Recently I had a long no-no-NO!-frying period while my new kitchen was not supplied with an extractor fan (or ‘extract fan’ according to one senior Building Inspector). A long story. It’s not that I thought I wouldn’t need it - au contraire, it was our big worry how in a vast open-plan kitchen/dining/living we were going to get rid of smells.
I did extensive research into extractors including contacting industrial makers until someone pointed out the noise and smell the restaurants emit outside. Fact - I’d not wish that upon my neighbours. I meticulously calculated the metres cubed of the prospective air to be extracted, had a trial run at friends’ and consulted various message boards including Mumsnet (well no, not that one). Finally I went to a showroom where a cupboard door was sucked up to the cooker hood and they promised the extraction was that strong with even twenty odd metres ducting. Sorted.
Or so I thought.
The extractor turned out to weigh 60 kilos and my ceilings are flimsy plasterboard suspended daintily among wooden beams.
So an emergency ordering ensued, deciding on a high street brand. It wasn’t in stock. A wait of several weeks during which I had to refrain from frying and generally cooking Smelly or Smoky Stuff.
I said it was a long story. To cut it short, my ‘extract fan’ is finally in place and it works surprisingly well. The mackerel recipe predates it, hence baked. It actually turned out to be such a fantastic thing that I might give up on my sticky pan-fried fillets and do this whenever I cook mackerel, it’s so good.