Are you talking about a cooktop or do you mean a rangetop. If you really mean cooktop, I think the burner is cut off on the Monogram(top) so the griddle might hang over the controls. Some of the overlays are wider. chef King is 12”. The Wolf if you use the 9K and 12K, you would still have 21K combined. If you turned the 12K down a little, it would compare with the 15K or less found on most built ins. One big advantage with an overlay is that you have a choice about what metal you use. You can get one that is rolled steel or heavy aluminum. The aluminum one comes bare or coated to be nonstick. http://www.dvorsons.com/ChefKing/Griddles.htm http://royalindustriesinc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_22_48 I have the bare aluminum . I like it because it heats more evenly than the steel and is a little lighter weight. I want it to be evenly heated when I make grilled sandwiches or toast buns. I season it like a steel griddle. I had a smaller one on my previous range but it was too small for the range I have now but it had seasoned very well over the years. The steel takes a seasoning a little easier and if there are hotter and cooler areas, some people utilize that to cook and hold. "As for using a griddle that spans 2 burners, it just doesn't work well. The heat isn't even-- the ends get very hot and the middle is warm." There might be a couple of things that influence this. The first is the metal used in the griddle.. The second is that the Monogram and Wolf both have a burner cap so compared to an uncapped burner, there is more flare on the highest heat. The amount of flare depends on how the burner is engineered. This can leave the middle without heat. If the griddle is steel, stainless or cast iron, the heat transfer properties aren’t that great so the middle can be cooler. Heavy aluminum and heavy copper, will even out the heat more. Thermador was mentioned as a star burner but it is capped so does not bring heat to the center as a BlueStar star burner does. The BSstar is uncapped so it truly brings heat in a more upward direction on high heat and to the middle if that is what you want. BlueStar star burner, top uncapped Thermador Star bottom, capped Capped ring burner Keep in mind too that medium heat might be all that is required with an overlay. Most two burner built in griddles have about 15K BTUs total. An overlay has the potential to have 2x whatever the burners are. If it is on high and it is difficult to see where the flame is on the pan, you might be loosing all of your heat around the pan. My griddle is heavy aluminum, 15x23” and it heats pretty evenly on medium -med high heat. Burners are Wolf dual stacked 15 K BTUs. If the griddle were only 11” wide and the burners were up high, that might be close to 30K and the flame is closer to the edges.

Hannah, I don't necessarily clean it after each use. It really depends on how messy it's gotten on any given day or week. I might leave it go if I know I'll be using the burners that night or the next day, and can just tackle the cleaning afterward. It was a trial and error thing early on, as to how to clean/what to use on the burner pans so they wouldn't look all smeary. At a Wolf Showroom cooking demo, they had recommended the Perfect Kitchen spray, which worked well. But I'd started mixing up and using my alcohol-water spray on my granite counters, and then tried it on my SS and on the burner pans, and it worked well, so I just started using that. I do clean with a sponge first if it needs it, but if just lightly "soiled" or dusty, I just use the spray. My grates don't look new or pristine, and some of them are pitting (rust spots), but they aren't covered in food residue or anything (I do wipe them occasionally, or as needed, like I said). They just look well used, which for cooking grates, is just fine IMO. I actually have another set or two in my attic (long story), so can always swap them out at some point.

Do you use a griddle now? I would consider an overlay griddle instead of a built in. The one I have(Royal industries)is 15”x23” and is about 50% bigger than a 2 burner built in. I have a Wolf range. It can be bigger because it is made of heavy aluminum which has much better heat transfer properties than steel so heats more evenly. It comes in bare aluminum which seasons over time and nonstick. With a built in you have about half of the power, somewhere around 15K BTUs. You can set the griddle anywhere you want or you have the flexibility of using all six burners. I have picked up my griddle and put it in the oven. You can take it to the sink to clean. These are Royal Industry overlays. They are pretty inexpensive. http://royalindustriesinc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_22_48 Chef King makes a similar griddle out of steel. With the built in, you have a thermostat so you can repeatedly turn it in to a certain temperature and get that amount of heat. If you go this way, look how the different brands are built. Wolf uses an infrared burner to get a more even heat. The steel is twice as thick as BlueStar. BlueStar uses this burner on the RNB griddle. Thermador uses an aluminum griddle and an electric element.

Note that the LG LCG3611ST ($1400) differs in power from the SKS UPCG3654ST ($1900) only in the power of the center burner: 17K instead of 19K. The LG Studio LSCG367ST (now discontinued but with the 19K burner of the SKS) received a recommended rating by CR. Biggest complaint: the plastic knobs. You might want to check whether the SKS has metal knobs like my LG induction range has.