I can'T recommend anything for the Wok or the Induction Cooktop.
There are others who can help you.
I do prefer Gas over Electric, Especially for the Oven.
Had to settle for Electric where I am located but I do well with it.

What ever you choose you will have to familiarize your self with that Appliance.
Hot and cold spots , etc.

I've built Pizza Ovens which performed better than than the one I purchased.
Have also built Outdoor baking ovens for Bread.

I wouldn't spend another $1000 because of the BTU's.
If the money doesn't matter " Go for it."
Lou

Judy, from your specs it seems like the total BTU's listed for each appliance is for the entire range, not each burner. I have one large gas burner I use for wok cooking, 18,000 btu's which does a great job. My range is only three burners, because I've never needed more than that at one time ever, although I understand others may have different needs. When I made my decision, I went for the number of burners actually needed, with one giving the most heat I could get. Not only is it good for wok cooking, it's great for heating water for pasta, or cooking large pots of things. My appliance choice was based on my needs because of what I cook, and anything more seemed excessive and unnecessary. I use gas, because I'm used to it and like it. I'd love the opportunity to try induction, and have thought of getting a separate induction burner at one time, but wouldn't use it exclusively for the reasons listed below.

I have a gas and an electric oven. There are some slight differences between the two, but if I could only choose one, I'd get a good convection oven (which would be electric). The gas oven is there for the times when an extra oven is handy, and because we tend to lose power at least once a year. With the gas, I can still cook, which was important to me. I tend to use the electric oven most for baking, which includes breads, and because it has a window so I can check on what's inside and not lose heat because I had to open the door. (It also have a ''proofing'' feature which I love.) My gas oven does not have a window, so I typically use it most for slow foods like stews, braising, etc. The electric oven has a side opening door, which allows me to reach in and access what's inside without burning my arm on the oven door. (Ask me why I thought that was important!) I do believe a convection oven would give you the most versatility, and the most even heat given what you're wanting to use it for.

Any of the brands you're looking at should be good, as long as they fit your needs. I would personally stay away from Viking, as they seemed to have a lot of problems at the time I bought my range, although I don't know what their track record is like any more.

Thanks, Lou!

Claire de luna,
Ouch! Sorry you were burned. What side-opening electric oven do you have? I really like the side-opening oven design. The Bluestar and American are higher on my list because of that, and they do have a window. Because it is an under counter oven, two doors opening to the sides would take less aisle space. I have 40'' between oven and island. There is at least one other place an oven could be installed at a later date. Electric would be the obvious choice there because gas would have to be run. The proofing feature would be quite nice in the electric oven. We rarely are without power, but I can see how nice gas would be in that situation. It is so hard to choose!

The higher BTUs are listed in the description of the single burner gas units. I am happy to hear 16,000 should be enough. The Miele will fit best for size and design of the unit. And it is less expensive. Budget is a factor in my choices, but I still have enough to work with for a good, functional kitchen.

Judy

It seems what you're thinking about doing for your cooktop makes good sense for you, and you'd have the best of both worlds. You're leaning that direction for a reason, and you know you have cookware that works well on induction, so you won't have to incur another expense for that. I think you'll love your new gas wok burner...it really cooks!

Judy, my electric oven is a Gaggenau with the side opening door. Miele has very good appliances; my w/d are Miele's and I haven't had a speck of trouble with them, and I fully expect them to last for decades. I don't think you can go wrong with German engineering! Whatever you decide, if you choose a side opening door, make certain your oven opening is perfectly level when it's installed, so those doors don't swing on you.

I did want to say there is a learning curve when you switch appliance types, like going from gas to electric or vice versa. It's nice not to have to relearn how to cook on something else (like your induction unit); I also like the idea of saving energy with induction, which is why I'm intrigued with it.

Judy, I have Miele appliances and a 30" De Dietrich induction top. I couldn't be happier. Just don't get the Miele microwave, another manufacture would be better. Good luck!

Claire de luna, Gaggeneau is one beautiful oven. Unfortunately, it is over our budget. I agree on engineering.We have German cars. Fit and finish is solid and tolerances close.

Induction advantages sold me on the technology. The instant response of heat change is nice. That the glass surface is cool (except where the pan is placed, of course) makes cleaning much easier. I am a very sloppy, messy cook, which is the most significant reason I will have induction rather than gas.

stirfry2-you stir fry on induction? You've complicated my decision-hehe. We are keeping the current countertop MW as it will be hidden. Thanks!

Judy, I stir fry all the time, even tonight. HA HA

For stir-frying, burner shape is as important or even more important than burner power. I test drove the Miele and Dacor cooktops as well as the BlueStar rangetop we chose. (Not an apples to apples test but at first I was hesitant to give up the space to a rangetop - then when I found out how much better the BlueStar performed for stir frying I changed my mind.) The 15K BTU burners on our Bluestar that are about the same power as the Miele and Dacor burners stir fry much better because they are much more efficient at delivering heat to the bottom of the wok and they do it very evenly. The 22K BTU burner on our BlueStar is even better.

When I tested the Dacor and Miele with a chicken stir fry, I put in half the chicken at a time to sear to not overload it and it still wasn't a perfect sear. When I tested the BlueStar, it was a hot day and my DH had packed the ice chest so carefully that the chicken was mostly frozen when I took it out to start cooking. But if I was going to sacrifice my drawer to the rangetop it better be good so I put in all the chicken at once and the BlueStar immediately had it sizzling and seared perfectly. The food really tasted different cooked on the BlueStar.

I highly recommend calling around the appliance stores to see if you can find one with the types of burner you are considering hooked up so you can try a stir fry recipe on the burner. I took the same wok and recipe ingredients to each cooktop/rangetop I was considering and learned a lot by doing that.

If Bluestar offered a single burner version of their rangetop, that is what I would recommend to you.

If you don't have a chance to do that, what you want to look for is a burner that has a shape to deliver heat efficiently and evenly to the bottom of a wok.

An example of a bad type of shape is the sealed burner like on the Dacor and Miele cooktops. These have a flat circular top and flame comes out of the side of the circle. The higher you turn the burner up, the more the flame shoots out to the side; no flame goes up in the center of the burner. An example of a type that works really well for a wok is the BlueStar burner shape where the flame comes straight up out of the burner. The burner shape has a circle of flame at the center of the burner and 8 star rays of flame coming out from that circle. The center grate comes off the burner so that the wok sits right down into the flame and heat is delivered to the whole bottom of the wok. This is very similar to the wok arrangements I saw in China.

A friend has the DCS wok burner and that does a very good job.

We have the Miele oven. I'm very happy with its cooking performance but I find its controller kind of annoying at times. Its heating is very stable and accurate. It cooks bread well. Things I don't like: Maximum timer setting is 59 minutes and 59 seconds. I'd gladly give up the seconds to have a timer that times longer than an hour. If you put in the time and then forget to hit the button that starts the timer, it waits a bit and then cancels the timer. Too many modes - for example they have a proofing mode that only allows two temps (both higher than I would usually want to proof at) and a defrost mode with a wide range of temps (which is what I use for proofing because I can set it to 80 or 90 degrees). One ends up having to learn little tricks like which baking mode lets you set the temp up to 550 degrees (most of the modes stop at 500).

If the BlueStar ovens had been available when we were choosing, I'd have been very tempted to choose them. I'm short and the side opening door would be easier for me. The one downside is that they aren't self-cleaning and I'm rather addicted to not having to clean my oven.

How is your breaker box occupancy? Ours is full. If you want to add that other oven at a later date, will you have a 220 V breaker spot open? That might be one reason to choose between gas and electric ovens.

cloud swift makes a great point about the pattern of the burner. My old antique stoves, which I got used to cooking on had star flames, which also put the heat more evenly distributed under whatever vessel I used for cooking. They absolutely spoiled me, as they had very heavy cast iron grates that weren't warped (unlike some low end ranges I used with porcelain enameled grates) and an even stretch of grate so a pot could easily be moved from one burner to another. I realize this sounds like a no-brainer, but at one time years ago, was extremely hard to find.

I LOVE a star burner...it's the best one of all for cooking on top of the stove.

cloudswift, thank you for your explanation and advice. I am questioning my need for a wok burner. We are vegetarian. I never sear meat or poultry. I've not had any luck stir-frying tofu. I brown the outside in the oven. It is time for bed; I'll think about all this in the morning-or dream about it all night! The architect is coming Saturday; I need to make up my mind soon.

Because my vegetarian son and DIL have been living with us for the last almost two years, we do lots of vegetarian stir fry. And even when they aren't here, we tend to eat meat only once or twice a week for health reasons. The even heating and searing are important for vegetarian stir fries too. It means that we can put the veggies in starting with the ones needing the longest cooking and add the ones needing shorter cooking time in sequence rather than having to do the veggies in batches. My son also uses the wok to do fajita type vegetables to go in bean burritos and for things like hash brown potatoes.

I like to do stir fry with seiten. What develops the best flavor is to simmer the seiten in the liquid and spices that will be used for the sauce and then add it to the stir fry vegetables at the end.

I also use the wok for doing Indian food. Things like Navaratan curry or aloo gobi come out really good in it. We don't deep fry often, but I also find the wok works well for that. I like that it is deep but since it narrows it doesn't take as much oil to fill it to a good level and the large sloping sides of our 12 or 14" wok keep the spatters in the wok. One of my favorite things to make in it is falafel.

The vegetarian food is also why getting the oven up to 550 is a concern. High heat with good heat recovery when the door is opened and closed lets us cook pita bread that puffs properly and nan that is close to what one gets at an Indian restaurant. And it is great for pizza too.

cloud swift- sorry this is so late. I really appreciate all your help!!! I've had a very fun day! A friend and I went to the appliance store and spent the afternoon with the chef. We talked about everything related to cooking and appliances. I have a good plan that should cover all the kitchen needs. I am so excited! That said, I am almost afraid to say what I am planning for fear there will be a glitch or an unwise choice. I don't want to start all over again. ;o( But, oh well here goes...

Miele 30'' Induction Cooktop
Wolf gas multifunction burner
Miele 30'' Master Chef Oven
I am also likely getting a Miele DW

What do you think?

Judy