Pardon my COFS, but your question about 5-burner gas stoves is actually a bit more complicated than you might have thought because there are three different kinds of 5-burner 30" ranges, and discussions go back least at decade. (BTW, COFS = chronic old fart syndrome, which is what I suffer from. I don't mean to sound testy, but sometimes come across that way, so please don't take any of what I say as personal criticism.) Currently, the three kinds of center-burners are: (a) oblong and oval "griddle" burners (which are typically rated for 9k to 10k btu-hr. and often come with a non-stick oblong or rectangular griddle). The expensive GE Cafe line of gas and dual fuel stoves ($2800 - $3200) have these, and that's where I've seen most of the comments and discussion. So do some less expensive GE Profile, Bosch, Kitchenaid and Electrolux Icon in the mid to upper-mid- price range, as do at least some GE and Frigidaire gas stoves priced at around $1k and under. Opinions on the usefulness of the oval burners vary as do the opnions on the supplied griddles. (Thin and cheap is an epithet that has been mentioned a couple of times ;>) Some think the burners are great for making gravy in roasting pans, poaching whole fish (do you have a fish poaching pan?), and pancakes production. Others think the griddle too small. If you flip the griddles over to use them as grill pans (or have an aftermarket pan like a Chef-King, Lodge or LeCreuset), opinions seem to range from "they're okay for a couple of burgers" to "utterly useless." (IOW, no consensus.) Most of the discussion that I recall seeing here has been in the threads on the GE Cafe ranges. You might have to do some digging to find those discussions while waiting for a response here from somebody who actually has one. Also, try searching the cookware forum on Chowhound and maybe eGullet, too. The oval burners are thin enough and bent away from the other burners that (supposedly) you can put normal size saucepans and 10 -ich fry pans on the adjacent burners. At least the griddle plate gives you a place to put spoons and ladles. (b) large, high-btu center burners, made for heating large pots and called variously, "power-boil," "super-boil" and the like. IIRC, DCS was the first to offer style about 10 or 12 years ago. Folks loved it or hated it. Apparently, enough folks liked it that numbers of other brands now offer them including Whirlpool/Maytag, LG, Samsung, Some people find the center big burner handy for large kettles of water (as for massive quantities of pasta or making beer or canning operations or using 14" woks) but most folks here at GW don't think much of these because, as Greendesigns says, putting a big pot in the center doesn't leave much cooktop room on the other burners and makes it hard to use anything but small pans (sometimes, very small pans) when the center burner is in use. The flame spread n these power-burners is so large it can be hard to run smaller pans on them (because even on low, the flames may be spreading beyond the pan base.) (c) small, 5k btu-hr simmer burners in the center for keeping small/tiny pans warm when you are using the other four burners. Maybe you want to melt butter in a steel measuring cup? Seems pretty hard to use them for anything else. GE and Whirlpool/Maytag and Samsung offer these stoves mostly under $1k, as best I can recall. I think I recall seeing one of the $2500 Electrolux Icon or Wavetouch gas models with center simmer burner. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 16:24

I have the GE Cafe with the 5th center oval burner, and while I do use that griddle quite a bit, there really isn't room to ever use 5 burners at once. In fact, if you are using the center burner, you can only really use 2 of the other burners (diagonally) and those only with small pots. Gas on glass is, um, marketing BS. It isn't "easy" to clean up, or at least it isn't any easier than any other enamel range top. And you pay extra for the marketing. I personally prefer the look of the stainless top, and my Cafe has been extremely easy to keep clean. I much prefer it's more pro look to having a back guard, and I really hated that "wide eyed" look that the Profile line went to about 5 years ago. Here is a link that might be useful: GE Cafe

I don't have the range, but I do know this. Heat only goes where there are flames. Using only part of an oval leaves a U-shaped flame pattern with a big cool spot. I cannot see getting this range unless you envision using the griddle a lot for searing things. Even then, I can't imagine the oval flame pattern being better than 2 symmetrical circles you'd get with 2 round burners, same BTUs on same heat setting. Also, 27,000 BTUs would be wasted on low-heat griddle cooking of pancakes, French toast, grilled cheese, etc. Nice-looking range though.

Here's a photo of the cooktop part of our range. It's a GE Profile, model PGB918DEMWW. We wanted (and bought) White on White, but it also comes in Black on Black and Stainless Steel. The White and Black have an MSRP of $1,700 and the Stainless Steel has an MSRP of $1,900. It has an oval-shaped fifth burner. We LOVE this range!!! It has a second, small, oven, too. It's on the bottom, which is fine because it's not something we use a lot, but it is SO handy to have to do the dinner rolls, or to bake a pie while dinner is in the main oven, etc. The bottom oven's highest temperature is 450� which is plenty for everything we've baked in it. AND, it comes with a griddle that goes over that center burner! This range has all sorts of great features -- convection oven, too. Here is a link that might be useful: GE Profile Free-Standing Gas Range