:

There are hoods with two fans located in parallel, which is not at all convenient since, working at the same time, they double the electrical consumption and only manage to increase the extracted flow in a very small proportion. They could be justified when the pressure losses of the evacuation duct are very low (very short path, large diameter and without accidents, such as bends).

The hoods include the lighting function, whether incandescent, fluorescent or halogen, to illuminate the cooking surface. Additionally, some manufacturers offer accessories, such as shelving, racks, and other attachments, which allows for greater design flexibility.

The invention of the various forms of extractor hood was in the middle of the century and they have been developed to offer the public different designs and also to combine with the architecture of the kitchen.

Today the main hood manufacturers are concerned about technology in their products, thus providing different types of systems:

There are also hoods with electronic control systems that can offer one or more of the following features:[2]​.

Hoods can be made from a variety of materials, such as:

Most bells in the United States are priced between $400 and $2,500. Prices can range from US$100 to US$20,000 or more (in the case of custom model building).

Hoods are available in many models in a price range from less than €50 to more than €1500, depending on the brand and its features.