I am in the same boat, ecwv. I have ruled out Fratelli Onofri because we are only considering all gas ranges due to electrical/budget considerations. I had a chance to look at the Berta and a 24" Fisher Paykel today. I like the looks of the Berta and I am not too concerned by the oven size--with the rack at the lowest position, you have 10" (height) until you hit the heating element. I measured my old Kenmore range when I got home and it seems to offer the same height to me when I set the rack at the second to lowest position which is where it almost always positioned. I also rarely have more than one thing going in the oven at a time so I don't need a huge oven. The salesman told me a couple of things worth passing on--only when I pressed him did he admit preferring the Berta because it is more substantial, and there is no doubt about that. While it is true that the FP does not have the heft of a Wolf or a Blue Star (those things are tanks) or even the Berta, it is a home range--nothing commercial about it and I think it would suit me just fine plus I like its European look. He also told me that Fisher Paykel and Delonghi are made by the same manufacturer and just glancing at their specs, they seem to be the same except for cosmetics. He cautioned that FP and D have recently switched their manufacturing to Mexico, Bertazzoni is still made in Italy as it has been for generations. My primary interest is in purchasing an all gas range with some significant BTUs within my budget. I also do not want a lot of electronics--no more motherboards for me. All three fit the bill. And the same salesman told me that while he doesn't sell many FPs, the ones he has sold seem to be doing well--not too many repairs, he said the same for Berta and then added that he has sold many of those so he has more to draw from in terms of repair history. I left undecided and called a friend who has been a Berta owner for 2 years. She said she would not do it again--the oven size is too small for her cooking style and the burners perform inconsistently for her. There are several Berta fans on this forum, I'd love to hear first hand about FP and Delonghi.

I think the process might be a little different although, now that I think of it, WisteriaPath might be able to replace the filler strips without having to completely slide the top off the range. If I recall correctly for my DRGB3001 -- I got these instructions from Duro Customer Service some time ago and can't find my notes, so this is coming from my admittedly faulty memory --- you start by taking off the backsplash/vent/riser (5 screws) which exposes the back end of the top and the screws which hold down the back end(s) of the spacer(s) (what WisteriaPath called mouldings). Take out those screws. Go around to the front of the stove and pull the knobs. Open the oven door, kneel down and look up at the bottom of the control panel piece. You will see screws that fasten it to the frame. Remove those screws. You can now move the control panel out of the way. Look up to the underside of the top and see the bent tabs holding down front end(s) of the spacer/moulding(s). Pry those back to where you can pull the spacer/moulding. If you do need to remove the entire top, you'll need to take out the burner ignitor posts (otherwise, they block the top from sliding back.) If memory serves, you have to reach in through the front and back openings you have exposed to get to the underside of the bases and take off the wires and the nuts that hold the ignitors in place. Once they are removed, I think you can then slide the top out the back. Reassembly is the reverse. This post was edited by JWVideo on Thu, Nov 6, 14 at 11:34

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.

NXR is a basically a collection of parts. Service will be so so depending on where you are located and you are basically rolling the dice. Having sold a few of them, most of them worked perfectly. One of them did not, and that's where the nightmare began. Kitchenaid pro ranges are well rated, but not well received. Our chefs are currently using a kitchenaid (we rotate ranges) and generally don't like it, The burners aren't great for smaller pots and the ovens were uneven when baking. The DCS is currently not on rotation with us, but it's a solid platform that's been around for many years. The ovens are a bit smaller, but if it works for you, the tech is solid. Plus there are far fewer electronics to fail since there is no complicated control board. IMHO DCS is the choice among those 3.