Michael Smith’s brace – one a penalty and the other a Goal of the Season contender – kept the Owls’ promotion bandwagon on track.
Port Vale were put to the sword as the Owls overcame the loss of Barry Bannan to turn in a convincing S6 display against the in-form visitors.
Bannan limped off midway through the first half but Wednesday were undeterred and Smith promptly opened the scoring before putting the game out of Vale’s reach in stunning style.
Bannan almost saw the Owls off to a flier with a sweet volley that was rising in front of the Kop after neat work from Callum Paterson and Smith.
Will Forrester took the full sting of a Paterson hit straight in the midriff as Wednesday bossed the ball and turned the screw.
But the pressure was eased on Vale when Bannan, typically influential from the start, was forced from the action 25 minutes in.
Vale were forced back into retreat, though, and right on the half-hour Wednesday took the lead from the spot.
Tom Conlon handled a deep Will Vaulks corner and Smith stepped up to drill emphatically past Jack Stevens.
Vale were drawn from their own half having fallen behind and struck two chances wide on the counter, first from Ellis Harrison and then James Wilson.
But the Owls held their lead to half time and continued on the offensive in the second 45.
Alex Mighten embarked on one blistering run down the right that ended with Vaulks stabbing wide via a clever headed knockdown from Smith.
Vale did pose their own threat when bursting forward and never more so when Harrison skied a golden opportunity after tricky wing work from Sam Robinson.
A superbly timed challenge from Mark McGuinness then thwarted Harrison as Darrell Clarke’s side began to look dangerous.
But any hopes of a comeback were extinguished by Smith’s blockbuster that knocked the stuffing from the Staffordshire side.
Taking an inch-perfect pass from Reece James into his stride, the big striker moved across his marker before unleashing an unstoppable hit from 25 yards that saw the Owls’ unbeaten run extend to 12 games.
Wednesday: Dawson, Palmer, McGuinness, James, Johnson, Byers (Adeniran 88), Bannan (Vaulks 25), Dele-Bashiru, Mighten (Hunt 71), Paterson, Smith