Well ours is without question made of 304 stainless. But honestly I don't really see a problem using 430 SS either, depends on the way it was built as in some cases the 430 is better because it holds a weld better and can bend to certain specifications better without cracking. A range made of 430SS inside your house is not going to rust anyway, that is pure nonsense. I DO however think that 430 SS could have more adverse reactions to acidic type foods such as say Tomato Sauce or Lemon juice Vs 304. maybe if you sat it in a corner of an abandoned house for 30 years maybe, but if you use it everyday in a house with AC it is not going to rust, but it very well could have more staining with acidic foods. I think that 304 stainless is critical on a BBQ grill, but not so much on an indoor stove. But I am still glad mine is made of 304 Stainless anyway. But there are many things made of 400 series stainless that work just fine, never rust, one I can think of is most "Food Slicers, Deli meat slicers etc" are made of 400 series stainless. Car exhaust pipes are usually made of 409 stainless because of the better welding and heat resistance. I once had the pleasure of meeting an old guy out in California, he lived in the middle of no where on many acres of land and when I met him I drove through the classic old gate with elk antlers on top and his house was built in around the 1830's, was an old adobe that was built by a Mexican General when California was actually Mexico. House still stands today with the same tile roof, just one addition was added on about 100 years ago but other than that was all original, No AC. He had as his stove a old wood stove that was thickly enameled color of like a seafoam blue/green and all the corners and edges were all Stainless Steel. Had to be a 400 series stainless because I don't think the 300 series was even in use yet. That stove looked like it brand spanking new and at the time I saw it was about 90+ years old. Not a speck of rust on it, of course it was thick as hell but still the surface was still like new. I actually find products "Made in USA" about 75% of the time to be pure crap in every way. I bet 95% of the world views items "made in USA" exactly the way people like Deeageaux does about China. In general about every product I see with "Made in Germany" tag on it is probably about the only one I can generally count on being very well made, I can usually count on a high price for that item also. Most of the working parts in the NXR come from every place except China, it is basically just "Assembled" in China and who better to assemble than those that have been assembling things for decades. Also it is probably the larger brand name companies that are forcing retailers not to carry a quality product that cost far less, that happens all the time in every category of product.

FWIW, I have a Wolf AG at home and a DCS AG at our vacation home, both installed in the past two years, and I prefer the Wolf. DCS makes a very nice, solid product but I prefer the open burner flame pattern on the Wolf and seem to have better heat/flame control when I'm cooking on the Wolf because of the burner design. That being said, DCS may have a slightly lower simmer and the stainless top is IMO slightly easier to keep clean. The Wolf's black enameled steel top takes more polishing in order to keep it looking pristine. I also like Wolf's heaver grates. The ovens and broilers seem to perform comparably. You should find dealers who have these models hooked up to gas lines so that you can compare burners/flame patterns, etc., for yourself. Bluestar also has an awesome open burner flame pattern and more btu's but their service is iffy in parts of the US, including mine. DCS and Wolf both seem to offer widespread excellent customer service. I bought my 30" DCS AG for around $3300. Wolf was a bit more but worth it IMO for the open burners. The front panel on my DCS seems to get hotter than the Wolf when the oven's in use.

I can appreciate your situation, Pemfan. There are some "better" recirculating hoods --- not just more powerful as homepro notes but also with better capture area. The biggest problem with OTRs is that they mostly just cover the back burners. Not a whole lot of benefit to them in recirculating mode. That said, I've seen NYC kitchens that were smaller than the small antique bathrooms in my century+ year-old house. If you got somewhere to hang or stash a MW, do it. If you don't, .... well, I know folks who used window fans and other stop gaps. We work with the kitchens we have. As for "more powerful" burners, I have to ask about how you cook. Bigger burners are best for larger pans -- ones with bases of at least 10 inches in diameter and sometimes 12 or more. How many and how often do you figure on working with four big pots at a time? Or five, if you get a five burner range? If you are going to be using two big pans on the front, (say a 12" diameter LC fry pan and a 5 to 7 quart LC oven/casserole/pot) s what will you be using in the back. Maybe a couple of smaller pans (say. a 3 quart and 2 quart LeCrueset sauce pan?) If the latter, then you actually could be better off with the typically smaller back burners of major brand ranges. Another thought to consider: one of the advantages of most pro-style rangetops is that the burners tend to be spaced wider apart so it is easier to run four large pots at once. Major brand ranges generally have the burners on 9" centers (front to back) where that distance will be 11 inches apart, or wider, on pro-style ranges. YOu may want to check that on the Ilve if you are still considering it. IIRC, the burner spacer on the Ilve stove is even narrower per the Euro-style standards. Finally, as has been suggested here recently in some other threads, you'd probably find it a lot more convenient to get a four burner stove and find a place to stash a 120v portable induction cooktop (say a Duxtop 9100 or Max Burton 6400) which you could pull out and use on those times you need five burners. Still, if you have your heart set on a five burner unit, a fried of mine recently got a very good deal on a "ding-n-bing" GE Cafe range. (I almost bought one myself three ago when I was stove shopping, but I got outbid and wound up with an NXR from Costco, instead). I know a number of people who are happily using five-burner models from the GE Profile line, or the Frigidaire Gallery line. Somebody above suggested an Electrolux range which also might work well for you but I would check the owner's/user's guide to be sure you can light the burners manually in the event of a power outage. Some E'lux and Whirlpool Corp. products run all controls through an electronic control panel which means you can't light the top burners manually. For four burner units, I;d suggest the same brands plus Bosch. (IIRC, some Bosch gas ranges are made under subcontract with Elux/Frigidaire to somewhat different specs.) A couple friends have has Bosch ranges and been pleased.

Why is that, Patricia? We consider it a must to be able to stand in one place and reach both the cooktop and the sink (and I am small). Directly across works great for us (although a small offset would be almost as good). What is the objection? I’m going to try to guess. If two people are working at the same time, it would probably more convenient if the two zones were not directly across from each other. But for one person, it’s ideal. Easily reachable from two sides of a corner is not bad, but that takes away from the counter space on the sides near the corner. Did I guess right? This is why one of my main pieces of advice for people planning a kitchen is to be careful when a designer asks you, “do both of you cook, or just one?“ In my opinion, the much more relevant question is, “do both of you usually cook at the same time?” And don’t forget to consider not just dinner, let alone big holiday meals, but also breakfasts and lunches. What is optimal for two or more people working at the same time is rarely optimal for one person working at a time. So I think it is important to figure out which you do more often, and plan your layout around that. Same theory as my other key consideration: planning your layout around what you do every day, not the big holiday meals and fantasy dinner parties that the ads show and that the designers encourage you to think of, because of course then you will spend on pricier items! It’s not as much fun to think about unloading the dishwasher, putting away groceries, and cleaning up after breakfast as to think of gorgeous dinner parties and big Thanksgivings, but you do those things every day, and that’s where your back and legs and mood will pay for it if you plan your layout instead around the more exciting things that you do much less often.