"My ultimate stove would be a the new model 30 inch capital with the infra-red grill but with bluestars four stovetop burners..." Well, what about getting a Blue Star and one of these (or some other type of outdoor infrared grill)? It would kinda/sorta cover all your requirements, and save you quite a bit of money. I have both (RNB30 and the Turbo Sport), and I think it's a great compromise. Yes, I have to go outside to grill. BUT, these infrared grills create a HUGE amount of smoke! It's their operating temperatures -- they're literally incinerating grease, which results in flare-ups (if not careful) and copious, billowing clouds of grilling essence! I'm eagerly awaiting the first reports from new Capital range/grill homeowners with under-performing hoods -- should be quite entertaining!

Gary I think I once had an electric "stove" with a burner like that "sealed electric burner" for awhile. Agree that induction can provide a great range of heat and generally even heat unless there is an issue with the pan. For gas though, there seem to be features attributed to "open" in the open/sealed debate that are really due to other factors. There are several components of cooking that can contribute to a cooking surface that applies heat evenly to your food. You could look at the configuration of the burner ports. Open, sealed or semi open as in the old Wolf burner, there are attempts to make a better pattern of distribution by increasing the number of ports and spreading them out in concentric ports and putting them in a star shape. The most advantage would be for a pan that does not conduct heat well, like cast iron or a very thin pan. They must be sized to the burner though, as you size a pan to an electric burner. The second aspect is considering the size of the pan in relation to the heat pattern of the burner. Once you have a pan, like cast iron, that is bigger than the burner,even though the heat is distributed evenly over a 6 inch circle, you have a hot spot in the middle of the pan. I use 14 inch pans quite a bit and so with my 14 inch CI pan I am better off with a larger ring of heat that would cut the total area of the pan roughly in half unless I could find a star burner 12 inches wide. The flip side is a burner that is too wide for the pan. You then have the heat going either to the very outside or completely around the pan. An open burner on the highest setting will produce a flare but the extent to which this happens depends on how the burner is engineered. Here is a picture of the 30 inch Wolf cooktop compared to 30 inch BS and even when you consider the flare really only on the highest burner setting, the burner is much smaller to begin with so might accommodate a smaller pan easier than the BS. People on this forum tend to focus on the heat source because it is an appliance forum not a cooking forum. To get the most even heat in many more situations, don't worry about the burner but the interface of the food to the burner--the pan. Use a good heavy copper pan and not only will heat be even across the bottom but even up the sides as well. Heat will be coming evenly from all directions. If you can't swing copper use heavy aluminum. Last week, I did use a commercial range with star burners, (with almost no void of burner ports in the middle) with a cast iron pan. It was well sized to the burner so heated well. It had a very poor low end of heat but I'm sure I could work around that if I had to. I have cooked on other commercial ranges as well. I still do like my sealed burners for home due to the great control of the flame especially the low end. I can certainly see people making other choices though. I am currently using my range but due to the issues with the "blue chips" I will at some point replace it. I may have to reconfigure my kitchen to accommodate a rangetop and I am not sure what that will be. Maybe I will get a CVAP for the oven. They are supposed to be coming out with a residential version.

I'm not opposed to mixing some pork or pork sausage with the beef for a burger but if I want meatloaf, I'll make meatloaf and I do like meatloaf but to me, meatloaf is not a burger. And for me, meatballs should be somewhere in-between. A little filler but not just meatloaf made into little balls. A good burger with a bit of seasoning mixed in, on a toasted, quality bun (or open face with toast), maybe a couple paper-thin slices of raw onion and occasionally some good cheese can usually stand on it's own and doesn't need pickle, relish, tomato, lettuce, or "special sauce". Bacon can make anything better but usually I wind up eating the bacon as an appetizer, then eat the burger. As quality dwindles, then add some steak/BBQ sauce and other stuff. If I want to go for something unusual or more decadent, I'll try a Juicy Lucy. When I'm at a restaurant, I guess I look more at what they do best. I don't order steak at a bar. I don't order lasagna at a seafood place, etc.

doofus, I don't know if this is too late for your decision but, we had a capital 36 inch all gas self clean range with 6 burners and rotisserie installed about 2 weeks ago and it is awesome. we have used the rotisserie 3 times. once was a trial run for a dinner party to practice cooking with it. We cooked a 4 pound prime rib roast for the trial run, and 8 pound prime rib for our dinner party, and a whole chicken for mother's day. The results were unbelievable. the chicken was fantastic and the prime rib was the best I ever ate even in top steakhouses like Mortons. As for the cost, I agree you cannot compare to GE cafe. Capital is a quality range like wolf, thermador, dcs, etc. In terms of those, I believe the quality is just as good if not better and actually significantly less expensive especially compared to wolf.