dee- 15k btu's with a cast iron pan heated for a 5-10 min. will sear the he** out of anything. Sure the 18k will boil water faster than the 15k everything else being equal, but if one is really concerned about quickly boiling a huge pot of water then induction is hands down the winner, not even close. P.S. don't confuse sauteing with searing. 15,ooo btu is plenty for sauteing as the piece size should be fairly small and uniform. jmith- you are simply misinformed, or are just biased regarding simmer plates. They are not necessary with some cooktops/burner designs. Your not caring for simmer burners is one thing - but that's not the same thing them not working or being a gimmick. I'll match the end results with several tops against you and any cooktop + simmer plate of your choosing. You pick the item to be simmered too. There's no substitute for skill. The reason many frenchies don't have a simmer burner is because of the style of cooking. The myriad of sauces that sit all night on their "french tops" is just more convenient especially in their smaller kitchens. But, this is not really a discussion of commercial equipment vs. commercial "looking" domestic units. This discussion is not about "open burner" configurations either. Tony specifically asked about sealed burner rangetops. Tony - Wolf is not really any more or less profitable than the other high line marques. They are touted often because they offer a good product, are reliable -so offer the least risk for dealer and customer, have good support networks, and have market cache.

ditto...but ditto nightflyer this time. Is the hood a full 24" deep? If so, for me at 5'11" the difference between 27.5" and 30" is the difference between having to bend my neck slightly to miss the hood when reaching the back burners, or having no choice but to bend my knees for the same reach. So for me personally if it was 30" I'd be kicking myself for not thinking ahead and losing 1" of efficiency (supposedly) and not going with 31". If my contractor put it in below the range's specs, I would absolutely have him correct it. (And have him go to 31" while he was at it, LOL!) If it was an 18" or whatever deep hood I wouldn't worry about it as long as it looked ok. So pretend you're cooking. Are you happy?

The instructions for installing our new Bluestar rangetop indicate that the unit should be installed so that the edge of the side trim ends up 11/16' above the counter height, if I'm not mistaken. (my contractor has the instructions.) Does anyone know why this is? Is it not advisable to have the rangetop flush with the counter? We had cabinets custom made and the cabinet maker followed the dimensions required for the range top. I believe the instructions were to make the cut out 7' deep, which he did. However, at this depth the edge of the trim comes about 3/4' above the plywood on top of the adjacent cabinets. Our stone fabricator is coming this morning so I'm hoping to resolve this and have the range top hooked up. We are using marble which is 3/4' thick. It does not sit directly on top of the cabinets. Rather, the cabinet maker has 3/4' plywood on top. Is this the problem? Is the counter generally installed directly on top of the cabinets or on a layer of plywood? Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestar rangetop ready to be installed

Also, what kind of stove do you have? For higher-powered gas stoves, there usually are clearance restrictions in all sorts of directions. This includes clearance to bottom of hood and clearance to sides of adjacent cabinets. This is one of the reasons why people usually suggest making the hood just a little wider than the range (e.g. getting a 36" hood for a 30" range), and why you should get a range with a backguard instead of island trim. But details are important. So, model numbers, drawings, and a photo would all help us give you better advice