Aidansdaddy: I'm in the almost exact situation (but have convinced the wife on open burner).

Before that, the sealed units we were considering were the DCS, the Bertazzoni and the Capital Precision.

If you promise to clean the range, could she be convinced? :-)

Does your wife know about the advantages of a good open burner like the Capital Culinarian? If not, I bet you could convince her that it would be better. Look on Trevor's Eurostoves website for videos showing the burners and how to clean them. I never ever would have considered an open burner until I saw the CC. I just wasn't educated. I thought that sealed burners were the only way to go. I'm NOT saying your wife's opinion is wrong, mind you, just wondering if she researched the issue enough.

Other than that, I don't have a brand to recommend. I agree with you to get a rangetop that can will suit your needs when you start cooking more. A good piece of equipment makes cooking more fun!

Tadhg555 and breezygirl,

Thanks for the feedback -- I will give one last sell for an open burner unit (I will even include the promise to clean). As an aside, I spoke to Trevor on the phone today, and he was informative and courteous.

Short of that, I am currently looking at the Thermador 36 Professional line. Any further feedback would be much appreciated.

i was still kinda am interested in the thermador. They look sharp and i think the flame patter is as close to an open burner flame as your going to get. I like the way the burners are raised too. Currently I'm leaning to just saying screw it and getting a CC or BS open burner. You can save a few $100 by going with thermador.

The GE monogram is probably more reliable/safer bet than thermador's on/off simmer. It also has a 2 year warranty. GE also has built in wok rings (on all burners, why i have no idea) but its still an added value. I feel that GE is kinda boring though. I also think a 18k round burner will shoot past the bottom of smaller parts. Which is why, of the 2 I was leaning toward thermador. When i saw the thermador it really throws fire up, which looks cool. Not sure if this helps you :)

Most people who've had problems with Thermadors have had problems with the wall ovens or the oven portion of the Thermador ranges, not the burners or rangetops. The star-shape of the Thermador burners gives better flame coverage than the outer-ring style seen on most burners (which mainly heats the outer circumference of a pan rather than across the pan). And the Thermador rangetop sure is good-looking.

I don't know why TonySak said above that the simmer setting may not be as reliable or as safe (??) - can you provide backup for that comment? I haven't heard that at all. I think if the Thermador burners weren't "safe" it would be a big deal and we would have heard about it, there'd be recalls, etc. What I have heard is that many people don't like the low simmer setting on the Thermador burners cause they click on and off which is an annoying sound. Other people say they don't mind the clicking, or rarely simmer on such a low setting, or they can't hear the simmer clicking over the other noises in the kitchen like the exhaust fan, the kids, or the general hubbub in a kitchen. The clicking isn't cause it's broken or anything, that's just how the Thermador low simmer has always worked. Can you go see one in operation to see if it would annoy you?

If you were to consider open burners, I would recommend the Bluestar Rangetop. I've used a Bluestar range for 3 or 4 years now, and have only the deepest respect for how they perform. And they are very easy to clean, because the entire top is black porcelain glazed cast iron- and not a sheet of thin steel or stainless like everything else. Nothing sticks to it, and nothing really even shows.

A friend of mine has an American Residential Range with sealed burners, and her biggest complaint is that its hard to clean. The Bluestar grates and bowls (also thick cast iron) come right off, if you need to remove them, but spills just go right past the burners instead of floating on the stove top- and collect on a slide out drip tray. I think you really have to use one to see just how easy it is.

And the burners are great and are varied in size, and like all open burners, the flames come straight up to the bottom of the pan instead of shooting out sideways like the larger sealed burners.

If you go for sealed burners, try to find one that has various sized burners, smaller ones for small pots. The big circled burners simply cannot be used on high except with the widest pots or pans, the flames go outside of the pot.

@shannonplus2
By safe I mean a safe bet in terms of reliability (not actual chance of explosion :) ).

I have read on forums, that there is a solenoid of some sort which controls the extra low feature on extra low burners which when fails is $150 for the part a alone. I also spoke to a few random repair guys who service thermador and they said they tend to be repair prone. I didn't ask about specific years or what not.

TonySak - Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I find it very simple to clean my Bluestar. 95% of the time it's remove top part of the grate, sponge down with wet sponge (I don't even bother with detergent), replace great. I think the two-piece design of the Bluestar grate is very handy.

That said, your cooking style should determine more than anything else if you want a "professional" series rangetop. Some are more "professional" than others, as you are surely finding out. A truly "professional" cooking surface has little in common with most residential offerings.

Personally, I am not sure how valid the idea is of "growing" in to anything equipment related. As the years go by I am consistently finding that in order to understand and use the features of something top of the line you HAVE to live without them first. Gas ranges, archery tackle, motorcycles, knitting needles, fountain pens, whatever! You might be better off going with your instincts and getting the Thermador. That will be as fine a range as you need for years to come and those star burners will give you good coverage under the pan for a sealed burner.

-Stooxie

Thanks to everyone who has given us feedback. We're going to do a bit more thinking, and go to available demos. I'll update when we make a decision.

TonySak, interestingly, because of Ca. state taxes, it's a few hundred cheaper to go w/ the CC vs the Thermador 36" rangetop. Go figure.

Stooxie, this is completely apropos of nothing, but what sort of fountain pen are you currently using?

Dang, you got me! :) I haven't used one for years, but I did go through quite a lengthy fountain pen stage a few years ago. Although oh-so-cool, it was more trouble than it was worth! I used a Mont Blanc :)

-Stooxie