I have a slide-in range on a peninsula. You need a minimum of 10 inches of counter behind your range, either an overhang or with cabinets under it. This was explained to me here at Gardenweb and we verified it on a national kitchen standards site.

I am not sure how you would do a backsplash behind your range unless you build a little wall? Hence the need for pix. I am posting the link explaining how to upload pictures here.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Post pictures here on Gardenweb

Is there seating at the island? If so, try to have 24" b/w the back of the range and the edge of the seating overhang. Both for safety from splattering grease, billowing steam, smoke, etc. as well as to have a large enough space that people won't be knocking things off the counter and onto the range...especially if it's a gas range or has a glass/ceramic top.

It's also a good idea to have at least 24" on each side for safety, for emergency landing space, and for work space.

If there's no seating, then I would aim for 18" behind the range (still 24" on each side). 10" isn't enough to ensure grease splatters won't hit someone passing by or standing nearby nor is it enough to keep smoke, steam, etc. from flying into the faces of people nearby.

In addition to the safety around the range, also think about venting...does it have an externally vented overhead range/vent hood? If not, seriously consider putting one in. Island (and peninsula) ranges/cooktops are exposed to more and stronger air currents than those against a wall. These air currents will grab the smoke, fumes, grease, steam, odors, etc. and rapidly disperse them throughout the kitchen and, if the kitchen is "open", to the surrounding rooms. This means grease will settle on cabinets, walls, ceilings, drapes, rugs, furniture, etc. Then, when dust/dirt settles on the grease, a "gunk" is formed that's difficult to remove without constant scrubbing. (Speaking from experience, btw!)

With an externally vented overhead hood that's big enough (6" wider than the range & at least 24" deep, preferably 27") and strong enough (at least 600 cfms...900 to 1000 is much better), you can capture the vast majority of the grease, steam, smoke, odors, fumes, etc. before they have a chance to travel throughout your living space.

Downdrafts, even telescoping, don't work that well. At best, they work marginally for pots/pans right up next to the downdrafts and that are several inches shorter than the downdraft fan.

Good luck!

We've had our cooktop/rangetop on an island with seating on the other side since we moved into this house over 25 years ago. We had 24" (or maybe an inch or two shy of that) of counter behind the range with the original island. When we remodeled 5 years ago, we made the overhang a bit larger for more comfortable seating so we have 27".

We've never had a safety problem with the range. The seating is well out of the range of any splatters. Our children, grandchildren and guests often hang out there while we are cooking. I think having at least 24" is the key. A child coloring or doing homework there has room for paper and books without any of it being in danger of overlapping the cooking surface. Their hands are also well away from the cooking. The cooking surface is well out of the reach of a small child.

We have 12" on one side of the rangetop and more than 24" between the rangetop and prep sink. That works fine for us. We preferred having a large prep sink and most of the free space between the sink and the rangetop rather than splitting the space or going to a smaller sink and rangetop to get more room on the short side.

Swap it for an induction range?