Maria et all, Please keep in mind that all cultivars will display some changes in both leaf and bloom color as the individual leaf or bloom matures. Photos of different cultivars may appear somewhat different depending on many environmental variances. In the dark leaf cultivars we typically see much richer color in the new growth. In the industry, we often referred to a cultivar such as Black Knight as a bronze leaf because it matured to a combination of both the pale maroon (black) and green whereas Tropicanna Blacks foliage tends to hold its dark color more consistently. I think the above photos reflect the difference in bloom color. Kent

I just downloaded chrome and have a couple observations: 1) First, it incorrectly copied my homepage from Firefox, which happens to be google! For some reason it added a couple ransom characters onto the address so it didn't work. Not a good first impression. No big deal but I had to figure out to set a homepage, which is is a bit different in chrome. 2) Bigger problem is that pages load a split second slower compared to Firefox or Explorer (which are immediate). It's akin to the delay you may have seen when using a new format vs. classic in Yahoo mail, Hotmail, etc. if you know what I mean. (Maybe it has something to do with java.) Btw, I have plain vanilla DSL at home, which is affordable, reliable and plenty quick enough. 3) Do they really need the "manila folder look" up top? Kind of boring, (even for my boring self).

logic, they must do things a whole lot different in Jersey. In Florida a drain field replacement will run around $4-6k for a 3500 SQFT house. If the tank is bad, which is rare, add another 1-2k. Inspecting septic system costs around $150 and is not very scientific. The key is to make sure your drain field is leeching properly. You can tell that pretty easily simply by turning on the water in the house a watching the water leach out of the tank. You can also tell if the drain field is starting to go if you see the grass a lot greener in the drain field then the rest of the yard. How does one get away with charging $1500-$2000 to inspect a drain field? What do they do that requires such an insane amount of money? OP, as for the well, have it tested for contaminants every 2 - 3 years, especially if there is a lot of growth in your area. It costs a few hundred bucks but its worth it. And lastly, have the home checked for radon which is more prevalent in homes with well water. I have a large home that is on both well and septic. I have never had a big issue with either. If I had to take one over the other I would take septic. Our well water is a PIA and we blow through a ton of salt. Even with an automatic softener system we go through about 100lbs of salt a month. And if you forget to add the salt, the system does not shut your water off when it runs out. Hard water = destruction to almost everything it touches. We are getting city water next month and I can't wait. No more yellow underwear!

Swiss chard, there are posts that deal with those things, if you search this forum. BS is probably the closest to what you are looking for. The parts seem to be more generic and the design is based on Julia Child's range, a Garland. Second, I would look at Bosch. My DIL had about $1800 to spend and she bought an Bosch AG. I think they have gone up a little, but you might find a deal on one somewhere. I have to say opaone, my Wolf lasted 4.5 years and they only claim 20 years on their website. Subzero bought them and "residentialized" them in 2000. Sisterwitch, It is sad but with all the electronics on ranges, they seem to need a lot of air moving and no one seems to be rating the noise in decibles like they do dishwashers. It is a little bit hard to rely on subjective viewpoints as one person’s quiet might be another person’s loud. opaone here are responses to your comments. Note, instead of being repetitive in explanation of the differences in steel and aluminum, note this * means see above discussion and link, also previous posts or links to articles on cookware metals or google anything relating to the physical properties of various metals used in cookware and you will get an explanation in great detail. Feel free to add any supporting data to your contention that steel heats more evenly than aluminum. "There are actually few things that a burner can do that a griddle cannot so there is actually very little trade-off" Do you mean a pan on a burner? Interesting thought. I just find myself needing containment for things that involve liquids and like the control of an individual burner to the pan. Go figure. Most of the time I do not need all of the real estate on a griddle. Seems to be a waste to heat it up to make a couple of portions of something. I do understand that it works for you. "there have been few times that we've needed/wanted more than four burners” But it you have a 48" range and most people don't. I understand how you use your burners but consider that there are people who cook differently than you do or only have 4 burners to begin with. "Do you have examples of when one is better than the other for things done on a griddle. Or perhaps more importantly, when would you want anything other than steel." Of course I do and I know we have discussed this exact thing many times before. * I have posted this before too but here it is again. http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/120/Common-Materials-of-Cookware Look at the charts, especially for thermal diffusivity. In looking at the chart above, Why do you think they put layers of copper and/or aluminum in stainless cookware? Why did Julia use thick French copper? Do you cook with steel pans all the time? Why or why not? Wolf even says on their website that even with the infrared burner, their surface does not heat evenly. I use a heavy aluminum griddle over my ring burner whenever I need a more even temperature across the surface, which is when I am cooking something starchy like potato pancakes, grilled sandwiches, toasting buns or English muffins, pancakes or even hamburgers. I also use it when I want quick response up or down. I cook a lot of things that I might start at one temperature but need to turn down to finish, some sandwiches, hamburgers or I might cook one thing and switch to something else and I don't want to wait for 1/2" of steel to change temperatures. I use steel or cast iron when I don't care about hot spots or even want them to build heat for rapid sears. I do this with steaks, shrimp or scallops, but use a big pan instead of a griddle. I do understand that you like your built in steel griddle for all situations although I find it odd that as much as you seem to value even temperatures across the surface, you don’t see where aluminum would be beneficial in spite of the very clear physical properties. "Because you have two burners, you can have two different zones of heat." "True (but it is often very uneven heat across the surface and across time." True with steel, but aluminum * As far as even heat over time, a flame is a constant flow of heat at a given setting vs cycling on and off with a +/- 30-40F. Both work, but if you are discussing actual differences in fluctuation of heat, the constant flame is well, constant. This is how it works in actual cooking. I start my pan/griddle and preheat a little hotter than is needed. I get a little heat loss a when I add food and it brings it down to where I want it. I might stay with that or if I do need an adjustment, I make that adjustment and it quickly happens and through the whole griddle due to the excellent heat transfer properties of aluminum. Maybe it is is hard to understand how aluminum works if you have not used it or maybe you have only used thin aluminum. ”A thermostatic griddle acting as a flat-top can actually provide greater capability. For example, since more than just two sauciers can be placed on it and it maintains a much more even temp than burners or burners with a griddle plate will.” Even temps *. How many sauciers can you fit on a 2 or 4 burner griddle? Consider that the area available is much bigger on a griddle like Royal Industries aluminum 2 burner overlay than a Wolf 2 burner built in. Royal Industries 23x15, cooking area 22.5x14.5= 326 sq inches Wolf 2 burner built in, on a 48” range, cooking area 18x10.5= 189 sq inches Wolf 4 burner built in cooking area. 18x23= 414 sq inches How many more pots will fit on 326 sq inches vs 189? With the 4 burner you are only getting 88 sq inches more than the Royal Industries aluminum griddle. "What you don't mention is that it is almost impossible to maintain any semblance of even heat on a burner top griddle" I didn’t mention it, because it’s not impossible or even hard. * " To accomplish this with a burner top you'd need someone to monitor it with a IR temp gun and turn the burners on/off to maintain the temp. Short of that you'll have much wider temp swings that make use for many things difficult or impossible." The object for me is to obtain a temperature that does what I want to the food, not maintain a given temperature. I go by sight, sound and smell. When you cook with a pan, do you turn it on and off and monitor it with an infrared temperature gun? No wonder you prefer a griddle and don’t see the benefit of pans. I would be surprised that you could use 4 pans that way. I’m thinking you would be better off with induction that you could dial in. Once the burner is at the right setting with aluminum, I rarely need to touch it except if I want to change temperatures. "A properly cared for steel griddle is quite nonstick. I'm not aware of thermostatic griddles needing to be replaced. " Yes, I agree it is, built in or add on. A nice nontoxic way to have nonstick. Thermador as mentioned above is an example of a thermostatically controlled griddle that needs replacing from time to time. It is sort of a lift off though so it can be done easily. "I've not checked lately so perhaps something has become available. Are you aware of anything?" My kids have an inexpensive aluminum one. It works great on pancakes. This may be the answer for you. An 36” induction plancha with a steel surface. Sure it is $8,089, but some combi ovens cost that much. It would be interesting to check it out and then you could get a 30” BS range to go next to it.