Thank you for your reply, BluCasetta. You're right; there are very few reviews of the Bertazzoni range out there, especially from people that have had them for a while. Your taking the time to come back and share is much appreciated! Part of why I was considering the dual fuel is that I've read that the all gas only goes down to 275 degrees. There a couple of things that I cook that require a lower oven temperature than that. For example, the chocolate-espresso dacquoise from cook's illustrated requires a 250 degree oven. But I may go with the all gas rather than the dual fuel anyway; I'm just gathering information at this point. The reviews for the all gas have generally been positive. I think overall oven steadiness that equates to even cooking trumps any concerns I have about the lower temperature limit. Glad to hear your "Meats come out of the oven succulent, casseroles are evenly cooked, baking has been a pleasureâ¦". ItâÂÂs great that the simmer and high burner options and the range of heat in between are fine on your Berta, too. Some have expressed concerns about the fan blowing hot air into the room when the oven is on, but I think I could get over that since my kitchen tends to be a bit cold in winter anyway, and I use the oven much less in summer. Hope you continue to enjoy your cooking in your little 1917 cottage. :~) Whit461, Your kitchen looks nice; you've accomplished a lot so far! Your GE 30 inch DF Monogram sounds like a great pick for you.

All hood filtering, whether meshes, baffles, or VAH sling designs, can only remove part of the grease aerosol particle spectrum. This part is that of the larger diameter particles, with decreasing performance through the mid-range. The rest is hoped to be discharged into the atmosphere, but there will be some collection in ducting depending on various factors. The only system I know of that can handle the entire spectrum is the intense UV approach used above commercial perforated ceiling collection designs. Hence, discharge into an attic not only subjects the attic to grease, water vapor, and odor, but could potentially be a fire hazard. Is there a reference somewhere in which VAH specifies that attic discharge is allowed? Earlier, the value 90 was raised. That may have been a misapplication of my expressed opinion on the flow rate (cfm) desirable per square foot of hood aperture to ensure that the 3 ft/s rising effluent from hot sources (griddles, woks, etc) is assured of containment by baffles and meshes. Rules of thumb such as cfm per BTU/hr or cfm per foot of hood edge are derived from various assumptions about the nature of the cooking field. kas

>>> would a recirculating hood such as a Broan cbd330 make much of a difference in grease and odors vs no hood at all?<<< >>>I also know what CO is and why I should care about it.<<< >>>Our house is old and far from airtight.Is my hunch that this recirculating hood won't do much good right? Would it mitigate eau de cabbage stew any better than cracking a few windows?<<< My initial reactions to using that Broan without venting to the outside are these: that your Broan may help a bit with some aerosolized cooking grease (although the hood design means that a lot will not be captured); that the Broan may serve as a surface for condensing vapor but will be otherwise ineffective in dealing with vaporous combustion byproducts and steam, much less the odor/stench of boiled cabbage; and that it will do nothing about CO which you should not need to worry about, anyway. For removing odors when boiling cabbage etc., you might have better luck with the windows, particularly if you can toss-in a box fan or window fan for those occasions. CO emissions from modern gas ranges should be barely detectable with sophisticated equipment -- far below hazard levels --- unless somebody has really screwed with your burner adjustments The combustion byproducts from the burners are rather more smoglike with the principal components being CO2 and NO2. The Dept. of Energy in conjunction with the EPA published a study on air quality in kitchens with "unvented" gas ranges and the effectiveness of realtively affordable venting a couple of years ago. The result was some overblown media attention. It also got some interesting commentary here which you can find at this link if you are interested: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2304651/ny-times-the-kitchen-as-a-pollution-hazard The idea of getting a convertible hood and later installing outside venting is not a bad one. I'm guessing that you are not currently venting because your stove currently sits on an interior wall and you all have been stumped on how to get outside venting without a full kitchen remodel to relocate the stove. Is that correct? That's a problem I had with my old-house kitchen and I discovered numbers of relatively easy ways to go up from a vent and run ducting over to the nearest exterior wall through a cabinet. This was easy for me because the interior wall behind my stove butted into an exterior wall and because I didn't mind the somewhat industrial look of the ducting. Might or might not be that easy for your old house-kitchen and the look might or might not work for you. Having said that, the 30" Broan cbd330 may not be the best choice. It seems to be a low-rise hood which does not project very far out from the wall, and it has a flat base rather than a canopy. As kas has often pointed out, an actual canopy gives better coverage and capture and can be a significant part of the effectiveness of a range hood. Even better when the hood extends a bit wider than the stove. (Better still when the hood also has enough depth to extend as far out as the front of the stove, too.) Basically, the flat base on the Broan means that the unit depends entirely on fan-power to collect vapors, grease, and etc., The Broan has relatively low fan capacity. (250 CFM?) You might want to consider taking that unit back and swapping it for something with a canopy and, if it will fit, something 36" wide. Again, that may or may not work in your kitchen. My old-house kitchen was such that I also had to resort to a low-rise hood with a flat bottom rather than a canopy. We work with the kitchens we have.

His comment had to do with repairs. He said that If a Bluestar needs a repair, you can take it apart only a couple of times and that these flimsy clips (where they are I do not know) break easily. This may not be very helpful. He recommended Wolf mainly for their great customer service. He did say that the Bluestar was nice but he thought the Wolf was made better. I may see him again next week when he brings the part needed for my washing machine so I will ask him again. He did steer me away from Thermador due to their poor customer service. All of the models I mentioned in my first post are available locally, but I would have to take a drive to use any of them. We live in central VA so I would guess that the DC area would have a store with some live cooking available.