I have done a fair bit (somewhere between lots and nuts) of looking at 30" ranges of late. I've settled on the BlueStar, which doesn�t quite fit your model � standard layout has 2x22k burners, 1x15k burner, and 1 x simmer burner. You can re-arrange these for a very small up-charge; and I reckon they�ll build you a range with a different mix of burners as well. But my understanding is that the 22k burners, even on low, are not great for really low output simmering. Hence, if you really want all four burners to "go to 11," as it were (22k btu), this might not be your first choice. If it's a deal-breaker, then it is. I ruled out Viking early. First, I'm upgrading from a GE Profile that's a dozen years old or so. Moving to 4 sealed burners with a max output of 15k is not what I want � I can get more power from the new GE ranges. Second, I have concerns about reliability. I know a couple of folks personally (not just virtually) who have had problems with Viking, and CR reports a relatively high failure rate for the brand (I know that CR gets a lot of flack on this board for a variety of reasons, and I regard them as a mixed bag � OTOH, I don't think for an instant that they cook their numbers and when they report double the failure rate based on a decent sized survey sample, or "n," that's a concern for me). Wolf offers the same output, better reliability numbers from CR, and better consumer satisfaction numbers from JD Power. Thermador was a fall-back choice for me and my preference among the sealed burner options � I liked the size, shape, and elevation of the star burners, which go to about 18k btu (plenty for most applications). Plus I've cooked on one and have some friends nearby who've had good luck with theirs � tiny little samples, arbitrarily chosen, but the personal reports and hands-on exposure count for me. The CC range mentioned above may most closely fit your criteria. It's likely well worth a serious look if you can check one out in person. My own decision to focus on BlueStar has nothing to do with any particular defects with the Capital. An up-close examination of the ergonomics matters to me. I really like the way BlueStar uses the limited space of the 30" top, for one thing � a very key thing, for me personally � and the operation of the new racks in the oven seems very solid and smooth. For another, I tend to prefer models that have been out in the market � and subject to minor fixes and tweaks � for a few years. For another, I've got a colleague who has been using the 36" version of the range for 4 years or so, as well as a friend of a good friend, who grew up in the restaurant business and has several years' experience with the 30" BS (and a willingness to converse and provide very, very detailed reports). Tiny, arbitrary samples, but when systematic evidence is terrible or entirely absent, I give a fair bit of weight to face-to-face conversation with folks I know. Of course these are all reasons for me that might not apply to your search at all. And as I said at the top, the BS range in standard configuration just does not meet your criterion of having all four burners go from super low to super high. It's not an issue for me, but I understand the drive to optimize flexibility on a relatively small top, with only 4 burners (personally, I�m going to augment the range with a small, portable induction burner that can be pulled out as needed to, e.g., keep stock on simmer off to the side, or keep a back-up pot of water near boiling, but out of the way when I need that, and put away when I don�t). But this is going to be your range, and there�s no point in going to the trouble, and spending the money, if you are not going to get what you want.

There is a difference in evenness in the oven of a $1k gas range and a good $4.5k range. I don't think there is a meaningful difference in the baking ability of the Capital gas oven and the typical electric even in pro-style range. The Wolf electric oven is atypical. You can bake three full racks and have consistent results. But the burners are not so great. Mediocre in this class. Can a Culinarian oven make a soufflé? See link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Souffle in a Culinarian Video

Thank you Whitt for the compliments. I got a lot of helpful info here when I had to buy appliances --- last year and a decade or so ago --- , so I try to contribute back. mossphl: Yes, I do have an NXR and have participated in numbers of threads discussing them. The NXR discussions have some fanboy rehtoric but generally are pretty calm and straightforward. Lots of info about reliability, cleaning, use, etc. If you haven't been through them all, google "gardenweb + NXR" and see what you get. Did I consider Precisions? Not really, When I unexpectedly had to buy a stove last year, my max budget was around $2k and everything Capital was way above that. Looked briefly at a 30" GE Monogram like Whitt has, and it seemed to be a pretty good stove but even floor models cost way over my budget. Actually, I was mostly looking at induction stoves (mainly the GE freestanding PHB925 and Samsung NE597NOPBSR. Almost bought one of them but the NXR seemed like a slightly better stove for me for what and how I cook and where I live. Also looked at a floor-model GE Cafe dual fuel which I liked -- wimpy rear burners notwithstanding --- but bidding took the price way beyond my budget. Anyway, I have a couple of 8" NS frypans that I use pretty regularly with my NXRs. I also make oatmeal on the NXR in a 5.5" diameter saucepan. As indiicated above, no problems using pans of that size on the NXR unless you need to get teensy pans above 650F. As for 15k versus 19-kBtu sealed burners, it wouldn't make much difference to me. YMMV, but, for me, the 19k BTU burners on a Precision range might boil a large pot of water a little faster than with the NXR but I'm not sure if it would be appreciably fast enough to matter for me. Not $900 to $1500 'better' for me, was what I thought. The Precision's burner design looks a lot like the one GE uses so it would probably be a lot like the 17k left front burner on your GE Cafe. Haven't found any specs on burner diameter, though, so this is just a guess. Here's something you can try for comparison sake. Using a 10" diameter stock pot on my NXR, it takes roughly 14 minutes 50 seconds to get 6 quarts of 65F water to 200F on my NXR. (I'm at close to 6000 feet altitude, so that is boiling at my altitude). Can you try that with the 17k-btu burner on your GE? That may give you a rough idea of how much an extra 2k btu would make and whether its enough to be a factor for you. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Aug 18, 13 at 12:01

Been reading the board for ages, but first post. We did a lot a research on the board and elsewhere as we are just in the completion stages of our kitchen redo. We wanted a 36" all gas range. We were choosing between what was available here. Wolf, Jenn-air, Thermador, Electrolux and DCS for all gas. Loved the open burner Wolf, but this forum persuaded us to stay clear of the Wolf, Jenn-air and Thermador (do search at bottom of page on any, makes interesting reading for hours ;) ). So, we started looking at the DCS. At first we dismissed it as it had what seemed like lighter grates than the others, the burners looked a bit generic sitting there in a sealed one piece pan and the top was stainless instead of black. All our own taste (or lack there of!) issues. We I did a bit more research on them I could find little in the way of bad reports about them (maybe I just missed them, but I really try to research the best I can). So, went back and looked again, purchased and have been using for about a month now. Here are our findings and personnal taste conclusions. The stainless top has been a real boon for us. We've found we like it better as the range it replaced had the black porcelain type top under the burners. Not that we are not clean, but every little spec showed up on the black including dust and lint if you left it for a while unused. Was a bit of a pain really to keep clean as where the grates that had the same coating. The DCS all we've done is wipe with a moist sponge and dry it off to clean the grease spatters etc. The grates are not shiney, but rather a matte cast iron. Might be luck or the way they are designed, but we've found we tend to slop less on them. Probably luck. I've found also that in cleaning I really like the fact that I don't have to change into my workout gear to lift the grates for cleaning. They are substatial and designed for strength (we've had some really large pots/weight on them with no problem sliding around or anything), but not as heavy as on others we looked at that had full length ones. Knob wise they work nice and have good adjustment range with a large scale to get a good gradient of burner level control. I've not paid attention to push in and turn as we have been automatically doing that as that is how our previous range worked. I just went out and double checked for you and they are a push in and turn type knob. What else can I tell you about it.....the burners are sealed. Did not think I would like that, but as it happens, apart from look difference between sealed and the Wolf open type we were looking at I think I prefer the sealed now. Been easy to deal with when the pasta boiled over a bit. Don't know if it is an advantage or not, but the burners are quite a bit closer to the grates than others we looked at. With the size of the burners themselves we've found that, to stop the flame from going up the side of quite a few of our pans, we tend to end up with the flame adjusted in the medium low to low range. We have four burners that are the 17.5K and two at I think 12.5K. Just something to get used to as with our old range we had the burners up on high to med high for everything. The wideness of the caps bring the flame out more and even at that low level it puts out the heat so we've not had any issues with cooking anything. We've found that it just made us a rethink our old habit of settings from the old range and we don't notice any difference in cook time comparable to what we had. Cooks steaks, boils pots and recovers from dropping in cold items well. On the larger pans we have the medium to medium high on which is plenty!!! Have to get the wok out and play with that soon as the full on burner puts out! I've found it really nice that all the burners have a simmer setting. You have the high to low on all and then a bit further after low is simmer which is a seperate part of each burner. Has worked really well. Left quite a few sauces, onions etc. holding on simmer while I'm getting ready for them in another pot without burning them or drying them out. At least that is the way it has worked for me so far. Nice to not have to suffle stuff around to get to a simmer burner. Just turn it down and move on to the next. Each burner has the top part of the burner that is the main burner. Then below that is a different part that lights and runs when you put it on simmer. As with many ranges we looked at that had some sort of really low simmer feature, you can barely see the flame in the daytime or under bright light. That is why I'm glad that DCS put a little light in the marker for temp on each control knob. Can see at a glance if I left a burner on. At first not thrilled with the purple looking colour of this and the fact that it had the light feature at all compared to others we looked at, but now love it! Oven rollers for the racks work fine. Racks have a channel that slides on two wheels that are on each side of the oven. Not as nice as the roller slides that the Electrolux had that we looked at, but we've found that with pans etc. on them they slide out nice and work really well. Husband says the rollers are like how some cabinet drawers slide out. Also pointed out to me, which I can see now we've used them and have them, that easier to clean probably than roller tracks like the electrolux had, if stuff, in the rare event it would, would get down in them. So, overall a big thumbs up for the DCS from us so far. We are really heavy duty cooks so we've used the range daily since we've had it. Like it so far. Do need to read a bit more on the convection to make sure of rack position and that I'm doing things right. Cooked three half sheets of shortbread in the oven, had two pans on one rack and another below it. Looked to me like the area back by the fan was browning faster than the other areas. Will have to check if it is positioning, a design flaw or a temperature setting issue as I put it on at the regular temp I cook it at. Also, need to thermom the oven so I can see where it actually is cooking temp wise. Do this in all we've had, but just not got to it with the other kitchen stuff we've been doing. Manual says it is factory set and not adjustable if I remember correct, but just want to make sure where it is. Seems like every range we've ever had has needed some adjustment. Quite wordy for my first post ever. Guess I've been saving it up! At least, if you can get through my blatherings, I hope it helps with some info you needed and helps you make a decision. Can't provide any info on the Bluestar. Did not find a dealer here for them and only heard of them on this forum. Didn't want to deal with mail order. Our preference on that as read that some have had no issues. We wanted local so we could get for sure service if needed. Right or wrong, we also purchased an extended warranty on ours. Lot of cash for a range so wanted to make sure we were covered. Your choice on that. Cheers