It may be adequate, it depends on how much and what you cook. My OTR MW is vented directly outside, it sits over my gas cooktop. I don't do a lot of high heat or grease splattering cooking, so the OTR MW is adequate. I had the same space constraints. I've had 5 OTR MW, and even when I was cooking for my family of 5, it was fine. I often use the MW when I cook, so it's handy to have it over the cooktop. Saves walking.

I went with the Profile double-oven gas: here are my reasons. I like the smaller-size top oven for daily use, and the lower oven will only be used on occasion, so I'm ok with its location. (There's no room for a wall oven in my tiny kitchen -- and I have no plans to tear out cabinets and rearrange.) I'm a good cook, and I honed my skills on low-end domestic ranges because that's what was available: I don't need a commercial range to cook what I like, and I'm too busy with other aspects of my life to change my cooking style now. I also prefer not to deal with "pro" level BTUS and the ventilation complications they might add. I also am not willing to give up self-cleaning ovens -- which puts many pro-style ranges out of contention. I liked the slide-in setup and the angled control-knob location on the Profile, so that, and the price advantage, led me to choose it over the Cafe. Re: price, I bought mine from a local dealer, and I got the price down a bit by asking them to meet the ajmadison.com price. They didn't quite get there, but I was willing to pay a little extra for local sales/delivery/service reliability. Everyone's situation is a little different, but I found that the Profile slide-in fits best with my kitchen and the way I use it.

I just purchased the GE Cafe package of appliances with a 30" range for my kitchen renovation. (pheww my first purchase ahhhhh!) My first of many question on this reno is....What hood do you recommend for a 30" range?. I have a clean modern taste. I will probably do a chimney style hood. I was looking at the XO - XOB 600CFM's. My brother swears that I have to get a (more expensive) remote blower for a hood. He says otherwise it will be too loud. Do you really think that is necessary? I rarely use the fan now on my existing kitchen with basic sears type range with microwave above. My Kitchen will be a lot more open to my living dining room area now...but this just doesnt; seem to be such a big deal to me am I missing something? Thanks this site has already been a huge help in Kitchen planning...I am excited to get the ball rolling and move on this kitchen : )

Ben37, I ended up ordering a Faber 30" synthesis. Haven't seen it yet, I hope it looks good! Any pictures you have would be appreciated (but there's no turning back for me now!).