I'm not an owner...yet, but spent some time last month with Trevor Lawson at Eurostoves in Massachusetts testing out the CC and comparing to other ranges and will soon be an owner of a 48" with grill.

I don't believe you'll have a space issue with the wok grate. It fits right in as a replacement grate and the grill is low enough that it shouldn't interfere with a wok. I guess if there's one disadvantage to having a grill in the middle of your 36" you'd be using the wok on an end burner so you're less "directly" under the center of the hood to collect wok smoke/grease. Probably makes sense to get a 42" or 48" hood to insure proper venting (recommended anyway).

The only other issue that I hadn't been aware of is that these indoor range grills take significantly more time to heat up to temperature than your outdoor grill since they have no cover. I'm told it can take 15-20 minutes to reach full-searing temperature. That is a little bit of a bummer.

Good luck!

BrightFutureFoods.

Thanks for the input. I am going 36" and a 42" liner that is 22" deep.

I just am not sure if i should go for the grill or just use the lecrueset grill pan.

In a commercial setting we leave our grill on all the time so the 20 min startup is not a huge hurdle but i suppose a limitation for residential settings.

Did you compare grilled foods with grill pan foods?
Also smell for sure be an issue in an open concept home with the grill, i for one won't clean it after every use.

Just one note on the hood, try to make the capture area depth larger that 22".

jmith,

Unfortunately our time was limited so I didn't spend time cooking, etc. With a properly powered hood and properly sized duct, however, the grill smoke/smell shouldn't be a problem.

We decided to go with the grill so I can sear off meats, roast veggies, etc. w/o venturing outside in our cold winters in Vermont. There is a cast iron griddle that fits nicely over the grill so we don't feel the need to sacrifice two burners for a griddle as well.

A grill pan is fine in a pinch, but IMHO it's not the same as grilling over open flame. We've contemplated a 36" as well and i'm not sure i'd sacrifice two 23K burners for the grill only to be left with four. Tough call.

One thing i'll say, is we did CLEAN the grill with Trevor as this was definitely a source of concern. It comes apart easily and if you line the bottom with foil, cleaning isn't difficult.

Check out Eurostove's CC videos on Youtube if you haven't already. Trevor walks you through the grill in action and the cleanup.

Best of luck to you and post pics after your install!

cheers

trevor: I will look into a larger/deeper hood but right now 22 is what we have found... i am going 42" for a 36" CC.

Brightfuturefoods: thanks for the input. I keep on going back n forth in my head whether to get 6 burners and use a grill pan... or just get the grill (larger surface area). Having 6 burners is a luxury for sure but i think as long as i have four pans i am good. I guess it boils down to the maintenance and lingering smell of the grill.

Anyone else has any opinions on grill vs grill pan on the CC?

jmith.... I don't think you will find a deeper insert than 22", but you can make your cabinetry deeper than 22" and put the insert 6" up inside the wood, so the bottom edge of the wood becomes the capture area.

Much like an upside down sink.... you build the bowl... I supply the plug hole.

trevor: good idea so basically have exposed wood on the decline within the hoot(wood) and have the liner recessed further in.

wouldn't that cause problems with the wood and damage it over time?

The bottom / leading edge of the wood will be at least 36" above the cooking surface so it damage won't be a problem.

Doing the hood this way you will create a larger capture area which is so much better for smoke and grease removal.

We should always remmeber that extra depth is better that extra width, if you watch someone cooking somthing smokey you will see more smoke and grease is lost from the front than the sides.

My recommendation is always as follows (assuming a 48" range)

48" wide x 24" depth..... Good
48" Wide x 27" Depth..... Above average / really good
54" Wide x 27" Depth..... Excellent, top 2% in the country.

As for blower recommendations

1200 cfm internal blowers.... Minimum / Good
1200 cfm Inline Blower....... Really Good ? Less Noise
1200 cfm Remote Blower + Silencer... Excellent Top 2%

****For in-line and Remote you really need 10' to benefit from noise reduction.****

I'm concerned about banging my head against a 27" deep hood. What do people think would be better: 24" depth 30" above the rangetop or 27" depth around 34" or more above the rangetop. 34" above the range would be 5'10" so that would be good for me.

donfromma,

I think it's a gamble and i hope trevor can chime in... gamble i say because the higher the fan i am assuming it would have less sucktion? 4" i am not sure how much suction you would lose.

Perhaps others can chime in on this one.

actually after re-reading trevor's post he said 36" above the culinarian and the pdf's for culinarian say atleast 30" so i am not sure what is best here.

No Culinarian experience, but we put our hood 34.5" above the top of the range (BS RNB) for precisely the same reason (my wife's concern more than mine -- she's a bit taller than I am at 6 feet tall, and less keen on bending, watching her forehead, etc.) We've been very pleased with the performance of the hood (24" depth, 1100 cfm blower, 10" duct). Not sure what sort of play you might have with the Culinarian, but there might be an inch there, such that you can raise the range a bit, providing a given hood clearance from the floor on which you will stand with a bit less distance between the range and the hood).

I would reccomend the following

36" for wood / insert (mostly because of local code)
30" for non combustible / Stainless Steel.

At the end of the day the bigger capture area will always win out, a bigger capture area also give you the opportunity to raise the hood above 30" if you want.

Same principle applies for any range or cooktop.