Painting - Kitchen Ceiling paint pealing

We have a 11 foot ceiling that slants to 9 feet. The kitcen is 12 by 22. The paint is all cracked peeling and flaking all over the ceiling. The dining room is on the other side of the kitchen and shares the same slant and is only sperated by a wall between the two rooms and shows no peeling or cracking. I've lived in the home for just over two years and have asked several painters and gotten several different answers. Bad paint, not properly prepared prior to painting, Poor roof ventilation, poor insulation, My question is what can be done to resurface the ceiling and not maximize the cost. Ie sheet rock over the ceiling? Any advise or help would be greatly appreciated.

conditions have most likely contributed in one way or another to your paint peeling.

Best bet: scrape off as much of the paint as you can with a wide metal putty knife. Use drywall compound to smooth the surface. Sand complete with a 300 grit sandpaper and finish off with a high quality melamine based kitchen and bath paint. It will wear well and put up with moisture associated w/cooking.

If there's visible water staining/damage, then you have more expensive issues.

What I mean by peeling and cracking is that the entire ceiling is flaking. Its not just a spot or two. That is why i asked if sheetrock would be better. I'm not sure if scraping and sanding will get it all off and then I'm forced to paint over bad paint which will eventually flake off again in spots that were not treated properly.
Advise.

you can hire a contractor to hang new sheetrock, but why spend money if you don't have to. You haven't mentioned the condition of the sheetrock itself. Is it water damaged from above / inside causing your paint to peel. (swelling and water stains are your indicator.) If not and the paint is peeling due to moisture issues from cooking and the wrong paint being used in the first place, or, latex over oil based without a propor scuff 'n' prime, the above is the more labour intensive route for yourself, but will end up with a satisfactory and cost effective result.

If you do a good job sanding, the surface will be adequately etched to accept a high quality primer. That's the most important part of your prep.

The sheetrock itself looks good. There are no water stains or rusted nail pops so I ruled out water. My main fear is my inability to remove all the bad paint. The other fact is that the ceiling due to the flaking and peeling is a haven for spiders. Some one told me the tend to congregate due to the heat.
Advise

then its time to hire a painter who is willing to do proper prep work. I still think it will be more cost effective than starting from scratch and re-hanging sheetrock.

Anyone else? Feel free to jump in in case I'm all wet!