well I called Capital - they did confirm that the 30" rangetop does come with updated burners - 3 at 25k and 1 8k burner. So that answers that question but I would still like to know if anyone has thoughts on the Capital vs the Thermador? Thanks.

Capital Culinarian is an open burner system. The other two are Sealed, I am a serious cook and I'm a big fan of open burners. IMHO Capital Culinarian would win out... By the way, I have a Bluestar range in my kitchen.

I'm with kfunky, open burner fan all the way! I also have a Bluestar, wondering why it's not on your short list? It would be much more comparable to the Culinarian than the other two.

I simmer soups, stews, and chili all afternoon on my simmer burner. I believe on Bluestar it's 8 or 9k btu? ...I rarely use my crock pot anymore, the simmer burner works so well!

Thanks to both for your responses - I actually do lean towards the open burner but since I wasn't sure about the simmer issue I am considering the Thermador. I did look at the BS but after comparing both the Capital and BS it appears that it would be easier to clean the Capital and it is a bit cheaper but I probably could be swayed...... :)

Bluestar's low simmer are adjustable on all burners via a small screw in the knob. I'm pretty sure the Culinarian has the same adjustment option too. I've adjusted all my burners to achieve as low as possible simmer. Even my 22K burners simmer great on most of my pots....Cleaning is not a problem, everything comes apart very easily, I line my catch tray with tin foil, piece of cake. Here's a basic wipe down of a BS....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o1h_xwlCtc

and the CC...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAe0HJJrzlY

When I need to deep clean mine I just take all the grates and bowls off and wash everything by hand and completely dry all parts. Then do an interior clean out as well, not a big deal at all IMO...I think it's a plus that I can get to all working parts on my stove top not only for cleaning but for any maintenance as well.

Another open burner vote. Once the range is hooked to the gas line, don't forget to adjust both high and low. I found CC's air shutter factory setting was a bit too open at my location. Not sure about what CC does now, my CC range top (25K/8K revision) 's manual does not include the flame adjustment instructions, but CC includes them in Connoisseurian's manual, which can be downloaded from their website. It took me several tries to get the feeling of what to look for and the effect of changes. I am still not 100% what I understanding is correct, 'cause I never had a technician come over to do the adjustments, but the flame is solid and blue, ignition is quick and no clicks on the low and the low end is low enough for my need, especially on the 8K, and the water evaporation time is in line with others'. :-)

Serious cooks might choose different rangetops for different reasons but serious cooks should look at each aspect of a burner and consider how they will work with their cookware and how they cook. Consider what work arounds there are.

BTUs If you want to use a wok at high temperatures, then I would look at the burners with the highest BTUS. In comparing simmers you would have to compare the lower end of the BTU rating on the 8K burner. Is it 400BTUs or 2000? It can be a little subjective otherwise. You cannot go by a temperature "rating" as this will vary wildly depending on cookware and what you are cooking. If the simmer is not low enough, but you want the high BTUs consider a separate induction burner that you can plug in. This would give you an additional burner or two if you needed them. One poster over on one of the cooking forums had a very small kitchen and was going to use all plug in induction units instead of permanent burners. I had a heavy aluminum griddle I use to disperse heat and hold several pans over 2 burners.

There are two aspects to the term "open" burner.

It may be capped or uncapped-capped will cause the flame to flare more on the highest settings. It varies on how the burner is designed. The uncapped tend to go straight up but look at the burner.

Open vs sealed vs semi sealed refers to the burner tray and you might have an individual preference as to what is easier to clean. There are videos about the Culinarian and the BS. The American performer is semi sealed and the tray lifts off and goes in the dishwasher.

Shape of the burner star vs single ring vs multi ring. The star shape disperses the heat more equally over the bottom of the pan. This is especially useful when using cast iron, steel or even some stainless cookware if it does not conduct heat very well. If you use heavy copper or aluminum, the cookware disperses the heat. The BS burners come in different sizes so that you can match the cookware size to the burner to take advantage of the star shape. Going back to the idea of an uncapped burner, it is said that it puts the heat to the center of the pan, but if you use bigger pans, that might not be where you want the heat so not all one size fits all. If you use the heavy copper or aluminum, the pattern will not matter.

There are dual stacked burner that have two separate burners with separate ranges.

If you can't decide between Capital and BS on features, let it come down to price and looks. :)

Good luck with your purchase either way.

If your going BS do so before the price increase in January 2016 :)

Trevor - I'm hoping you can help us determine if Capital has made any important updates to their ranges in the past 4 years. The reason for asking is that we just moved into a new custom house where we had the builder install a 48" Capital Culinarian Self/Clean Range, Model-CGSR484BG for which we paid over $11K. Unfortunately, in a few short days, we managed to break the oven latch and when we called Capital to arrange a fix, we learned our range was built in 2011. This came to us as a shock as we would have expected to get a 2015 range. I've read other threads where you commented that the simmer issues have been resolved in the newer models. Do you know when that fix was put in place? Have there been other major issues that were resolved in the current models?

We're trying to get answers from our builder, who has put us in contact with their appliance distributor, but I'd like to get your independent comment if I may, as I'm sure they have an invested interest to convince us our range is identical to later models. The Capital representative also downplayed the years differential. Any feedback you can give us is much appreciated.

Firstly at $11k you were totally ripped off for a unit which is probably over 4 years old. If I was to sell you brand new unit made this month the cost would be $10,799.00

Several major changes have been made to the burners and oven in that time frame. not to mention the fit an finish.

Advice is...... hit your builder and the Appliance people hard for off loading that unit to you.

Trevor, if you wouldn't mind, do you have any idea what a fair value for a 4 year unit would be? The builder has charged us more than retail for everything because their fees include installation, transportation, etc. So we didn't object to the price differential for a brand new unit; however, we obviously didn't get a new unit. Now we've used the unit for three weeks and I can't imagine they'll take it back just because it wasn't a new model. We'd like to have a base price in mind to help with negotiations, since we're sure they won't trade it for a new unit and we're likely now stuck with this much older model. Also, do you know if the burners can be retrofitted to the newer ones? Perhaps that is something we can have them do. Lastly, can you add to your comment regarding the fit and finish? what changed? Thank you for your feedback.

At a guess i would say the cost 4 years ago would be $9k. New burners are about $175 each, i would need to see a picture of your current ones to see what has changed. Fit and finish was / is an ongoing thing with all manufactures, one main thing was the height of the bottom rack in the oven, the strips that the burners sit on, different knobs, different back of the range, might be some other changes that i forget now.

I would firstly push for a replacement range, if your thought was your getting a new range and you got a VERY old unit i would be pissed to say the least.

It could be your builder does not know he also got ripped.

I believe the burners are already the new 25000 BTU version with a simmer burner. My range top's dripping tray does not have a handle for cleaner look. I am not sure if Capital keeps the handle on the ranges.

looks like they changed out the burners already as noted above. So apart from the price your close