I am not sure of the GE Monogram grate construction. I have the Bluestar grill and it has very heavy cast iron grates that seemed to be pretty well pre-seasoned on delivery. I finished it off with the usual routine of peanut oil on hot grates and then routine cooking which is the finishing touch. I also use a grill brush (brass only) to knock off burned on food and the finish up with a light coat of peanut oil. Once in a while (once or twice a year) I wash them in a sink with very hot water and plastic brush, dry well with a towell then heat the grates with the grill or in an oven and finish up again with peanut oil. They stay well seasoned this way and rarely stick.

For the most part, the standard advice is to shop around for the best of each appliance regardless of manufacturer. For instance, while GE makes a great range, their refrigerators tend to be lacking. Both Icon and Monogram score high in my book for dual fuel range/gas rangetop, & wall oven. I am not at all impressed with either brand's refrigerators. Everytime I open an Icon refrigerator I am disappointed--the exterior wrapping looks so nice then the inside is just a let down. I didn't want to be depressed everytime I went for something in the fridge so I crossed them off my list. Anyway, back to the topic at hand--manufacturers want you to buy all your appliances from them and that's why they run those rebates. Often you can find just as good an overall deal by shopping piece by piece. The only place I find it common to have all one brand of appliance is in builder houses where they are getting a killer deal with no sales tax either by doing so. In our home, we went with the Monogram 36" 6 burner rangetop, Monogram double oven, Monogram hood (only got the hood in Monogram because of the $1,000 rebate with that combo and I really didn't have a hood brand preference), 2 KA dishwashers and a Samsung refrigerator. Mom has a Viking 36" 6 burner rangetop, Miele double oven, 2 Bosch dishwashers and a KA refrigerator. The appliances coordinate nicely in both homes and neither of us have anyone comment on whether or not they all matched brandwise. Hope this helps & happy hunting!

Hi. I'm new to this forum, and I've really enjoyed reading through many of the old threads. I've learned a lot from you. Like many who post here, I'm choosing appliances for a major kitchen remodel. Now I'm focusing on cooking appliances. Looking at features and reliability issues I've narrowed my choices down to the GE monogram ZET2 ovens and ZGU385 36" 5 burner cooktop, or the Electrolux (not ICON) EW30EW65 oven and EW36GC55 cooktop. On the Monogram all 5 burners are dual stack with simmer, so I'm leaning toward that one. The oven also seems excellent, but I like the look of the Electrolux better (love that blue inside). I also need an island type hood. Many of the existing posting on these appliances are 2 - 4 years old. I'd love to hear any new updates and opinions about these appliances. Thanks for your help.

My girlfriend and I and her brother who I also designed and am building a house for have bought 6 burner cooktop( thermador), monogram oven and speedook advantium, stainless steel sinks, faucets, insinkerator 1 hp excel, lights and fans, door and cabinet hardware, all on ebay and toilets, cable railing, IPE decking, Panasonic whisper quiet bath fans from other various online suppliers. We are also looking at Cree LED recessed cans online that are much less expensive than found locally. In many cases they have saved 50%-60% or more. They have been shopping since the plans were started so they could be patient and research and buy at easy pace. You should look at feed back ratings and if you use paypal I think they are also a safety feauture that can back you up in case of problems. These online vendors do so much business there that they are very rating conscious so often times service can be better than brick and mortar stores. Plumbers sometimes want to buy the stuff and mark it up or if any problems they charge to fix it or get any missing parts etc but in most cases the savings are worth it up front. I also acted as General contractor with them so we didnt have contractor to deal with or have any problems working with. So discuss these things with yours if considering this way of buying items. For us it has literally saved $5000-$10,000 each plus markup in this case. You also need to look closely at what model and condition of the items you are buying in the case of ovens and advantiums. I did lots of research to be sure what models were acceptable in the Monogram line for instance... read lots of posts on here to get familiar with the pros and cons etc then bought what was right for us and what was acceptable in terms of whether or not a warranty was or wasnt included or if there were scratches, dents, blemishes or not. Again since we saved at least 50% on the ovens we felt it was worth it. So far so good but they wont go in for a few weeks. But they all came in in great condition. So good luck either way