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.

We installed a KitchenAid 36" gas cooktop with our kitchen remodel in the spring. We purchased it 9 months earlier on a special so the model # may be different now, but we are happy. (Model #: KGCS166GSS) I had cooked on gas over the years & enjoyed it, but with marriage & several moves over the last 15 years had various electric ovens/cooktops. When purchasing this house 6 years ago we replaced the JennAir Electric with a JennAir Gas and enjoyed it (although I do not recommend using a downdraft vent with gas). This KA is stellar compared to the JA. The flames ignite almost instantaneously & are easy to control. There are various size burners that have continuous grates so I can move pots around when they require lower heat or I want to give more attention to another dish to the front of the cooktop. I find even the largest burner is fairly sensitive (more than the JennAir) and able to simmer. At one time there was some feedback on the web that if you can (cooking at very high temperatures for long periods) the stainless finish can be damaged, but I noticed in the instruction manual it recommends moving the pot around on different burners in a canning situation. It is not a problem for me & may not be for you. I am not familiar with the other cooktops you mention, but might comment on an "exploding" gas cooktop. I have not read the situation, but I know there were several times with my JennAir that when I was lighting the flame the gas came on, but it did not ignite (perhaps I was distracted). I turned the knob off & turned to "light" again. Because of excess gas around the burner I got quite a larger flame than usual. If I had not turned the burner off as quickly as I had I can imagine an even larger flame & somewhat of an "explosion" since there was excess gas sitting at the burner. Otherwise I have not had problems cooking with gas. I have 2 boys (now 9 & 10) & even when they were 4 & 5 they were very respectful of the flames & have not had problems with children around the flames. Your kitchen is beautiful. I know you'll enjoy cooking in it. You'll enjoy the changes you are making to the layout. I hope this helps. Good luck!

This is mostly an efficient use of space issue, so I suppose it would come down to more of a look than specific performance that I am looking for, since I have never cooked on higher end appliances. I do hope to be inspired to be a more adventurous cook with the new kitchen! The big issue is whether the double oven being across from the end of the peninsula will bother me. I am afraid it will. I have 36 in. of space allotted for the cooktop on the other side of the room, so I feel like I can easily switch from cooktop to range and in so doing get better cooktop performance (I do mostly stove-top cooking.) I saw the Blue Star 36 in range today and did not particularly like it. I did like the Viking, though. I was advised against the Kenmore pro line. I am new to this forum. Thanks for your responses.

We currently have a gas cooktop in a laminate countertop. The only problem that I had was that my large BTU burners are in the back left and front right positions. I was using a large stockpot that had to overhang the grates and I didn't pay attention on the back side (I was using the back large BTU) and my laminate countertop ended up getting burned. It wasn't a big deal at the time because I knew that we were getting ready to remodel. Therefore, when looking at cooktops, pay attention to things such as knob location (which prevented me from using the front large BTU burner) and the size of the grates. After this incident and visiting a showroom with my husband, we determined that it was worth it to us to get a rangetop for our remodel since we use large skillets and pots frequently.