I had the 48" DCS in my last house. Overall we weren't impressed with the DCS, it needed service a couple of times in the first couple of years (we lived with it for 4). However, the griddle was great, we loved it. It was great for pancakes, toasted sandwiches and reheating pizza! We had the grill, but as vegans didn't use it much, maybe for veggie burgers etc. It did work well and seemed to get as hot as needed. I recently bought the 44" Aga Legacy for my real Victorian remodel. SOOOO unhappy with it that my awesome dealer (Yale Appliance in Boston) offered to take it back (long story). We picked out a 48" Monogram with the griddle today to replace it. We are very lucky that we can move a cabinet and fit the 48" in. I was sold on the Monogram by the chef who works at Yale. He is beyond knowledgable and has no incentive to sell me anything. He pointed out lots of features the Monogram has over the Viking, Wolf etc. I was also shopping ovens, and the size and rolling shelves of the Monogram sealed the deal. GE took the brand back from DCS and really put a lot of thought and engineering into the brand.

Hollysprings - Ventilation price is not the issue. The issue is the cutting and moving of cabinets. My kitchen is a kosher kitchen which has a lot of complications when doing a layout. My kitchen is spacious to accommodate the need for doubles of everything, yet it is very utilitarian. Its design is superb and meets my needs. I have had professionals chef cook in my kitchen and praise the functionality as well as the beauty of my kitchen. In fact, one asked to come back and use my kitchen again. Ventilation only becomes an issue if I install a grill or a CC or BS. We have finally concluded we cannot install a CC or BS range because cutting and moving cabinets will cause other issues and will not look well. We are contemplating your suggestion of protecting a deck area. Also under consideration is a 30 inch BS char broiler which can be placed where a breakfast bar is currently located. The breakfast bar can be removed and a new counter top and 3 cabinets can be installed. If we do this, we will ventilate with a 900 CFM unit (although only 600 is necessary, I believe). I understand your feelings about the lack of ventilation with my electrolux - I was concerned. But the engineers at electrolux assured me it was not necessary - and it hasn't been!!! I cook constantly and many people use my kitchen. No one has felt the ventilation to be inadequate - perhaps cathedral ceilings and a ceiling fan help odors to disappear. I have wallpaper in my kitchen and there are no smoke marks or oil splotches on it, nor are there any on my ceilings. Sidpost - thanks for the interesting suggestion, Sandra, I called solaire and firemagic. Both did not recommend the usage of their portables indoors. I had thought of putting a grill on a moveable cart and placing the cart right outside my french doors so I could stay inside and grill outside. But they did not think that was a good idea. I try to think outside of the box - but safety is a paramount concern. If you find a way to achieve our aim - let me know.

>>"Their YouTube videos are great" You're kidding, right? They struck me as rather stilted and amateurish infomercial fare. I think they could use Vince the Sham-Wow guy to spice them up. Billy Mays is rolling over ... Do you want to replace your home grill with one of these things? One would probably be pretty cool so long as you have electrical power available outside where you grill. Being able to set the thermostat and walk away for 5 hours while your ribs cook at 190º is pretty awesome, but having to keep bags of wood pellets around is not. I am not sure that there is enough advantage to that to induce me to give up on my gas grill. Plus, I am not a fan of overly smoked meats; there is enough flavor in the smoking a haunch gets over the course of a few hours in the grill to suit me. What I wonder is what is the quality control of wood pellet ingredients? Aren't they designed for use as heating fuel? Do they use bizarre chemicals in the manufacturing process that could get into the food? Selenium Burgers!

Here's the recipe, it's a Weight Watcher's one: Mococcan Chicken Thighs 4 4 oz. skinned, boned chicken thighs (mine have bones, I'll take off most of the skin) 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. lemon rind 1/2 tsp. ginger 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tsp. olive oil Trim fat from chicken thighs, set aside. Combine spices in a large bowl. Brush oil evenly over chicken. Add chicken to bowl, and toss well to coat chicken with spice mixture. Let stand 10 min. Prepare the grill. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Cover and grill 6 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Serve with pita bread, if desired. Note: to prepare indoors, place a grill pan over medium-high heat: coat with cooking spray. Add chicken and cook 7 minutes on each side or until done. There's a park up the road from me where I could go and try this out grilling, or I could buy a little hibachi or a grill pan. But I don't grill, I'm going to have to sell my house pretty soon and I don't want to get more stuff to move with, and money is at a premium, so I don't really want to use a bunch of charcoal for just 4 pieces of chicken. My broiler gave out on my oven, but I think it is the pulsing that screws things up because it seems to still heat up OK, so I'm thinking I could use my broiler pan and just turn the oven up high and cook the meat close to the heating element for a similar effect to broiling. Or I guess I could sear the meat first in a frying pan and then bake. I didn't realize that just heating a pan on high on top of the stove would wreck it but now that you mention it, I guess it would.