TRUST ME.....Don't buy the Viking.....buy a BlueStar!!!! They may have the name (because of their HUGE marketing dollars), but BlueStar has the power, performance, and ease of service (and related costs).
Buy a grill model, but also purchase a seperate griddle that sits on top of two burners. This achieves the ability to cook with a griddle, yet allows you to clean it at the sink and store it.

In my experience this is not a hard question to answer. Grilling is for outdoors - and this is for a reason - the mess you'll make the first time grilling inside will deter you from ever using the grill again and wishing you'd gone with a 6 burner or griddle model. I've been in appliances for some years now and I couldn't even tell my worst enemy to put a grill model in.

On refrigerators, I personally like the way G.E. is built. The shelving is so much more durable than the other brands - and if I had a ten foot pole, I wouldn't get within 20 feet of an LG refrigerator (it's not that it's a bad product per se, but if you ever do need parts you'll be waiting for them a bit longer than you would either of the other brands).

I have a bosch dishwasher (she43m05uc) and will always have a bosch dishwasher, though I am intrigued with the 'smart dispense' feature on the GE. Whirlpool makes a decent dishwasher, but don't get sucked in on the 'save room by putting silverware in your door'. It doesn't clean it near as well, and honestly, that's what you're putting in your mouth...

If you can afford to put a little money in a microwave, I'd go with the GE Advantium. Again, I have this at home (SCA1001KSS)and wouldn't trade it for anything else out there. They make these in both the over-the-range version and the built-in version. If you're wanting to go inexpensive go with the UMV1152 (maytag). It has no name and doesn't cost much at all.

Hope this helps.

The Guru has Spoken.

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliance Guru Blog

I agree with the first two posts and would add that although I don't think all Viking ranges are bad, they do tend to be overpriced. There are lots of range manufacturers out there. I replaced my Viking cooktop with a Bluestar and love it to death. Seriously, I never expected to find a drop-in cooktop that cooks like a restaurant burner. If you are looking at full ranges or a rangetop (as Viking calls them) your selection goes up and Viking does make some good choices. Regardless of what brand, buy and open burner. If you want ease of cleaning, then go with flat surface radiant or induction. I had a Viking sealed burner and it was not that easy to clean. The burners have an aluminum collar that gets stained very easily and if any liquid gets into the ignitors, it'll take a week to dry out and you're left with using matches or dealing with endless clicking. IMHO, cleaning on open vs sealed gas burners is very minor so if ease of cleaning is your top priority then go with electric.

Now with regard to brands.. I'd go so far as to say if you have any two appliances with the same brand, you are not getting best of class. Ok maybe an exaggeration but not far from true. In fact, a great cooktop manufacturer may not be a good oven manufacturer. That flies in the face of the single unit ranges but it's true. You might ask why commercial ranges are sold in single piece then. Well, many if not most restaurants either primarily use the cooktop or oven. So they buy whichever brand provides the best for what they need most and the other just comes with it. You'll find many restaurants that specialize in both types of cooking (like most French restaurants) will have wall ovens and a rangetop (no oven underneath, just storage for pots and such).

Here's my suggestions on brands to look for:
Cooktop/range: Bluestar, DCS (of course you can check out Wolf and Viking)
Oven (if separate): Decor (sorry, I'm not a big baker)
Fridge: Maytag, Frigidaire, GE, Kenmore (lots here but stay away from LG.. I've got one and it's ok but does not seem as dependable as my old Maytag that's still going strong in the garage.
Diswasher: Maytag, GE, Kenmore.. etc.
Microwave: who cares. unless you want good convection double duty in which case, buy one from a good oven co.
Hood: Vent-a-hood (sorry, I just love mine. It sucks the salt and pepper up when I'm cooking. That's just too cool.)

I'll probably get flamed for some of these suggestions but they are based on my experiences. The Vent-a-hood is really a different design than any other hood out there so you'll either love it or hate it. I always hated cleaning the filter screen on the hood and Vent-a-hood gives me an alternative.

Oh, when sizing your hood, oversize it a bit if you do any amount of saute or wok stir fry. It still shocks me when companies sell 36" hoods with 36" ranges. I'd suggest an overhang of about 4" on each side so for a 36" range, you'll want a 42-44" hood assuming a standard mounting height of around 25-30". The higher you mount the wider the hood. If your hood is to be mounted between cabinets, this requirement is less stringent. On an island or wall (without cabinets), the overhang is very important.

One last thing.. did I say open burner yet? :)

Good luck.

I have heard too many iffy comments about Viking to go that direction, but I don't have any personal experience with it. I decided to have all burners, rather than a griddle or a grill. I have a 2-burner, griddle/grill pan for those tasks that sits, all the time, on my rangetop. I realize it's probably not quite the same, but our outdoor grill can handle major grill jobs and I was warned that the griddle would only look good until it was used once...A cover would solve part of that problem, but I do prefer the idea of being able to take my griddle pan to the sink when I need to. I love the flexibility of being able to use the whole rangetop in whatever way suits me best at the moment, especially since my Wolf has equally powered burners (same high power and same nice simmer on each one).

I also have Bosch dishwashers, and did in our last house with very positive experiences. When we were building our house, we bought a 'cheaper' dishwasher for our temporary quarters, and it was loud and didn't clean well. I wouldn't waste ANY money on something I'd be planning to replace later as soon as I bought it.

The best way, usually to get the best appliance for your needs for each task is to mix and match. I don't know of any manufacturer that makes everything and does each the best.

Hi, I saw your post about the GE microwave. I have been looking at the Jenn Air Speed Cook Convection. I like the look better than the GE. Could you tell me if this is the same type of OTR microwave as the GE? Thanks

The Jennair is a little larger at 1.6 cubic feet with the Advantium coming in at 1.4 cubic feet. The advantium has more preprogrammed features recipes, and a whole website dedicated to it's owners. The Jennair does have a little more powerful wattage at 950 versus the advantium at 900 watts.

All in all, I don't think that you'll lose with the Jennair, especially if you aesthetically like it better than the GE. It's not quite as user friendly, but that can be overcome.

The Guru has Spoken

Here is a link that might be useful: The Appliance Guru Reviews, Advice and Commentary

Everyone,
Thank you VERY MUCH for the advice! All well taken. We will definitely look into a Blue Star or DCS 36" range/oven. And one thing is for sure, we will get a 6 burner w/ a griddle attachment. THANK YOU so much for that advice.
We will stick to GE, Whirlpool, Jennair, Bosch for appliances. Kind of leaning toward GE/Whirlpool for frig, Bosch/GE for dishwasher and GE/Jennair for Micro.

If anyone has any other advice, we're always happy to listen to expert advice.

Since you wrote "... considering more "economy" models now so we can get nicer stuff like stone floors, farm sink, and nicer cabinets ..." I'll mention that in this huge forum, people who have Samsung and LG like their purchases.

On ajmadison.com you'll find 90% of the fridge, DW and mW makers. It's a good site if you want to compare features.

HTH