"We are just beginning a remodel and are looking at a 36" pro-style range w/a grill. We've been told by one store that a 600cfm hood would be sufficient and another place said we would need 1200cfm. Any thoughts on which is correct?" We went through the same decision--hardest aspect of the whole renovation. One main thing we learned is CFM by itself is pretty much meaningless unless you're talking about differences in the same brand/model. CFM stats are supplied by manufacturer, and the actual effectiveness will depend on hood size, shape, type (wall v. island, flanking upper cabinets, etc.) and duct run. We have a 600cfm VH, 27"X42" over 36" range with a short run, one turn, and it works well enough with our grill. It's a wall mount with flanking cabinetts. VH customer service advised us on the sizing. The biggest detriment to upward air flow is a high riser shelf that we remove for the smokiest of grilling). I would have preferred a 900cfm VH, but the ducting requirements couldn't be spec'ed. IR versus regular grills: I've worked behind the line and imo IR is superior due to how it cooks (again, like charcoal). IR is like standing in sunlight, while the other grills are like standing in a warm breeze or pressing something warm against your face: IR directly heats the surface of what's being cooked, while the other ways heat the air and grill grates. My guess is the IR carmelizes the meat surface more effectively. This having been said, the question of how much better is very much an individual preference (I'm usually too lazy to bother starting charcoal and use a gas grill for outside cooking and the steaks taste fine).

I'm not opposed to mixing some pork or pork sausage with the beef for a burger but if I want meatloaf, I'll make meatloaf and I do like meatloaf but to me, meatloaf is not a burger. And for me, meatballs should be somewhere in-between. A little filler but not just meatloaf made into little balls. A good burger with a bit of seasoning mixed in, on a toasted, quality bun (or open face with toast), maybe a couple paper-thin slices of raw onion and occasionally some good cheese can usually stand on it's own and doesn't need pickle, relish, tomato, lettuce, or "special sauce". Bacon can make anything better but usually I wind up eating the bacon as an appetizer, then eat the burger. As quality dwindles, then add some steak/BBQ sauce and other stuff. If I want to go for something unusual or more decadent, I'll try a Juicy Lucy. When I'm at a restaurant, I guess I look more at what they do best. I don't order steak at a bar. I don't order lasagna at a seafood place, etc.

Another take on the induction question with a little sprinkle of humor. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/induction-cooking-emf-magnitude-vs-other-things-missus-is-a-bit-concerned/  Tim says, Ugh... If she's worried about cancer... dump her now? There's no convincing someone like that, to understand statistics and significance. At least that I've heard of. If you're looking for the opinion of an EE, I would gladly give you my opinion on the subject -- if you'd like it in writing, I can even sell your wife a certificate saying as much! Maybe that wouldn't help. I don't know. What are we talking about, anyway? Cooktops aren't always-on. They're either off until turned on, or pulsing infrequently to check if a pot is present. The RMS EMF at the surface is not very large either way, when not actively heating something. When heating, it's only large under the work being heated. EMF drops off rapidly with distance. If your wife is so strange that she finds it enjoyable to read books while laying over the cooktop, I might be concerned, but only for mental health reasons, not for EMF reasons. Or if shoving her head towards a pot that's being heated, I would be more concerned for safety reasons, and then mental health reasons... There are biological effects of EMF, but not at these field strengths. Not by orders of magnitude. The primary effect is simply dumb old heating. Diathermy machines, microwave ovens, and the military's ADS, operate on this mechanism. There is no biological effect beyond heating (obviously, too much heat and you cause burns, but that's not unique to EMF). Strong pulsed fields can induce voltages in neural tissue (transcranial magnetic stimulation), which do have direct neural effects, but these are temporary. Anything that produces fields with too little energy to cause noticeable heating, or pulse peaks strong enough to cause noticeable induction, is completely and utterly inconsequential. Example: ESD can have quite large (peak) EMF, but is over very quickly, and delivers very little energy (on a human scale). (Anyway, sparks are well known to cause people to involuntarily jump or twitch. But again, that's just a neural stimulation thing, nothing more.)

As I said earlier, I wouldn't get an indoor grill. Overall just too much of a pain, and I can always use either the outdoor grill or the absolutely amazing broiler in my Bluestar oven. In fact, we just had Tandoori chicken (ATK recipe) made with that broiler. Very happy with the results. A strong infrared broiler is quite the game changer and we use it almost daily -- even if it's just to make toast. I don't think any manufacturer other than Bluestar puts quite the same type of broiler into their ovens, though. It's about the closest thing you can come to a commercial salamander in a residential setting (yes, I know you can buy residential salamanders, but that's a whole different complication and you probably don't want that). Even if you are only looking at rangetops rather than full ranges, I would still recommend Bluestar. Their open burner gas options leave everyone else in the dust. Simple design, but it works so well. It's based on a very similar time-tested commercial solution. In fact, I had a chance to cook on a ~25 year old commercial Wolf. It looked and felt just like my trusty residential Bluestar, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Bluestar is a direct improvement of the good old commercial Garland ranges that Julia Child loved so much. For residential ranges, Wolf has since spun off a separate company and they have made a lot of changes to their models. Modern-day Wolf doesn't share all that much with its commercial roots. I personally feel that is a downside. But if for some reason I decided against buying Bluestar, then Wolf would be the runner up. It has its little quirks, but then who doesn't? Nothing is perfect. And I guess the same can be said about my favorite Bluestar. With Bluestar, the big elephant in the room is that it requires a little bit more work when it is first installed and it might need a little more calibration during initial setup. Do that, and you'll be happy for years. It's a very basic design; nothing much can really go wrong. But if your installer skips this part of the process, you'll be frustrated until you adjust shutter valves, lower limits, and possibly one or two other settings. On the other hand, more mainstream-brands such as Wolf have been dumbed down so that they don't push the envelope quite as much; but the upside is that even without in-the-field calibration, they'll likely perform OK. Dealers/installers love that. And if you don't have access to a good local dealer, then it might be the decisive factor. As for Miele, I generally love that brand. They make amazing dishwashers, and several of their ovens (notably the combination steam oven) are great appliances. But I have never been particularly impressed with their gas ranges. Not that they are bad per se. They just don't stand out the same as Bluestar, and to a lesser degree Wolf.