Under 2k for a closed burner, 30" gas range in stainless is easy. GE Profile, Bosch . . . there are various offerings that should work well. As to adequate ventilation . . . well, there's what it takes to capture smoke, grease, and other by-products of cooking; what it takes to clear the room of odors and/or to manage heat; and there's the question of what bothers you. For smokey cooking of the type you described, I'd guess that 300 cfm is well on the low side. You might be fine with it, but it's not going to clear the kitchen. Really, it shouldn't cost you much more to get a 600 cfm blower. As you are figuring costs, be sure to account for the installation of whatever sort of ventilation system you are going to adopt. That's not just hanging the unit, but installation of the ductwork -- everything between the hood and the outside.

thanks so much for your valuable input :) I would have not known what you meant about the countertop until last week when I stopped in a Lowes and one of the woman sales persons there told me that I had to realize there would be a space in the back because they don't butt up against the wall. I think she said the best way to go was have the countertop guys add a wood ledge of some type to go to the wall, then make a removable piece of quartz the same as the countertops that can easily be removed or changed if we ever had to replace the range in the future, the extra piece could be adjusted smaller to fit even a range being 1 inch deeper. Otherwise if it was one continuous piece across whole cabinet bank, then we would be limited years later with the size range, or be forced to replace the countertop. I think we are buying Silestones Lagoon Quarts that has the look of off white marble. As for the size pans that fit say on the right side both front and back burners at the same time, I'm having the same problem with my freestanding :) Guess I can't get away from that on either choice :))

I don't have gas, but I have had very good experiences with GE cooking products in general...so good that when I remodeled I went with them again...GE Profile. In particular, my electric smoothtop range w/convection oven from the old kitchen (purchased in 1995) was in such pristine condition that when we donated it to our church for a family in need, they couldn't believe it wasn't new! We had no problems with it in the 13 years we used it...and I loved the convection oven! Originally, I was going to get the GE Profile range w/warming drawer for the remodel but when we found room for wall ovens I switched to a GE Profile electric cooktop & GE Profile Trivection Double Ovens...the cooktop is basic & works fine, but I absolutely love the ovens, especially the upper Trivection (speedcook) oven! (We also got a GE Profile Warming Drawer...a basic model, nothing fancy and it's been great as well!) As to whether you'll use the WD, you may be surprised how often you use it once you have it!

I struggle to give credibility to any one that can't substantiate their claim with a photo OK, here's the problem with this. Nobody really cares whether you "give them credibility", whether you believe their experience is true or not, or whether you believe Wolf chipping is an issue or not. Certainly not enough to go digging through their hard drive looking for a picture to post just for you. Particularly since your posts frankly seemed a bit rude. I understand you may not have meant them to come off that way, but they did. Maybe if you'd asked in a different way, you would have gotten pictures. Such as "I'm wondering what the chipping looks like and what areas it tends to happen in. Would you mind posting a picture?" instead of "I think you're lying. Prove me wrong with a picture." All people are trying to do here is share their experiences, and then let others make their own buying decisions based on that information. Most new posters who join these forums and ask questions are pretty trusting, because spammers and people with conflicts of interest generally don't last very long here. If someone replies to a question with their genuine experience with a product, good or bad, the original poster may ask them follow up questions to get more details or clarify things - but since they're grateful for the time that person took to write their responses, they aren't going to thank them by grilling them for evidence that they actually own the product or have/have not had issues. If you don't find the information relevant to you, and want to believe that we're biased against Wolf, are "fear mongering", and that a company like that would NEVER allow something like this to happen, etc. Then go ahead! Nobody is trying to stop you from thinking that, and it's no skin off anyone's back that you bought a Wolf and like it (many people here were in that same boat at one point!). But when you then basically accuse people of making up stories about problems and being too stupid to use an oven properly without the enamel flaking off - you can expect a response. Still, of course it's a public site that anyone can join, and people with agendas occasionally make their way onto it. However, if someone is suspicious of a member, it's usually super easy to spot those people by giving their profile a quick glance. If they just joined the forum, and all their posts are strongly positive or negative about a particular product or service, chances are there's something fishy going on. However, if they have been posting here for years about a great variety of different topics, they probably know what they're talking about and are just trying to help. And, another way to spot someone genuine is to see if their opinions change over time! Again, most of the people here who criticize Wolf about this issue had nothing but good things to say about their ovens before they ran into trouble, and that can be verified by looking at their posting history. Complaining about a product failure 2.5 years after warranty expiration is not terribly reasonable In most cases, I would agree with this. Stuff happens. If something like an ignitor or even a control board happens to go bad not too long after the warranty expires, it may not be the most fun situation to be in, but it could have just as easily happened if you'd bought a different brand, and engaging in online tirades against the manufacturer would not be the most productive thing to do. Just suck it up, fix it, and move on with life. However, replacing an oven liner isn't like replacing an ignitor or a control board. It's the equivalent of performing open heart surgery on a range. The fact that it is more economical in most cases for the manufacturer to replace rather than repair is very telling. And when there seems to be a pattern of the issue happening to more than just 1 or 2 people - it's concerning, and I would argue complaining about it is quite reasonable. Wolf seems to recognize this as well, and although they won't admit that the chipping can actually be a safety hazard, or that it is a widespread problem - they have been known to confess on the phone that it is a recurring issue. In the first "problem" link above I see an oven that was repaired to the satisfaction of the owner, much to the dismay of some. Well, this particular oven was still in warranty, so of course it was repaired to the satisfaction of the owner. It better have been! There has never been any question about Wolf being willing to honor their warranty. They have been said by many to be polite and efficient when dealing with warranty repairs or replacements. The questions start to arise after the warranty expires. Like any manufacturer, Wolf is not obligated to do any goodwill repairs or replacements out of warranty. However, due to the price premium they charge and the advertising they do, people expect more out of them than other manufacturers. In many cases, they have lived up to this expectation, like in the links I gave. Promptly replacing products, in or out of warranty, and after several replacements, if there was still chipping, buying back the oven without resistance or fighting. But the problem is that they are inconsistent. In other cases, they have unfortunately not lived up to it, like in the cases of wekick and the Kails. Both were left with unusable products in under 10 years of use (under 5 years in the case of wekick) with no option to sell back their ovens, or repair without spending thousands with no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. When there are that many reports of this exact same issue happening (and evidently countless other incidents out there that didn't make it onto the internet or didn't even get noticed by the owner), that doesn't seem fair. In the third link I see an actual problem that's from metal fatigue. Does that really matter? I have used self clean ovens of various brands for decades and never run into any issues with the cavity becoming damaged. Besides, the Wolf chipping has been reported in units that have not had self clean run even once. That was her third oven, and the two before it had met the same fate. After three defective ovens in less than a year, can you blame someone for not wanting to try another? Yes, this was one of the cases where Wolf did the right thing, but again, with so many failures that early on, they kind of had to.