I have an older (mid or late 90s) DCS with a grill. It came with the house. I never use it. Or I did once, but it's such a pain to clean I'd rather go outside (using charcoal) if I'm grilling. I'd ask about what kind of heat they put out, how even it is, and what it's like to clean.

Hi there,
I have a over 18 year old 36" Thermador gas cooktop with a built in grill that can convert to a griddle. I tried hard to love it when we bought this house, but it is so hard to clean, did not grill well (took forever) and ended up looking dirty even when I bought a new grill surface to replace the previeous owners. The griddle was just not as good as a big electric one I had. We now grill either on on outdoor grill on on a grilling appliance. Of course, the new models may be better.
I am planning to replace my cooktop with a 6 gas burners, and a stove top griddle.

Another JoAnn ( wow we spell our names the same, unusual)

If you have the room and the budget you could go for a Bluestar 48". That way you'll end up with 6 burners and a grill. As to weather or not the grill will work for you, try to find a BS dealer that has a working model and try it out. You can always get a cast iron griddle and bridge it either over the grill or 2 burners if you want to griddle. It sounds like you'll probabley get more use out of the grill than the griddle.

The Blue Star grill is 15,000 BTU, the Capital is an infrared ceramic grill @ 18,000 BTU & the Wolf is also infrared ceramic @ 16,000 BTU. The Capital & Wolf use gas to heat a ceramic surface so that one is cooking via infrared as one does with charcoal. From the pictures on Eurostoves, I don't think that Blue Star uses the same infrared ceramic for the grill. Trevor?

When I bought the house (built in 1992) I live in now, there was a Jenn-Air downdraft cooktop with a grill on one side with only two burners on the other side. I got another double burner cartridge and got rid of the grill ASAP. But that was the older type of electric grill.

Charcoal is definitely not an option. I wouldn't want to deal with the mess. We will have an LP connection on one of our decks for a larger grill when we want to entertain. And I can see that a grill on my range would not be worth very much if I wanted to use it to cook for a crowd. I just would like some feedback from folks with infrared ceramic grills or the Blue Star type on how well they think the grill would accommodate grilling just for two people.

Of course, the websites for the manufacturers make it sound like the grills are easy to clean. I will have good ventilation so that I will be able to do the recommended burn off. Is cleaning one of these grills much harder than cleaning an outdoor gas grill?

The Blue Star that I have been able to see was not working. I don't think I would need to use the grill & griddle simultaneously, but I do have room for 48" if that would be the best configuration.

Yes, I don't meet many Jo Ann's especially with the space on the middle. Of course, I've never been sure if my 1st name is Jo & my middle name is Ann or if my parents named me Jo Ann & forgot to give me a middle name. Do you have a middle name?

Thanks - Jo Ann

Hi again. I also have no middle name! And I "pretend" my parents only gave me one name, although I will never be sure. One less line on a form to fill in....

Also, we use an our outdoor gas grill which burns off most of the "remains", but the new ceramic grills sound fun.

JoAnn (Jo Ann on my birth certificate :) )

i have a 48" american range with the griddle. i used a surface temp thermometer and my surface temp is within 3 degrees across the top. i use a stone-like (lightweight abrasive thingy) to clean it and i also have a butcher block i cover it with, i use it as a landing zone so to speak. another plus with the 48" is you have 2 ovens. 1 18" and 1 30" there are only 3 of us and the 18" works great for us, then when we have company usually on the weekends and holidays we use either the 30" or both. thanksgiving is a breeze for 10+ the oven lights are great, the fans are quiet and it's a well built machine.
good luck in your search.
john
917-842-1809

Since this is your retirement home, and you are building it in SC, I would ask if you plan on an outdoor kitchen as well.

If you are, then I would plan on my grill being OUTSIDE, not in my indoor kitchen. That would give you a lot more "bang for your buck" if you put basic cooking inside* the house, and grilling outside.

I would go for the burners inside, and maybe the griddle. I would leave the grilling for outside if its near the indoor kitchen -- ours is.

We're building a hillside walkout, so any outdoor kitchen would be a flight of stairs below our main living space. If we do build an outdoor kitchen, it would primarily be for entertaining. I wouldn't be as likely to make multiple trips up & down the stairs if I'm just cooking for the two of us, especially as I get older.

I love my GE Monogram 36" with the grill- it is really easy to clean- almost everything can be put into the dishwasher. I make a ton of things on it- including pizza. You can do an amazing number of things on it- don't let a chef dissuade you from getting one. I use mine at LEAST once a week and I am a busy teacher. Clean up is easy or you can just put the stainless cover over it and save the clean up for another time.

Thanks, bonton. I looked up the GE Monogram grill and see that it is an infrared ceramic grill. Have you ever had a more conventional grill & how does the infrared compare, if you did?

Thanks - Jo Ann

I have the 36" Thermador cooktop with 4 burners and a center grill. I hate the grill. It takes -- seriously -- almost an hour to heat up hot enough to truly grill. If I could do it over again, I'd get 6 burners and a good grill pan (Lodge makes a good one) to straddle two of the burners. I get better results that way. Good luck!

actual owner of Wolf range with grill. 1) I think you'll get a better sear pan broiling than on a griddle, with less mess, but good hood is critical; 2) for steaks (rare, med rare), swordfish, tuna, thick pork chops finished off in fast oven, the grill is spectacular. Putting aside enjoying grilling outside, we prefer the Wolf to our fast NG Weber outside grill, the Wolf gives more of a charcoal flavor, I guess due to the IR heat rather than a regular gas grill's convection/radiant heat. The only other inside grill I've cooked on is a Viking (not IR) and the Wolf was clearly superior. Cleaning a bit of a task but well worth it, especially when weather makes outside grilling inconvenient. YMMV.