I've been using the Culinarian for about 2 months now. Some thoughts: The burners are really just the best. So happy with them. Tremendous control and the most even heating I've ever seen for sauté pans. They work great high, low and medium. They may need a little fine tuning on delivery as everyone has different gas pressure (I had to turn mine up just a hair) The oven gets great even heat even without the convection on. I no longer have to turn my pies every 15 min. Heats up fast, cools down fast and works great. Griddle: like with all good griddles, it takes a while for it to heat up and get even. Wait 20 min after the light turns off to make sure the heat is evenly spread. Otherwise I'm very happy with it. I use it for pancakes, bacon, hash browns and grilled sandwiches. Rotisserie: Messy messy messy, but thank god for the self clean oven. Works great for chicken and turnkey breast. I'm going to try a pork shoulder and a beef joint soon. We had to upgrade our hood fan to accommodate the smoke that comes from the rotisserie Cleaning: The range top pretty much comes apart and cleans super easy in just a few minutes. I clean mostly with simple green, but for tougher stuff Barkeeper's friend shines it up really nice. The griddle is more problematic since it doesn't come off, but still very doable. Use a microfiber towel to finish everything off to a nice shine. Cons: very few. The finish on the aluminum burner caps tends to chip, and I had to replace 3 of the 4 on delivery. Replacement parts arrived in just a few days. The cover for the griddle is designed in such a way that it is hard not to scratch the front panel with it. There are two (hidden) spots that are a little hard to clean. That's it really. As far as performance goes I have zero complaints.

I am still struggling with this issue. I posted on the appliance forum as well and the one response was from someone who loved their high shelf - uses it to keep things warm when doing a stir fry, helps to defrost items or bring things to room temp more quickly, warms plates, etc. DH loves the "look" - they do always look clean, shiny and uncluttered in the mags, but not sure if they will look like that in my house. But, with DH's input I convinced myself to get one. Then called the salesman who tried to talk me out of it. He said he thinks warming lights just dry out food and the shelf does get dirty and hot and the people he knows with prof. style ranges stick with the tile backsplash. UGGH!! Now I am totally confused. I have a few more days to wrestle with this one, but will need to make a decision soon. Anybody else with the high shelf out there???? Alku - thanks for your suggestion about the wire racks, for some reason I just don't like that look.

I would have gone and talked to the owner behind you before it showed up as listed -- both to reduce the competition and to possibly make it easier to negotiate, but I still wouldn't rule out making an offer now. Let them know the listed rent is more than your parents can swing and that you can add something to it to make this work for everyone, but not what they are asking. Tell them you were hoping that the $1600 they mentioned might make it possible to work something out. Make an offer that is either the max or close to the max you can do with you chipping in. If it is the max, let them know that. You know they have some flexibility because they talked about listing it for less. If they don't need max dollars out of the home, they may have the flexibility to take the $1600 or even less (asking $1600, they might have been looking to get at least $1450 or $1500 -- or they might have been firm at $1600). Some folks are only about dollars and some situations require anyone to focus on dollars, but sometimes other factors weigh in too. Doesn't hurt to let them know your DH passed and your situation is a bit more limited than it might be otherwise. Let them know you will be there to make sure everything is well cared, that your parents need help and you need them to be closer, but you having trouble finding the right solution. Tell them what a blessing it would be to have your parents hem so close at this time in their lives. It's okay to yank their chain a little. It may or may not work, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Whether you talk to these folks or not, you are going to have to be proactive and stay on top of things. I looked at rental listings that are online and even a couple of senior apartment options last night. There ae not a ton of options that appear to be very close to you that are near your price range (only a couple of homes that showed active and in Kingwood - looks like there are more in Atascocita and Humble, and I don't know if those are close enough to meet your goals). But the ones that look best are aleady pending. Are you working with an agent to help you locate possiilities and to jump on new listings? You need to be getting some networking on your side to find things as they open up and to get a sense of where there may be flexibility. If you are working with an agent and they are just showing you what you see online and ask about, they aren't working for you. If that is the case, I'd find another agent. This time of year is likely to have fewer new options, so you want to jump on anything that looks good. There may also be fewer people looking to move this time of year, but it only takes one to snap up that perfect place before you do, so don't be too lax. Also, be assertive. You have every right to ask for anything. If it is reasonable or well presented, it will likely be considered. You may not get it, but you are guaranteeed to get nothing if you don't ask. Put yourself in the shoes of the landlord or seller and tell yourself all the reasons why you and your parents would be good tenants or buyers for them. Convince yourself so you can convince them. Get that agent to work with you -- they are used to seeing the needs and wants on both sides and should be able to help you make your best case. Are you the only family member? Are there others, even if out of town that can lend support and help you with all this? It's a lot harder to act and make decisions when you have the emotional involvement with your parents, they have issues that ake it more difficult and you are feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. If you don't have family or friends to lean on, at least you have this forum. Use it -- and get a good agent working for you. And I talk too much. Sorry it's so long.

"kfunky_gw To wekick: Of course it's subjective, but I can tell you my BS cooks better than any other residential range I've used." Each cook's needs are different, rather than the generic " my BS cooks better than any other residential range", you might be specific in how you make use of its unique attributes. For instance, the star burners are very beneficial if you like cast iron or some plied pans that don't distribute heat very well, because the heat is dispersed over a greater area. You would have to have the pan sized to the burner though to get the greatest benefit. It is not so much a benefit if you use heavy gauge aluminum or copper. "Not sure what 's confusing about open burner? Sealed vs open burner, do a search if it's not clear. The "burner tray" as you referred to, has nothing to do with an open burner vs sealed burner." Believe it or not it does. Maybe I did not explain the confusion well enough above, but you have demonstrated it on the last sentence. The confusion is due in part to marketing that attributes almost magical powers to the nonspecific term "open" burners. Here are pictures. There are two aspects to a burner that go under the term "open" burner. Yes there is the open vs the sealed vs the semi sealed burner tray. This from Handyman is an example of a sealed burner tray. The idea is to keep the mess up top. There is plenty written online and this very forum. It's a thing. Or this If you can't see it well enough is from this http://www.universityelectric.com/node/103 An open burner tray allows boil overs and the mess to go through the tray to your hopefully foil wrapped pull out tray below. It breaks down for cleaning. The second reference to an open burner may mean whether it is capped or not. The cap is there to keep food from getting in the burner ports but the flame is splayed anywhere from a little to a lot depending on how it is engineered. CappedVVV UncappedVVV ".do me favor and tell me what brand makes a semi sealed burner system?" Did you not read my post? It is the American Performer. VVV It has a semi sealed burner tray in that it comes very tight up to the burner but the black tray lifts off and can go in the dishwasher. It has an uncapped burner. "As far as the simmer I can simmer for hours, doesn't matter what type of pot I'm using as long as it matches the burner size. " Again it is more helpful to be specific about what you simmered and the types of pots you have used. It might also be about what you can hold on simmer. Simmering liquids maybe one thing but holding something like mashed potatoes in cast iron with no movement is another. Maybe you don't need that low of a simmer while others might. ...the BTU rating for my simmer would be insignificant to any corresponding BTU rating...." I am not following you here. You go by the high rating because you mentioned it but the low one doesn't count? It is a unit of measurement. How else would you compare. For some cooks the low end is very important so they need to compare. ".sealed vs open are not the same, very different in terms of flame delivery to the pan/pot you're cooking on" Let's look at an even broader concept, flame to food because after all we are cooking. There are several aspects to consider. They don't all roll into the term "open burner" Sealed vs open burner tray is mostly a personal preference on cleaning no real effect on cooking capped vs uncapped-you might have more flare on the highest setting, but this depends a lot on how the burners are engineered. You might want more flare on high heat, if you use a 14" skillet or griddle overlay. You have to see the burner going to see if it is an issue for you. Shape of burner --star shaped like BS, Thermador and American Performer-CC has three rings --single ring on most other ranges. BTUs One of the biggest considerations overlooked is the interface of food to heat-->cookware. There are several articles that address heat conductive properties of various metals. A good understanding of this will enable you to cook on single ring burners, even with a 15x23" griddle. Of course consider the food. "Have you ever cooked on a CC or BS range, just curious as to where your info is coming from...the internet, or have you had any actual real life experience cooking on a CC or BS or any other open burner system?" Why yes I learned to cook on open burners and have cooked on some commercial ranges I can't remember the specifics of, some star shaped commercial ranges and just today was cooking on a commercial American Range that is configured very much like the CC. I am a scratch cook and while daily cooking is for 4-8 and occasionally 12, we entertain in our home 30-35 monthly and 60-75 a couple times a year. I won't say how long I have been cooking. I used to work in a food lab as well. I have not cooked on CC or BS though, but notice none of the information I gave on those was of the subjective kind. But here is the thing. There are four sorts of information to consider when choosing a range. 1. Objective - The facts. I don't have to cook on a range to know it has a sealed burner tray or has uncapped burners or star shaped burners. I can look up BTU ratings and yes they might be significant both top and bottom. Some people have specific ideas about what they want and can eliminate certain ranges based on this information. Yes the Internet is a great source to look at specs and use and care manuals and all kinds of useful information 2. Subjective- reviews-the most useful give specific information about how a cook uses their range. Other cooks can see how that fits with the way they cook. Something that is important to one is unimportant to another. It does not make one person or the other the superior cook. The simmer issue is one such issue with people on both sides saying a particular range simmers or doesn't simmer. A simple BTU rating would allow the same comparison made on the top end. "Even baking" is another very subjective thing. There are many variables on both of these things. 3. Videos and photos might be helpful for certain things. YouTube has some great videos that show how to clean open burners of different kinds and on some you might get some idea of the flame and how it behaves if you can't see one in person. 4. Service/ support in general from the company and locally in your area. You might have a great range but if there is no service, unless you can service it yourself, and some do, I wouldn't buy it. "All I can say is my open burner BS will out perform any sealed burner (residential) range on the market." You would have to first define performance. Performance is often subjective so perhaps give a subjective review of all the sealed burner ranges currently on the market that you have used, to compare. Then people reading your reviews of all the ranges on the market could see if your reviews are relevant to the way they cook. And then some people would want to consider the oven, so do all the sealed burner ranges include DF because for some an electric oven might trump the burners. Cooks are funny like that. Like herding cats. It is great that you are happy with your range though.