Everhthing you need to know is available in the appliance forum.

In a nut shell sealed burners are supposedly easier to clean.In reality they are different to clean,particularly when companred to two piece open burners. Cleaning a one piece open burner is a bit more difficult to clean.

Dual-fuel is a gas rangetop with an electric oven.

Electric ovens,when compared to gas ovens in same price range, are slightly better for pastries or some highly specialized baking that requires low humidity and exact temperature precision. Also will give you a more even browning in the Wolf dual-fuel if baking on multiple racks.

Roasting meats and some specialized baking that requires high humidity is best down in a gas oven.

If you have the space you are better off buying an electric wall oven and an all-gas range rather than paying a premium for duel-fuel.

I know I am going to ruffle feathers here but the best gas rangetop/range is the Capital Culinarian.

Best electric wall oven is Gaggenau with Wolf a close second.

If you are going with either Wolf or Viking get Wolf.

Video of open burner vs sealed burner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJvKZiOQesg

Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Capital Culinarian Burner Video

Deeageaux,

Thanks so much for taking the time to post. That's really helpful I do have an electric wall oven that's staying, and I roast more frequently than I bake, so AG sounds smart.

Forgot about the appliance forum since I spend my time here. Will go there!

Between those two, I'd do the Wolf. Heard too many bad things about the Viking. But is there a reason you've ruled out some of the better open burner gas ranges like Blue Star or Capital Culinarian? I needed a rangetop instead of a range. I went with the CC over the BS after reading up on open burner cleaning and better cooking ability. I'd still make that choice if I was doing a range as I believe the CC has a better oven than the BS.

agree with everyone above! do your homework and spend wisely. a third vote for capital here. -and wolf over viking, if that's what you want.

Hi Breezy,

Unfortunately, the closest BS dealer/repairman is over 2 hours away, so for practicality reasons that isn't an option.

Just checked out the CC site, and they look wonderful. Just have to do some more research, and find out where to buy in my area. Thanks!

i did lots of research when deciding between wolf and viking and ultimately chose wolf. was scared off by the horrible customer support issues reported on viking. have only just started using my wolf range (30" all gas) so too soon, will report back when i have more info.

I've had my all gas viking range for 11 years. I just spent another $450 replacing ignitors (every 2-3 years FWIW).
Viking customer service is a nightmare. My first repair was oven ignitors that went out and burnt a hole in the oven burner. Viking refused to cover even though it was in the warranty period and the the warranty covered "oven burner". I was appalled.
The gas burners and broiler are awesome, just the oven is a PITA and expensive to repair over and over!

I've been using our Wolf all-gas range for a few months now. We decided on all gas rather than dual fuel after reading that gas ovens have improved over the years so that they are as good as electric ( again, this is what I read). The all gas was a significant savings over the dual-fuel, and a friend who is a huge baker loves her all gas Wolf. Anyway, very happy with it so far. The oven seems very accurate. We had a few concerns (you can see my posts in appliance forum) and Wolf set up a service call without any problem. So, happy with the accuracy of the range and happy with the service. I have never had a Viking so can't compare.

Hi Madeline,
We've had our 36" all gas Wolf range for a little over a year now. We have 4 burners and a grill in the middle (which saves us from ever again needing to brave our Canadian winter weather to run out to the barbecue). So, I guess the only downside is that it's making us soft. The upside is that N loves to cook on the dramatic flame-producing grill. We chose the Wolf for its basic, no-nonsense, unchanging design. It was the perfect choice for us.
We opted for a 42" hood, for which we're also grateful. When we grill something very fatty the extra inches of hood really help to channel the smoke up and away.

My experience is similar to shappy's. I've had my Viking rangetop about 6 years. It's a sealed gas 36" unit. I've had about 10-12 service calls on it, probably spent about $1000 in repairs since it's been out of warranty.

The last batch of repairs (about $450 like Shappy) lasted all of a few months. It's embarrasing to have to pull out a lighter to manually light your $4000 rangetop, but that's what I live with.

I would've swapped it out years ago but my granite is custom-cut around it and I don't think a Wolf would drop into the opening.

madeline,
I think Viking and Wolf are both good products. Most of my friends and aquaintenances have either or. Most seem to like them well enough. I have Viking AG with open burners for over 10 years without much problems. I had to have the oven ignioers replaced a few years ago. My DH did it for the price of ignitors which was about $50.00 each.

I am not even sure if the newer gas ovens even have ignitors. I really like having an infrared gas broiler in the oven. I have never used an electrical oven with broilers that were as powerful. But others can correct me, if I am wrong.

I also have a Miele Speed oven as a second oven.

My Viking AG oven is not quite as even as the Miele speed oven. There are hot spots. On the other hand, the Miele oven does not have an option where the convection fan is NOT on. It maybe the fan that makes the oven more even.

I also have a built in BBQ with infrared rotisserie which is right outside of my kitchen.

I think you need to evaluate your total cooking package. For me, it was important to have adequate of everything I needed: broiler (gas infrared rather than electric broiler), good even oven (Miele speed oven) and an easy access to a grill.

This is all really helpful, thanks.

I've added Thermador to the list (afraid to go Bluestar or CC because I don't trust that I'll be able to find a capable local repairman).

If anyone knows of other videos (I've watched the ones on mfr Websites) showing the cooking/cleaning process for Wolf, Viking, Thermador, please let me know!

Thanks again for taking the time to help.