What one wants is to have the hood aperture size overlap the rising and expanding effluent plume. Aperture in this case refers to the area at the bottom of the hood that can be expected to actually capture effluent. Generally this is the empty space within the interior sides, but in some cases might include some of the edge (with enough flow rate and/or steep enough angle). So, given an area at the cooktop that represents the contour of the bases of all pans that might be employed on the burners/hobs, draw an imaginary line upward from the contour edge expanding out at, say, 10 degrees, to the height of the hood aperture. (This is equivalent to multiplying the hood height by 0.176 or thereabouts, to find the edge of the preferred minimum overhang of the aperture.) Very high hoods need additional overlap beyond this to resist cross drafts from helping the effluent escape. If wood is exposed at the bottom of the insert enclosure, its distance from the cooking surface must comply with the range manufacturer's minimum allowable distance to combustible surfaces. If Rustic-R-Us is intended (cabinet-wise and flame-wise), then maybe cabinets made of woods that smoulder instead of burn might be considered, such as ipe or redwood. kas

Viking: Don't know if it's been changed. Was not hot enough for a good sear and was uneven. But, have never been a Viking fan. Wolf: An IR beast and very hot. Great for searing and flavor. Often used it for sear and then a fast oven finish. Did not use sous vide back then but would be good for finishing. Needs to be disassembled to be cleaned (the surrounding frame pops out, clean it in sink with BFK and SS scrubbie). A task but not a chore. Never stopped me from using it. Spouse claims still was the best tasting grill we've had and that's a long list. Some posters insist on posting that the temp can't be modified which is false (and misleading--clearly they've never used one). Mine came with a SS "blankoff plate that covers about 70% of the IR honeycomb radiator to reduce the radiant heat--will still grill very well with it on which gives an idea of how hot it is. We got a second one, cut it into 2 different sized pieces and had a modified two temp grill (albeit for relatively small size portions). For most cooking we just ran it without the plates which we referred to as "torch." Fish and meats that would have a 125F or so pull temp and rested are the sweet spot. For what we cook the grill was my favorite part of the whole range. One the caveat: once the grill is on it has to cool before you can switch the plate. Capital: Don't use the grill that much as our climate promotes outside grilling and sous vide and some related approaches have reduced grilling use. The Capital is the most flexible of all I've used: heat is adjustable, grates flip with a grease draining, small width grate for steaks and the like and on the other side a wider grate size to better support thin cuts like fish filets (I've never used it). Not as hot as the Wolf, but seems to have both some convection and IR heat that does a serviceable job on burgers, chicken and steaks. I can get a decent crust on a medium-rare rib eye if that helps. It's close to an outside gas grill in the house imo. For entertaining, is great for grilling apps while people are milling around. Inside grilling, hood with warming lights and someone prepping food helps congregate the guests and does have a certain wow factor, truth be told. Cleaning usually involves putting a disposable aluminum cooking pan upside down over the grate and running it on hi for about 10 minutes to burn it off (an old Wolf grill trick), let cool and a quick soak and a wire brushing in the sink. 10 minutes max. Would be interested in hearing about the BS grill in the event you get to play with one.

I would choose RNB over Platinum. The griddle on the RNB is thermostatically controlled so that you can turn it on and get an easily reproducible temperature. There are some threads that are about how uneven the Platinum griddle is and there is a opening in the front that has a lot of heat coming out. The griddle is cast iron so will tend to hot spot. I don’t think there are a lot of fans of the grill either. Wolf as opaone talked about has a griddle with an infrared burner so the heat source is more even and it is twice as thick. Some people like to have zones of cooler and warmer heat though so they can cook and keep warm. You can search RNB griddle and most seem to like them. The BS and Wolf AG ovens are both like a standard oven. The BS is a little wider so that it holds a full commercial baking sheet, or two half sheets. The heat comes from the bottom. Many recipes in baking were developed with heat from the bottom. The Platinum has all of the heat coming from the back. Some people have had issues with that. You can turn the convection fan off but it still runs every time the pow’r burner comes on. There is a difference between the burners, Wolf being capped, so a wider flame on high heat. The BS does not have a burner cap so heat is straight up. If you plan on using the burner on highest heat for something like stir frying, this is important. The BS can have more BTUs because of this. Wolf does a much better job of keeping the flame from being too wide than some manufacturers do. I have Wolf and a little wider flame on high is good for me because I use 12-14” skillets. You might consider what is easier to clean, Wolf sealed burner tray vs the open BS tray. No right or wrong there. There are fans of each.

Can you return or sell the 48" liner and get a 60" instead?