Take a look at the Capital Culinarian Series ($3200), open burners. We just installed the Capital Culinarian CGRT366, 36" 6 burner rangetop. We could not be happier with or decision. Very glad we went with to open burner design. That aside we also looked at the 48" rangetops, in the end we concluded the extra burners were not going to be used and with the extra cost or the rangetop and added cost of the larger hood made no sense. Most all pro-type rangetops are going to be very closely priced. I can say the Capital is very much the equal if not superior to other brands. The Capital generates huge amounts of BTU's and the standard simmer burner works very well. We got the 6 burners and added the wok ring and bought a Chef King 12âÂÂx23â Steel Griddle. The Capital Wok ring works great, we use it at least twice a week. The Chef King Griddle once seasoned works great also, though it is heavy. In my opinion we have the best of both worlds, 6 usable burners and a griddle and a rangetop can the can truly get a wok hot enough. Cleaning is a snap. Hope this helps. This post was edited by DJ493 on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 10:43

Not that cooktop from Dacor, but I have a 30" distinctive all gas range - so the burners are similar as is the pattern on the grates over the burners. I have the exact 18k btu burner, a pair of 15ks and a 10k btu sealed burner. I found the cooking surface to stay fairly cool (as these things go). It is noticeably cooler in operation. I think that's some due to the grate design and some to the odd-sounding SmartFlame thing claiming to lessen discoloration of the grates. I like the tine spacing on the grates, ignition works well without extra clicks, re-ignition works well too. The burners develop good, even heat across the bottom of pans - much more than the previous 15k dual ring burners. I think its something to do with the way the flame bends back up towards center. This is mostly a great thing. So, then ... these two not so good issues. They call the center dual ring burner a simmer-sear burner which is a pretty apt description. It can simmer medium sized and above cookware and it can sear pretty goodly. What it has difficulties with is "low." The central burner head puts out some btus - I forget if its 3k or 6k but I think it's 6k. The way Dacor did the controls on mine, the outer ring turns down, then off, then as you keep turning the knob, the inner ring turns down. When you're trying for low, meaning the outer ring is barely on, the inner ring is still on it's high setting creating a big hot spot. Problem 2, the level of heat produced when the burners are at the position marked simmer. I found it to be not a simmer on the other three burners - but the 10k can be made to work with a simmer plate (not included). You should be able to get something resembling simmer using thick bottom cookware on the 9k burners and most pans on the center burner - with the center burner and a simmer plate producing the best result. This is just an observation about the burner layout on the cooktop with the "big one" in the center but make sure you can fit the cookware you normally use when a big pot is in the center. Also, think about using it is like if the pot boiling the corn or pasta or whatever is in the back where the higher powered burners are - will there still be room to fit a pan for searing on the center burner. Alternately, if you end up using a rear burner for searing, is it placed so you can comfortably reach it? If the burner pattern doesn't work for you, perhaps consider the 36" range top? 6 burners with controls on the front.

i am also currently looking at 36" gas cooktops...i think i will go with a dcs drop-in... very reasonably priced and has the burner config that i want and i can also get their telescopic vent at a reasonable price (don't plan to stay in our house more than a couple more years...)...i currently have a downdraft cooktop which doesn't pull much air and is a real pain to clean(shoving my hand/arm down the narrow slot to wipe it down...) and due to the window config, exausting a hood doesn't work. from my research, the "professional range" type cooktops are significantly more expensive.

I have to tell you I tossed and turned over this last night. I hadn't done much research on the Wolf before going in (thought it was a non-contender due to budget) but I looked over the Viking information and thought I had a good idea what they offered. On this forum it seems people either love the brand, or hate it. For every good review, you read a bad. Although I haven't found a lot of scathing reports on Viking's cooktops (maybe I just haven't dug deep enough) like foodonastump said, you at least partially prejudice the brand after being on these forums for years. Other Appliance websites had several 4* reviews on the Viking. The salesman, who wasn't pushing anything in particular and who seems to have been straight up with me on his opinions, said structurally the Wolf, the Viking, and the DCS win out. For reliability and brand reputation for cooktops, He said Wolf and Viking were both "up there" and either one he thought we'd be happy with. He's been selling appliances for close to 30 years and had most (if not all) the information in his head regarding features,benefits, reputations etc.... He was big on reminding us how "MOST PEOPLE" use the appliances so we didn't get hung up on a feature that, for us, really didn't matter in the end. I am fully confident that if I told him I was a gourmet cook (or striving to be one) he could have/would have pointed me to appliances that served that purpose better. I know looks only get you so far, but it is a driving force when you feel the tug of indecision. With the assumption that either cooktop would do the job, it became about 5 burners or 6, use of space, styling, knobs, BTU's, price, reliability, and how we felt when we looked at the thing.... I've heard the Gagg name spoken very highly of on this forum and when he lead us over to their cooktop, I was excited....then quickly disappointed... I HATED the look. It could have been the best cooktop in the world but It just wasn't for me. All the Stainless and brass clashed in my eyes.... I didn't think it would look right in my kitchen. So, I think you have to like the look, although I agree it shouldn't be the first or only thing you consider. I think my husband, having never read anything negative or positive on either brand. made assumptions that we were comparing apples to apples. He saw a bigger, beefier (manly) pro look cooktop with an extra burner and picked the Viking. I accepted his decision until we were walking out the door, and I got a glimpse of our Icon Designer Wall Ovens. I thought immediately that the Wolf's styling would go better with them than the Viking Pro look. There began my fretting.... That lead to more reading, and re-reading the hate some have for Viking and fear that this will be us. After all these years of waiting, and all the time and money spent (we don't have lots of extra money, these are big splurges for us) I just didn't want a disappointment. Last night I told him I was concerned about the choice. He told me he is ok if I decide to switch to the Wolf. I totally agree that the Wolf name is more appealing based on what I have read on this forum, but not based on personal experience with either brand. I LOVE the look of the Viking, it's beautiful, I loved the knob position, plus they were smooth and the burners fired up quickly and reliably. grates were heavy and seemed to stay put. The higher 16k BTU sounds good, but not sure it really matters over Wolf's 15K.... I did not get to play with the Wolf, it was taken off display due to some remodeling. It was there, on a shelf to look at only. Although I didn't go ga-ga over the look of the Wolf, I thought it was pretty with a nice mix of Pro & Designer looks that blended better with the Icons. I thought the simmer feature was a good to have. I wouldn't miss the 6th burner and would appreciate the added space the Wolf would give us. The brand reputation is a huge driving force for me. Wolf just has a better one. I think if any appliance has the potential of being a disappointment in terms of reliability and customer support, it would be the Viking...based on what I have read here. I just feel, all other things equal, the Wolf has less change of being a disappointment.