I have a Kitchenaid 5 burner gas (not propane) stainless with a downdraft. Only problem with the cooktop: right after we got it my husband made a big batch of bean soup in one of those big tin roasters like your Mom used and set it over two burners. The iron grate got too hot and melted the rubber tips on the feet which keep it from scratching the cook top. Kitchenaid sent us a new one right away. Great service. The cooktop works pretty well for the price range but no comparison to a Viking gas stove I used to have once upon a time, but for the price it's pretty good. Better than the Jennair that I had yanked out, that's for sure. I would stay completely away from that one!!! As for the "downdraft" ....ugg...this is my third downdraft (various brands) and in my opinion there isn't a downdraft that works. May as well not even have one. They're #1: filthy and impossible to clean, and can get "stinky", #2: If you are using anything taller than a skillet everything goes right over the top of the downdraft and right into the house, #3: the only time they do slightly pull anything out is when you cook on the very back burner. You will still know you fried fish though, if you catch my drift! :) #4: if you are using a skillet on one of the front burners it goes right over the top of the downdraft and into the house. YOU CAN SEE IT! The solution: an overhead unit that pulls up and outside, which means you have to have overhead electric over your cook top, and venting as well. $$$$$$ Unfortunately I can't do that in my existing kitchen but believe me if I ever remodel I would get a setup that allowed for the overhead kind vented to the outside of the house. The ceiling in my kitchen is covered with grunge because DOWNDRAFTS DON'T WORK.

This is kind of late, but I had a couple of things. It would be hard for anyone but you to know what you can or can't live with in a cooktop. In the price level you're shopping, you will get single ring, sealed gas burners. The sealed vs. open discussions have to do with whether the edge of the cooktop is sealed around the bottom of the burner or the bottom of the burner is open down to a drip tray. Sealed gas burners have gas ports (little bitty holes) on the outside of the burner head - actually parallel to the cooktop surface. Open gas burners usually have some or all of their gas ports facing upwards towards the pot. If you haven't lived with gas before, there are a couple of ways in which the "mechanics" of gas burners are different. You need to fit the pot to the burner size, at least somewhat. Using the frigidaire 17k burner as an example, you can't effectively put a small pot on it. This is because the ring of flame is the burner width plus about 1-1.5 inches. If you place a small pot in the center of the burner, its likely all of the flame will miss the pot. Some times the grate designs forbid having small pots placed anywhere but the center. There is a little bit more to that concept. The flame will likely touch the pot and spread outwards even further and "climb the side of the pan". The higher the btus of the burner, the bigger the flame will be from each gas port. While flame shooting up the side of the pan can look cool, all of the flame that misses the bottom of the pan is wasted. Burner designs can be kinda poor in actual use - I think it's from the gas pressure - because the larger the flame from higher btus, the bigger the pan you're going to need to be able to USE those btus. This is because the flame is pushed by the pressure away from the center of the pan and towards the outside. That is the long way round to saying a little rule of thumb. Unless you regularly use restaurant sized cookware, the bigger the diameter of the burner head, the larger the pot required for the same btus. To a certain extent, another rule of thumb is when faced with two burners of the same btu rating, choose the smaller diameter one for more flexibility in pan choice. It will put out more btus directly under the pan. A corollary would be - big burner, big ring of flame, big pan = cold center of pan. You would not see this on an electric cooktop, but you will with gas. Get around this with heavy bottom cookware or cast iron cookware- but it can be expensive and heavy. Simple stirring works too, Sometimes, an inexpensive, flat piece made out of cast iron is a great thing to have. It can be used to provide the heat transfer - evening out the heat across the entire bottom of a pot sitting on the cast iron. You can "fix" a poor simmer burner in the same way. Use an inexpensive simmer plate or a plain cast iron single burner griddle or a cast iron pizza pan. They will diffuse the heat from a very small ring of flame and spread it out. If the heat is still too high, use a grate on top to get a little more distance from the burner. The last thing about buying any cooktop is take some of your important pans to a showroom if you go. If not the actual pan, then some paper tracings. Some cooktops have interesting problems fitting the pans you expect to be able to use together. While you're looking at that, also look at how the pans and the knobs fit together (or not). Plus some people want a large burner in the back (partly a pan fit issue) and some people want the two larger burners in the front. The cooktops you're looking at show both. I don't have big feelings about the issue, but its best not to be taken by surprise. You can compare power level between gas and electric burners if you know the wattage of your current burners. A 3500 watt burner is approximately 12k btus. A 4000 KW burner is about a 14k btu burner and a 5000 KW burner is about a 17k burner. Hth.

Thanks so much to all who responded to my last post. I do realize that induction would be the best choice for endurance as well as performance. If I run across one at an amazing price, that's what I'll get but I'm not holding my breath. To be honest, I care less about the responsiveness and performance aspect than I do about being able to keep it clean and attractive. I've cooked on electric at a vacation home and didn't have an issue with it. It's a shame there isn't a melt resistant material (soft like a silicone bake mat) that could be placed between the cooktop and pot to help preserve the cooktop. As far as the economics and it paying off over time, I'm almost 60 so doubting I'd live long enough to see that. Amy, thanks for pointing that out, I honestly hadn't considered that. I'll check to see what the charge will be for the cutout tomorrow. I am also looking at freestanding models just for the matter of cost but the ones I like without the control panel on the back are pricey as well. I'd prefer separate but not if it's going to run an additional $600 on top of paying more for separate units. cpartist, I have to say I've got sticker shock the whole way around...lol. If it were simply a matter of a couple hundred dollars, I'd go the induction route but mostly I'm seeing twice the cost, which I simply can't justify. We've been waiting a very long time to do this and what I get will be what I'll have to marry ('til death do us part) unfortunately. Kathy, if you don't mind my asking, what did you end up with? Dan1888, thanks. Yeah, that benefit of the induction appeals to me more than the other benefits. I like shiny (unscratched, unblemished) things....hehe. mhwhetsell, Oh, I WANT an induction, I'm just very conscious of the financial situation and other things need to take priority. Would you mind my asking what brand/model you have now and if you're happy with it in other aspects? Jannicone, have fun with your new induction! Sophie, thanks for the detailed explanation. :) jwvideo, thanks for being a voice of reason.

Thanks for all the info. Here is my two cents. Cast iron holds heat exceptionally well. And that is one of two reasons why I do not like to use it. When you want to shut it off and cool it, it does not respond quickly. It stays hot or stays cool. Stays. Second reason, it's too heavy. Hurts these aging hands. I find that other cookware works better. I use my cast iron for baking no knead breads. Lately, I bake no knead challah and no knead deli ryes. As long as the fans cheer on the ryes and challahs, I will appear to be an abin5er with no ego. Ha ha. Just say, with incredulity,. You made this? Lol. Lol