Hi Kayla - overall I like the dual fuel range. My husband loves the digital meat thermometer that came with it and we've made the best prime rib roasts since we've gotten this oven. The pre-heat does take awhile but we've gotten used to it. I've made cookies and they turn out great. We have also started using the lower oven more if we're baking something in a shallow dish, frozen garlic bread, rolls and etc. because it doesn't take as long to heat up. We've used the griddle to make sandwiches and pancakes and I'm happy with how that works and the easy clean up. I would say the stove top is easy to scratch if you aren't careful when you clean around the burners. Make sure you lift the grates up, off and set aside to clean and not just lift the front of the grates so you can wipe underneath. You'll scratch the little raised lip on the back of the stove top with the burner grates. I'm still not crazy about the overall height of the stove top but that's not really a fault. My husband on the other hand (6'2" tall) LOVES the dual range and all of it's features. He would highly recommend it to everyone. I like it. We also bought the matching over the range microwave. We bought it because you can bake in it and I thought we would really use that feature a lot but have found it takes a really long time to pre-heat the oven feature of the microwave and you have to use this little round raised baking rack which I have very few dishes that will fit, actually none now that I think about it. I thought it would be more like my old toaster/convection oven that sat on my counter top and it's really not at all. For the most part we just use the microwave to re-heat and warm things. I hope this helped

No our previous range was SS with a black top ant the black was really hard to keep clean our current range is all stainless and I usually just wipe it with a dry paper towel to clean up spatters. The range is a coarser finish than the fridge and dishwasher. On them I use a little Wyman's SS cleaner and polish about once a month it helps to prevent finger prints and of course we try to use the handles. You didn't mention specifics of what you want in appliances, but the old fashoned top freezer refrigerators are the least expensive, Maytag Whirlpool Kitchen Aid and Jenn Air are all made by Whirlpool and are your best brands. The Maytag and Whirlpool will be the least expensive. This is a nice range but over $1500 http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KGRS505XSS.html here is another all SS for $1050 http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/JGB810SETSS.html here is a nice large otr microwave http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KHMS2040W.html and a smaller one for less http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/R1514T.html for dishwasher I would stick with Bosch Kitchen Aid or Whirlpool. Hope this helps.

Induction ranges have come down in price. But they probably still are noticeably more expensive than resistive heating coils. Electric service should be about the same for both technologies. Radiation is a non-issue. Magnetic fields are harmless to people (in fact, we don't react to them at all), and the range of magnetic fields is really short. This is very different from electro-magnetic radiation, which can be dangerous depending on frequency range (visible light and infrared is usually harmless, X-Ray not so much, radio frequency might or might not). It's unfortunate that these two physical phenomena have similar names, even though they are really not at all comparable. Buzzing is a problem with many stand-alone single-burner induction appliances. It shouldn't be a problem with induction ranges. But of course there are outliers. Smoothtop electric ranges are easier to clean than traditional coils, but they tend to be even less responsive. Some people love them, others hate them. Make sure you know which one you really prefer. If you like to cook, then gas or induction is very likely a big step up. Gas doesn't need specific types of pots, but induction usually does. Some of your old pots might be reusable, but most likely not all of them. Reliability is a gamble with any modern electric range. Even smoothtops or coils have enough electronics these days, that there always is a higher risk of failure compared to older ranges. I personally love cooking with gas, but I appreciate the benefits of induction. If gas wasn't available in my house, induction would be what I'd get. Can't make recommendations for specific models though.

Swiss chard, there are posts that deal with those things, if you search this forum. BS is probably the closest to what you are looking for. The parts seem to be more generic and the design is based on Julia Child's range, a Garland. Second, I would look at Bosch. My DIL had about $1800 to spend and she bought an Bosch AG. I think they have gone up a little, but you might find a deal on one somewhere. I have to say opaone, my Wolf lasted 4.5 years and they only claim 20 years on their website. Subzero bought them and "residentialized" them in 2000. Sisterwitch, It is sad but with all the electronics on ranges, they seem to need a lot of air moving and no one seems to be rating the noise in decibles like they do dishwashers. It is a little bit hard to rely on subjective viewpoints as one person’s quiet might be another person’s loud. opaone here are responses to your comments. Note, instead of being repetitive in explanation of the differences in steel and aluminum, note this * means see above discussion and link, also previous posts or links to articles on cookware metals or google anything relating to the physical properties of various metals used in cookware and you will get an explanation in great detail. Feel free to add any supporting data to your contention that steel heats more evenly than aluminum. "There are actually few things that a burner can do that a griddle cannot so there is actually very little trade-off" Do you mean a pan on a burner? Interesting thought. I just find myself needing containment for things that involve liquids and like the control of an individual burner to the pan. Go figure. Most of the time I do not need all of the real estate on a griddle. Seems to be a waste to heat it up to make a couple of portions of something. I do understand that it works for you. "there have been few times that we've needed/wanted more than four burners” But it you have a 48" range and most people don't. I understand how you use your burners but consider that there are people who cook differently than you do or only have 4 burners to begin with. "Do you have examples of when one is better than the other for things done on a griddle. Or perhaps more importantly, when would you want anything other than steel." Of course I do and I know we have discussed this exact thing many times before. * I have posted this before too but here it is again. http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/120/Common-Materials-of-Cookware Look at the charts, especially for thermal diffusivity. In looking at the chart above, Why do you think they put layers of copper and/or aluminum in stainless cookware? Why did Julia use thick French copper? Do you cook with steel pans all the time? Why or why not? Wolf even says on their website that even with the infrared burner, their surface does not heat evenly. I use a heavy aluminum griddle over my ring burner whenever I need a more even temperature across the surface, which is when I am cooking something starchy like potato pancakes, grilled sandwiches, toasting buns or English muffins, pancakes or even hamburgers. I also use it when I want quick response up or down. I cook a lot of things that I might start at one temperature but need to turn down to finish, some sandwiches, hamburgers or I might cook one thing and switch to something else and I don't want to wait for 1/2" of steel to change temperatures. I use steel or cast iron when I don't care about hot spots or even want them to build heat for rapid sears. I do this with steaks, shrimp or scallops, but use a big pan instead of a griddle. I do understand that you like your built in steel griddle for all situations although I find it odd that as much as you seem to value even temperatures across the surface, you don’t see where aluminum would be beneficial in spite of the very clear physical properties. "Because you have two burners, you can have two different zones of heat." "True (but it is often very uneven heat across the surface and across time." True with steel, but aluminum * As far as even heat over time, a flame is a constant flow of heat at a given setting vs cycling on and off with a +/- 30-40F. Both work, but if you are discussing actual differences in fluctuation of heat, the constant flame is well, constant. This is how it works in actual cooking. I start my pan/griddle and preheat a little hotter than is needed. I get a little heat loss a when I add food and it brings it down to where I want it. I might stay with that or if I do need an adjustment, I make that adjustment and it quickly happens and through the whole griddle due to the excellent heat transfer properties of aluminum. Maybe it is is hard to understand how aluminum works if you have not used it or maybe you have only used thin aluminum. ”A thermostatic griddle acting as a flat-top can actually provide greater capability. For example, since more than just two sauciers can be placed on it and it maintains a much more even temp than burners or burners with a griddle plate will.” Even temps *. How many sauciers can you fit on a 2 or 4 burner griddle? Consider that the area available is much bigger on a griddle like Royal Industries aluminum 2 burner overlay than a Wolf 2 burner built in. Royal Industries 23x15, cooking area 22.5x14.5= 326 sq inches Wolf 2 burner built in, on a 48” range, cooking area 18x10.5= 189 sq inches Wolf 4 burner built in cooking area. 18x23= 414 sq inches How many more pots will fit on 326 sq inches vs 189? With the 4 burner you are only getting 88 sq inches more than the Royal Industries aluminum griddle. "What you don't mention is that it is almost impossible to maintain any semblance of even heat on a burner top griddle" I didn’t mention it, because it’s not impossible or even hard. * " To accomplish this with a burner top you'd need someone to monitor it with a IR temp gun and turn the burners on/off to maintain the temp. Short of that you'll have much wider temp swings that make use for many things difficult or impossible." The object for me is to obtain a temperature that does what I want to the food, not maintain a given temperature. I go by sight, sound and smell. When you cook with a pan, do you turn it on and off and monitor it with an infrared temperature gun? No wonder you prefer a griddle and don’t see the benefit of pans. I would be surprised that you could use 4 pans that way. I’m thinking you would be better off with induction that you could dial in. Once the burner is at the right setting with aluminum, I rarely need to touch it except if I want to change temperatures. "A properly cared for steel griddle is quite nonstick. I'm not aware of thermostatic griddles needing to be replaced. " Yes, I agree it is, built in or add on. A nice nontoxic way to have nonstick. Thermador as mentioned above is an example of a thermostatically controlled griddle that needs replacing from time to time. It is sort of a lift off though so it can be done easily. "I've not checked lately so perhaps something has become available. Are you aware of anything?" My kids have an inexpensive aluminum one. It works great on pancakes. This may be the answer for you. An 36” induction plancha with a steel surface. Sure it is $8,089, but some combi ovens cost that much. It would be interesting to check it out and then you could get a 30” BS range to go next to it.