I am trying to finish my appliance decisions and have just been going back and forth on the cooking end. I got a great few years old but never installed, fullyt warrantied, Subzero 650-O and new-in-box Thermador Emerald dishwasher off of CL at great prices. Now I need to address the important cooking end of things and I have about $6,000 or so left in my overall budget for cooktop/ovens/hood or range/hood.

I'm definitely a foodie and am a pretty competent home cook. I like to try new recipes, love to entertain, love baking, but would not consider myself a pro. I've been using my 26-yr-old Thermador cooktop and 27" wall ovens that came with house for the last 10 years, and our dinner guests have been pretty happy! I always felt that a good cook should be able to turn out a great meal on anything. (Is that naive?) However, that being said, I have to admit I've gotten swept up in whole kitchen remodel fancy appliance thing - I like the way the high-end stuff looks and see it in every kitchen in my area. I have never cooked with Wolf ranges,Miele ovens, etc. so I don't know if I would notice a difference or not.

I use the cooktop everyday so that's important and I love to bake, but that's not an every day activity. I do like having two ovens for holidays/parties.

When I visited the Clarke showroom near me, I fell in love with the Wolf 36" 4-burner rangetop with griddle. I'm not even sure I would really use the griddle, and I rarely use 4 burners at once, but it seems that a 36" is de rigeur in my neighb. I would most likely not use an indoor charbroiler (though I may have found an excellent deal on CL for a Wolf 48" w/ 4 burners/grill)

If I go ahead and spring for the pro style rangetop, which one - Wolf? American Range? Bluestar (no Thermador because of those star burner cleaning issues.)I just got a quote for American Range's 36" rangetop with griddle of $2,400 which seems pretty good compared to Wolf. Having a 26-yr-old Subzero and needing to call them to research the one I ended up buying on CL, I have to say their phone service was A+. I have emailed American Range, and also got very nice email service though I find it a little odd that there are no dealers in or even near metro NY. They had a distrib. in calif. quote me. Would that pose some service issue down the road?

Okay, so if I splurge on the pro style range, then I "only" (it's all relative, no?) have about $3,000 - $4,000 on the ovens+hood so I can't get fancy ovens (unless I go for floor models??.) Also, is it correct that if I get cooktop with griddle I need a more powerful and therefore, I assume, more expensive hood? Does it make sense if I can only either buy high end range top or high end ovens, but not both, to put the dollars in the cooktop since I use it more (not to mention give that nifty look?)

Anyone else have some advice? Am I being too fussy about the cosmetics of the high end stuff, or will I notice a cooking difference? Is the built in griddle much different in performance from having a griddle pan that you lay over two burners? (I just feel that if I am going for the 36" I might as well try the griddle since I will probably never use 6 burners at once and at least can use the center as a handy resting place which I do now.) If I decide I must have the Wolf, is it worth calling a lot of places and trying to get a floor model or a deal, or are the prices on that pretty much the same?

I can't decide what is wearing me out more deciding on cooking appliances or bathroom tile (LOL)