5 Best Air Purifiers For Kitchen – Remove Cooking Odors!

Food almost always smells great when it is being cooked. However, occasionally accidents happen – the food gets burnt, or a pungent onion smell spreads all over the house – and that’s when we become particularly annoyed, especially if we have guests coming over.

Using the cooker hood, opening the window, and similar methods aren’t always very effective, especially when cooking foods such as fish or onions. I have tried dozens of air purifiers in my and my parents’ kitchens (I’m also using my kitchen for testing purposes, but the one of my parents is much bigger and more accessible for the very complicated testing procedure.) to determine whether such a device can neutralize cooking odors and whether it’s worth buying an air purifier for the kitchen.

After performing all these tests, I’ve concluded that an air purifier can effectively eliminate cooking odors and neutralize harmful pollutants in the kitchen. However, it’s essential to select the appropriate air purifier, as not all models are equally effective.

I also found that the most effective solution for neutralizing unpleasant kitchen odors is a combination of a cooker hood and an air purifier. When these two devices are used together, they almost immediately eliminate the smell of fish during frying (proved this by myself many times).

In this guideline, I will suggest the top five air purifiers you can buy for your kitchen, all of which I’m sure will successfully remove odors after cooking nearly any type of food (frying, grilling, or roasting). Additionally, I will provide recommendations on what to consider when purchasing such a device and answer all potential questions you may have.

Top 5 Air Purifiers For Cooking Odors

My wife prepares delightful meals daily, giving me the ideal possibility to put various kitchen air purifiers to the test.

After trying dozens of air purifiers in our kitchen, I must admit that not all perform as expected. Some fall short when it comes to efficiently eliminating cooking odors, often due to their not-so-good carbon filters.

As a result, I’ve carefully created a list of the top five air purifiers among all those I’ve tested that are the most suitable for use in the kitchen. While all the devices listed effectively neutralize unpleasant cooking odors, not all are great for every kitchen type, so I slightly categorized the list.

Alen FLEX – Best Option for Most People

Alen FLEX is modern, efficient, and the best air purifier for large kitchens. This air purifier easily tackles cooking odors thanks to its high-quality filtration technology. It neutralizes any unpleasant smells you may detect in the kitchen. 

The FLEX uses a 3-stage filtration technology consisting of a pre-filter, a True HEPA filter, and a pellet-based carbon filter. What I like about the Alen FLEX is that it offers the option to purchase as many as three different filter types, which vary in the number of carbon pellets that can be put in the filter, going up to 2+ lbs.

As already mentioned, the Alen FLEX is a modern device that fits perfectly into modern kitchens. However, it doesn’t have too many advanced options and lacks features such as an air quality sensor, air quality indicator, auto mode, smart app, etc.

Apart from being an excellent choice for the kitchen, the Alen FLEX is on the list of the best air purifiers for the bedroom, which is mostly because of its well-optimized motor.

The Alen FLEX is ideal for large kitchens, as it is the easiest one to place on the floor. The high-quality filters, particularly the high-quality pellet-based charcoal filter, make it an excellent choice for combating cooking odors and is my absolute recommendation for purchase.

Levoit Core 300 – Best for Small Kitchens

The Levoit Core 300 is one of the best small air purifiers I have tested. It found its place in many of my recommendations on the Air Purifier First. This small air purifier fits perfectly almost anywhere in the kitchen, especially on the worktop or near where you cook. 

The Core 300 is a compact, efficient, affordable, and highly reliable air purifier that drastically improves the air quality in your kitchen in a very short time.

It uses a 3-stage filtration technology consisting of a pre-filter, a True HEPA filter, and a pellet-based carbon filter. Levoit filters are known to be very reliable and efficient, and they are very inexpensive to replace. The filters on this model last 6-8 months, or slightly less if exposed to many pollutants (which is often the case in the kitchen).

What I don’t like about this model is the lack of smart features, so if that’s something you are bothered with, too, I suggest checking the newer Core 300S model.

All in all, the Levoit Core 300 is the best air purifier for small kitchens; it fits perfectly on the kitchen’s worktop, performed extraordinary in the tests, and is one of the best-rated air purifiers.

Levoit Core 600S – Best for Open-concept Kitchens

The Levoit Core 600S covers spaces up to 635 sq. ft., making it an ideal air purifier for large kitchens. It’s a large device that requires quite more space than the previously mentioned Levoit Core 300 but is also much more powerful.

This air purifier is best placed somewhere on the floor, but make sure it’s near a stove or source of pollution. 

The Core 600S uses a 3-stage filtration technology consisting of a nylon mesh pre-filter, a True HEPA filter, and an activated carbon filter. The filter is huge, cylindrical, and hollow through the middle. Huge airflow, characteristic of this air purifier, makes it very efficient in open-concept kitchens.

What I like about this model is that it uses a high-quality, long-lasting, and very affordable filter. In addition, I can’t get past the many advanced options, such as the air quality sensor, auto mode, and smart app, which make the Levoit Core 600S air purifier also easy to use.

The Levoit Core 600S is a large air purifier I would recommend for giant kitchens, as this air purifier requires a lot of space. It uses high-quality filtration technology, has True HEPA and a pellet-based carbon filter, and will easily tackle unpleasant cooking odors in any kitchen.

Winix 5500-2 – Best for Heavy Odors

In a single sentence, the Winix 5500-2 is a highly efficient, feature-rich air purifier with an excellent price-to-value ratio.

It’s suitable for large kitchens, covering places of up to 360 sq. ft. Thanks to its high-quality pellet-based carbon filter, I would recommend it for managing strong cooking odors, including the lingering smell of fried fish.

The Winix 5500-2 uses a four-stage filtration technology, featuring a washable pre-filter and activated carbon filter as the first and second layers of filtration. The third layer is the True HEPA filter, while the fourth layer is the PlasmaWave.

While lacking smart features, this air purifier is equipped with a remote controller and offers plenty of options, including an air quality sensor, air quality indicator, and auto mode. Its aesthetic appeal may not match some other devices on the list, but it does the job.

As mentioned, I recommend the Winix 5500-2 air purifier for kitchens facing heavy pollution, but not larger than the 360 sq. ft.

Austin Air HealthMate Jr. – Best Option for Heavy Cooking Odors

If you often fry fish, meat, or sauté onions, then you probably have a problem with heavy cooking odors, and the devices I mentioned above can lose performance over time.

That’s why the best choice for dealing with heavy cooking odors is the Austin Air HealthMate Jr. This device features an outstanding activated carbon filter with as much as 6.5 lb of carbon pellets inside.

Such an efficient carbon filter contributes to the long-term and effective neutralization of cooking odors.

However, what you should keep in mind is that this air purifier isn’t as effective as some others on the list when it comes to removing airborne pollutants—but I don’t think that matters much if you’re looking for a device exclusively for kitchen use.

Additionally, I’d like to point out that Austin Air doesn’t offer any advanced features, everything this device has is a knob to adjust fan speed, and that’s it.

It uses a four-stage filtration technology that includes a Large Particle Pre-filter, Medium Particle Pre-filter, Activated Carbon and Zeolite, and True Medical Grade HEPA.

Side-by-side Comparison of the Best Air Purifiers for Kitchen

Scroll or swipe left/right to view the whole table.

What to Look for When Choosing a Kitchen Air Purifier?

When choosing an air purifier for the kitchen, it is imperative to pay attention to two things, namely the filtration technology and the CADR that the air purifier has.

All the devices I have listed have their own characteristics. Some are designed for larger rooms, others for smaller rooms, but all have extremely high-quality filters. This is one of the reasons why they are on the list of the best air purifiers for cooking odors.

When it comes to filtration, it is important that the air purifier has a good quality True HEPA filter or something similar that is equally or almost equally effective and that it has a good quality carbon filter. In this case, all the devices presented have pellet-based carbon filters, which means that they contain a certain amount of activated carbon that can absorb odors, especially cooking odors.

If we are talking about space coverage, you need to pay attention to the size of your kitchen and choose an appliance that can cover that space accordingly. For example, if you have a small kitchen and want to place the device closest to the source of pollution (on the kitchen counter), then the Levoit Core 300 is the best choice. However, suppose you have a huge kitchen combined with a dining or living room. In that case, I recommend a larger air purifier, such as the Levoit Core 600S.

Smart options are other things to look out for when buying a kitchen air purifier. Although not essential, it can also be helpful when choosing an air purifier for your kitchen. For example, an air purifier with an air quality sensor can easily be set to automatic mode, where the device will maintain good air quality independently, without any additional settings.

How I Tested and Selected Air Purifiers for the Kitchen?

To provide the most accurate recommendations, I personally tested numerous air purifiers in my kitchen to be one hundred percent sure which devices perform exceptionally well, which ones get the job done, and which ones are suitable for the kitchen. The essential conclusion is that whichever device you choose from the options mentioned above, you will go right and experience a noticeable improvement in air quality from the very first use.

For me personally, because I use a smaller kitchen, the most practical air purifier is the Levoit Core 300, which I always place near the stove and which efficiently neutralizes the smell of fried fish, onions, or anything else that comes from my kitchen.

However, I must also point out that the filters get dirty faster when I use the air purifier in the kitchen or any other room. Interestingly, the air purifier gets dirty much quicker when I use it in the kitchen than, say, in a room where I have pets. That’s why I took the filter’s longevity as one of the parameters when choosing an air purifier for the kitchen.

The most important thing is that I have carried out real-life tests in which I have tested the air purifiers in the kitchen while preparing different dishes, whether it was my wife or me preparing them. With that said, rest assured that this is a list of the best kitchen air purifiers you will find!

FAQs on Kitchen Air Purifiers

Final Conclusion

The fact is that air purifiers work in the kitchen, and they are a quick, effective, and affordable solution to neutralize cooking odors. This means that many people go the extra mile to combat cooking odors, specifically by buying an air purifier, in addition to some other ways, such as opening a window or using a cooker hood.

In this article, I have compiled a list of the 5 best air purifiers you can buy for cooking odors. Believe me, whichever one you buy, you won’t regret it. However, if I had to choose the best one, it would be the Alen FLEX, and the device I would buy first and use personally would be the Levoit Core 300 because of its compactness.

If you have any questions on this topic, please do not hesitate to post a comment in the comments box below.