Keeping a range hood clean is usually far down on our to-do list, and honestly, what a miss. It's so satisfying! And the house smells so much cleaner when air isn't flowing through caked-on grease.

THE stovetop range hood may be the most underused and undervalued thing in the kitchen. It is designed to whisk away odors and health contaminants released by cooking, but most of us switch it on only ...