Tabletop cooking assembly

1. A tabletop cooking assembly, comprising:

a table frame;

a cooking element supported by said table frame;

a vent disposed peripherally to a side of said cooking element and defining an aperture for receiving smoke generated during preparation of food on said cooking element;

an exhaust duct, said exhaust duct being substantially unobstructed and in fluid communication with said vent for directing smoke away from said cooking element;

a filter assembly in fluid communication with said exhaust duct and comprising a filter disposed therein for filtering the smoke as the smoke passes through said filter assembly; and

a high velocity blower in fluid communication with said exhaust duct and said filter assembly for drawing smoke from said cooking element through said vent at a velocity greater than 750 feet per minute to substantially cool the smoke for improving removal of particles from the smoke.

2. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said high velocity blower is further defined as drawing smoke through said vent at a velocity of greater than 1250 feet per minute.

3. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a control panel laterally offset from said exhaust duct.

4. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said vent has a length extending at least a length of a cooking area of said cooking element.

5. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a precipitator in fluid communication with said high velocity blower.

6. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 5 , wherein said precipitator comprises at least one of a pre-filter, a static collection cell, and a media filter.

7. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a muffler positioned downstream of said high velocity blower.

8. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said tabletop cooking assembly is configured to substantially cool the smoke to a temperature of no more than 7 degrees above room temperature.

9. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said exhaust duct comprises a substantially triangular plenum.

10. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a vent hood disposed adjacent to said vent.

11. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 10 , wherein said vent hood further comprises a cover having a plurality of slots extending vertically along said length of said cover.

12. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said high velocity blower has a discharge efficiency through said vent of at least 75% of a blower capacity of said high velocity blower.

13. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said exhaust duct comprises an inlet and an outlet, said inlet being in fluid communication with said vent and said outlet being in fluid communication with said filter assembly.

14. A tabletop cooking assembly, comprising:

a table frame;

a cooking element supported by said table frame;

a vent disposed peripherally to a side of said cooking element and defining an aperture for receiving smoke generated during preparation of food on said cooking element;

an exhaust duct, said exhaust duct being substantially unobstructed and in fluid communication with said vent for directing smoke away from said cooking element;

a filter in fluid communication with said exhaust duct for filtering the smoke as the smoke passes through said filter;

a precipitator in fluid communication with said filter; and

a high velocity blower in fluid communication with said exhaust duct and said precipitator for drawing smoke from said cooking element through said vent at a velocity greater than 750 feet per minute for improving removal of particles from the smoke.

15. The tabletop cooking assembly of claim 14 , further comprising a control panel laterally offset from the exhaust duct.

16. The tabletop cooking assembly of claim 14 , further comprising a vent hood disposed adjacent to said vent.

17. The tabletop cooking assembly of claim 14 , wherein said tabletop cooking assembly is configured to cool the smoke to a temperature of less than 10 degrees above room temperature.

18. A tabletop cooking assembly, comprising:

a table frame;

a cooking element supported by said table frame;

a vent disposed peripherally to a side of said cooking element and defining an aperture for receiving smoke generated during preparation of food on said cooking element;

a vent hood disposed adjacent to said vent;

an exhaust duct, said exhaust duct being substantially unobstructed and in fluid communication with said vent for directing smoke away from said cooking element;

a filter assembly in fluid communication with said exhaust duct and comprising a filter disposed therein for filtering the smoke as the smoke passes through said filter assembly;

a high velocity blower in fluid communication with said exhaust duct and said filter assembly for drawing smoke from said cooking element through said vent at a velocity greater than 750 feet per minute to substantially cool the smoke; and

a muffler mounted downstream of said high velocity blower.

19. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 18 , further comprising a control panel laterally offset from said vent.

20. The tabletop cooking assembly as set forth in claim 18 , further comprising a precipitator in fluid communication with said high velocity blower.