Thanks for the help, everyone-- the link to the bbq forum was especially useful: those folks take their grills seriously! I think I gained a couple pounds just reading about the food they make... I think that point that this is radiant, in the 500, possibly as hot as 700 degree range, as opposed to 1200 degree infra red is very valid. The Solaires look great, but so expensive: I'm building a new house, and the line of credit might allow me to sneak one of these in, but I'm reluctant-- maybe in a couple years, after the dust has settled. If I didn't have a pretty immeadiate need for a new grill, I'd probably wait a year and see what evolves. But I do need one, and the consensus seems to be that this machine does generate higher temps than a conventional open flame burner. So I may pay a visit to HD tomorrow, and succumb to temptation...

What the appliance guy was referring to is normal for all indoor gas grills. The flames shooting high is due to grease dripping into the fire and igniting. You get that outdoors too, but with most outdoor grills you can close the lid. The excess smoke is due to an improper ventilation system. That either means not enough CFM in the hood or not enough or no MUA to enable the hood to do its job. Just to give you an example, I have a friend who put in a Viking. I asked him how he liked it. He said he doesn't use it much anymore because it was too smokey. I asked about his hood and he said he put in the highest CFM at 1000 or 1200. So I asked about make-up air (MUA). He drew a blank. I explained it to him and he said he opened his windows when it gets too smokey. It's too late by then. I told him that since he didn't account for MUA, he would have to run the hood and open a window while he was preheating the grill and not when he was about to cook. He is now able to use his indoor grill again. When explaining MUA to my friend, this is the example I used. Imagine sucking air out of a soda bottle. In the beginning there is little resistance. But as the air is depleted, it takes more effort to suck until the point where you can suck no more. Now imagine sucking air through a straw. You can suck forever without much resistance. MUA is like that open end of the straw, what goes out, must come in. As long as you plan for adequate CFM to for both exhaust out and MUA in, you should be fine with any indoor grill.

Thanks, I don't have anything to offer you, I was just curious as I have the RNB with built in charbroiler. I kind of wish I would have gone with the griddle, but that is mostly because the broiler on the RNB pretty much takes care of anything I would be grilling. Good luck, I think you have a decent chance of finding what you are looking for through those other sources mentioned above.

Thanks for the responses. While I have the two of you here, I have another question. (First, to respond: I'm not interested in the built-in thermostatic griddle of the RNB; I'm just comparing the interchangeable griddle of the Platinum to the lay-on griddle I already own.) I've seen opaone's comments on the capture advantages of commercial hoods, and kaseki's comments above and elsewhere on flow rate, etc. I'm also an engineer (albeit electrical) with enough memory of the thermodynamics and calculus I studied to follow discussions about effluent vectors, etc., as long as it doesn't get technical enough to require me to go research terms, which I don't have too much time for. With that in mind, I'd love some input on what ventilation system might be best to look for, given the following parameters: *House is >8,000 sq ft with very few doors preventing airflow. *House is almost 40 years old and *very* leaky. *36" Platinum Bluestar Rangetop, probably going to use the charbroiler occasionally. *We're already used to grease ALL OVER EVERYTHING because the previous owner installed a downdraft over an electric Thermador, and it has never worked well. *Island installation, 9ft ceiling, no ductwork currently. Ductwork will have to go either right 10+ ft and somehow turn to exit the house, or backwards 10+ ft and vertically 15+ ft to the roof. *I'm thinking of something like this for style, or maybe similar in a dark copper https://marvel-b1-cdn.bc0a.com/f00000000049597/s3.amazonaws.com/offload-wellborn-com-assets/images/7_plain_island_chimney_hood.jpg but I can be convinced to do a mantle style hood if it's necessary to get a commercial grade result in sound and effluent capture. Planning for a 42x30 aperture to cover our 36x24 rangetop. *I'm happy to budget more for the hood system if it allows conversations with my husband/kids to happen significantly more easily while I or they are cooking, and/or if it gives significantly better capture of smoke, odors, and grease. (Maybe a silencer is the easiest way to handle noise concerns?) *We will certainly never be using all 6 burners full-blast at once. The max we'd ever use might be 2 @ 22k, 2 at 10-12k, and one on simmer at once, I'd guess. *I have no idea if my area (suburbs outside Atlanta) requires MUA. It doesn't really seem like a thing we need, as air quality has never seemed poor, doors don't get sucked shut, etc.. We have 4 fireplaces, but rarely run any of them. I think both hot water heaters might be gas, but they might be electric. 5 gas-powered furnaces, all in attic or basement. But maybe I'm all wrong and we're all going to die (of what? CO poisoning? I've never heard of MUA before today, so I'm new to what it's trying to prevent) soon? I assume there's a huge price increase moving from, say, a system based off of VAH or Wolf to one based off of, say, Accurex. Is that right? Is it difficult to order something like that? After reading https://bamasotan.us/range-exhaust-hood-faq/ it seems like there's little hope of good quality from the typical arrangement I see in Wolf, Best, Thermador, etc., of slightly slanted baffles with large light bars, but then, on the other hand, I read several reviews on YouTube and elsewhere of people using their Bluestar charbroilers installed, for example, 36" below a 1200 cfm internal blower in a Bluestar Bonanza hood, and having great results. I don't want to get so caught up on "ideal" that I get something that's way overkill for my situation. You two have contributed a ton here for many years and I appreciate the opportunity to pick your brains.