Oh, be very, very careful about using even a mildly abrasive sponge or cleaner on GE's aluminum. My husband cleaned the front of our Advantium with a 'safe' scrubby, only a month or two after we got it (back when they were going for about $1200), and left it horribly scratched--something I've had to live with for the past 12 years! Have you tried using a baking soda paste on it? Let it sit for a bit, and wipe with a soft cloth--baking soda is non-abrasive, and usually does the job for me, for so many different cleaning tasks, that it's the first cleaning product I reach for.

All these ranges are great, and they all have their idiosyncrasies. Capital, as an example have the most available features, offering large wok burners on top and self cleaning ovens below with a rotisserie if you want it. Infrared grills too. And a company that is responsive to their customers. Their one weakness is also a strength- they have 19K BTU burners. These burners go low enough if adjusted, the problem is the large circle of flames is not so great with a small pot. A small pot set on medium or higher and the flames go to the outside of the pot. The solution would be to have at lease one smaller burner with a smaller flame circle. But if you want high heat, you have to have more flame holes and that usually means a larger diameter circle, stacked or not. It's that simple. This is what Wolf and DCS do on their sealed burner ranges- 2 different burner sizes. They may also have a dual stage or stacked burner for simmer, but they still have two different burner caps. Wolf offers an open burner(on their All Gas) that is cute because it has a small cap within a second larger circle. But some people find the black porcelain bowls harder to clean. American doesn't use 'stacked' (or dual stage) burners, but has 3 different burner sizes. Even the small circle gets pretty hot when set on high. Bluestar doesn't use stacked burners either. But they have 3 burner sizes per range-and they do two things differently- the flames are directed straight up, and their medium (15K) and large (22K) BTU burners have eight fingers of flames (double rows on each finger of the 22K) going out from a small circle-and like I said, the flames shoot straight up, not out- so when you turn the thing on high, the flames aren't going to the outside of the pan ...also only the smallest burner is in a circle, the others are a circle with 8 fingers. A great design, but they have their problems too on occasion- see all the threads on this forum. And you certainly can't get self-cleaning or dual fuel with that brand.

"I actually miss the chrome trim on newer appliances. I would like white fridges and ovens better if they had a nice metal handle instead of the plastic that yellows." Me, too! I'm glad our relatively new white fridge has white-painted metal handles, not white plastic handles, but I wish it had come with chrome handles. My much older white oven is only 2 years younger than my dad's white oven but I think it's aged better than my dad's for two reasons. One is that it has very little plastic on it and it's gray (to go with the chrome trim on the oven). The second reason is that the gray plastic has stayed the same color as opposed to the dingy yellow of the aged white plastic on my dad's oven.

I'm looking for affordable Stainless Steel 48 inch gas range with down draft ventilation.