Easiest way I've found to clean the grates (I'm guessing these are pro grates you will have) is to lay the grates in the sink, fill the sink with HOT water and pop 1-3 individual Cascade with Dawn automatic dishwasher detergent packs in there. The larger your sink/more water in your sink, the more detergent packs you will need. Let soak for 10-20 minutes then wipe with a sponge & rinse. For spots that are really stubborn, I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Kitchen Scrubber (MEKS). I found that the Mr. Clean MEKS also works the best at getting all the grease off the enamel pan under the grates & doesn't leave streaks. I usually clean the pan while the grates are soaking. The soak works great for the vent hood filters too--the grease just melts off!

Kitchenmonkey -- in one of your other threads, you mentioned you had an existing stove with an 18.6k power burner and were looking at maybe buying a friend's Wolf AG range. Did you get a chance to check out using your wok on that range? If so, how did it compare to your existing range? That info might help us provide a better answer to your questions here because we would have a better frame of reference for how to explain this to you. Traditional wok cooking uses a rather narrowly spread flame. As lazy_gardens explained -- the idea is to aim the heat at the bottom third of the wok. You've apparently been using a major brand stove with an 18.6k power burner that probably throws the flames to a much wider area. (Maybe it doesn't?) Some folks will tell you that this is "all wrong" and that you are some kind of ignorant cretin for not doing it "the right way", but who cares about those kinds of opinions if you like the food you've been making? You asked what does open burner mean. Well, it can mean a lot of things, but not all open burners are created the same. What people are talking about here (in this context), they are talking about a burner that is in a star or ring shape that sits in a open well allowing air to flow up from all around the burner. This tends to give a more concentrated flame and, of course, means that stuff you spill can go down inside the range. (The brands mentioned above typically have pull-out trays to catch spillage and make it relatively simple to clean out the interior). There are, of course, other kinds of open burners that tend to look and work like the sealed burners you are probably used to seeing. A "sealed" burner sits in a closed well or pan so that spills generally won't go down inside the range. The flame spreads can wider to a whole lot wider. You asked about whether a 20k btu burner is hotter than a 15k btu burner. Well, undertand the btu-ratings just tell you how much gas is being burned. To figure out what is hotter you have to ask: hotter for what? A big tri-ring burner on full power can put a lot of heat into thebase of a big pot, like 20-quart canning kettle/stock pot with a 13" base. That is a lot of heat for boiling big quantities of water, for example. If you put a 3-quart sauce pan on that same burner -- which may have a six inche base --- most of the heat will be going outside the saucepan and around it. That 20k-btu burner isn't putting 20k btu into the smaller pan. The advantage of a tri-ring burner is that you can turn down the gas and maybe use the center ring to get the saucepan to boil, but you using maybe 9k-btu to do it. So, when would a 16K btu burner "outperform" a 22k btu burner for the wok cooking you want to do? Well, if you want to do traditional "bottom third heating" when the 16k-btu burner that puts the majority of the flames on the bottom third of your wok may be better for you than a 22k btu burner spreads it wider. OTOH, if you want a wider flame spread, as you likely are getting with the 18.6k btu burner on that major brand range, the the smaller burner may not be what you want. Some of these differences will vary with how big is the wok you've using to get the results you like. I believe you said something in your other thread about making smaller quantities of food. Consider that a 15k btu open burner on a Blue Star RCS range may give you everything you want where 22k btu burner might be more heat over a wider area than you want. If you've got a really potent burner, it can be a very short trip from char to charcoal. So, back to that Wolf range you mentioned in your other thread. If you test it out and like the food from your wok on its 15k-btu burner better than what you've been getting with that unnamed major brand range's 18.6k btu burner, you figured out something very useful to you. If you conclude that you don't like the results from that Wolf burner as much or better, then you've figured out that a larger sealed burner style range isn't going to give you what you want and you can start considering spending $3500 to $3800 for Blue Star or AR. Something else to consider. If you decide that you really do want massive huge amounts of wok cooking power, and your kichen has 240v outlet in it, maybe what you really want is a 3500-watt concave induction wok burner. When you factor in the relative efficiency of induction heating (84% to 94% of the energy goes into the pan) versus gas burners (only about 33% of the heat actually goes into the pan), the induction burner may be the equivalent of 36,000 BTU gas burner. Plus the induction wok burner is specfically designed to put a whole-lotta-heat on the lower third of a standard sized wok. Cooktek makes 2500 and 3500 watt induction burners. (Actual full-on commercial products if that turns your crank.) Last time I checked, I think the street price was around $1700 from the likes of Katom.com. A lot less expensive than buying a whole new range just to get one wok burner. This post was edited by JWVideo on Thu, Jul 24, 14 at 21:28

We use the 22kBTU wok burner on our BlueStar RNB all the time. Same as @eponymouse, we have discovered that it is useful for all sorts of different dishes. It heats up in mere seconds (20s and the oil is smoking), it can make both small and large servings, it does a great job of containing splatter, and it is easy to clean up when done cooking. For many dishes, it's the difference between frying and sauteing. The first time you experience this effect, you'll have a giant grin on your face. I am really glad about the extra BTUs that the BlueStar provides, and it is awesome that I don't have to worry about a wok insert. I can use our round-bottom wok with the regular cast iron grates. But as much as I love the wok, I have to agree that 22kBTU is simply not enough for the "real" wok experience. If you want to make restaurant-style wok-cooked food, you need at least twice that much power. It doesn't actually matter for all that many dishes, but it does for some. And unfortunately, that much power is simply not possible in a residential kitchen. So, make sure you have realistic expectations. The ability to use a wok on our range is one of my favorite features, and it makes some dishes possible, that I would otherwise have a really hard time cooking. But it does have limitations.

maire_cate and Wekick Thanks both. I think I've watched Trevor's video before. the simplicity of the BS is very similar to my Russell range except everything in the Russell is stainless. (which I do like) I'm not terribly concerned about service as there is little that can go wrong. Having a high BTU kiln I'm used to taking he venturis apart and cleaning the burners. So I'm comfortable working with burners, cleaning adjusting. Unfortunately, there is no BS dealer close. I've watched all of the BS videos to ad nauseam drove to Las Vegas some months ago as I was told I could see one and try it out. They had a range which I would think is similar to a range top. They knew nothing about it. It was not live, disappointing to make a 5.5 hr trip for nothing. Next closest is Salt Lake city a 8- 9 hour round trip. Maybe when I get close to actually buying I'll make the trip and spend the night.. Trevor wrote his phone number on one of my posts suggesting I call him. Haven't done it yet and of course the paper I had has disappeared from my desk. Sales person also told me how wonderful Wolf ovens were. Yikes, I remember reading about your pain Wekick. When I mentioned the blue enamel chipping there was just a blank stare. I told him I plan on getting the GE French door wall oven as I have one in the FL house and like it. . When I asked if he can give me a deal on SZ (side by side and wine cooler) if I buy all of my appliances he said no they are sold at full price unless I purchse a suite of SZ/Wolf, which isn't going to happen.::(( There is a Ferguson in town as well. I don't think their set up is nearly as large but will head there one of these days. The only thing I'm still on the fence about is the dishwasher. Do I get another Bosch which cleans really well but doesn't load very well with my handmade dishes. Maybe by the time I actually get to remodel, Bosch will have improved their interior set up...I'm hoping. Inga