OK--you want details? I am the originator of the thread 'Culinarian--Capital Disappointment.' My replacement Culinarian's issues: 1. The convection cooks more unevenly than regular baking (using traditional cookie sheets). 2. The oven racks are dangerous--mine get jammed due to the oven being narrower at the front than the back. I had to kick a rack to get it to slide back into the oven and scortched an oven mitt trying to maneuvre it. 3. My oven cooling fan has quit. I have only been using this range for 3 months. 4. The broiler is incredibly uneven--burning in the middle and not even approaching browning on the outside. Once again, using a traditional cookie sheet for size. 5. The griddle cooks more evenly than my first range, but the temperature drops too much before it comes on again. So, to cook pancakes in a reasonable amount of time one has to keep bumping up the heat. 6. My burner grates are a bit too low so that if I use a 14" saute pan next to the griddle, it has to tip when it extends over the griddle area. 7. Some of my burner grates are not level so that my pans rock when I am cooking and stirring. 8. My burners are losing their black coloring. 9. Our range was delivered on a semi--not a problem for us since we own our own forklift--how many of you do? But, still shows lack of service. I still have the original Culinarian sitting here in spite of having it boxed and ready for return since October. I was told these were "non issues" by Trevor. This coupled with the fact that there is NO SERVICE for central Indiana has left me with a very bad opinion of the company.

OK I think I answered my own question. :) I should not be so twitchy. I am bummed because I snoozed a bit and missed two lovely baker sofas on CL this weekend. Didnt do the right search to see them till it was too late. These are I guess about on par with Rowe I would say.

When I built my dream kitchen, which I sadly had to sell due to my divorce, I used the following: GE 5 burner gas range. It was not a continuous grate burner so it wasn't as easy to move pots and pans around but it worked. If I were to do it again, I would look at Induction but, then I would have to replace all of my cookware. And I have a lot of money in my cookware. My wonderful ex-wife let me keep all the kitchenware. I would go with gas again, and with a 5 or 6 burner on a continuous grate cooktop. And, a separate wok burner. If I could afford it, I would go with Thermador as I like their star shaped burner. I had a GE Double Wall Oven. Both were electric and convection. Gas is a moist heat due to it's combustion and most baking needs dry heat. I would go with it again. And, I would look at a double door like the one above. Blodgett or similar. It makes more sense. I have OTC/OTR microwaves. I had the microwave in a cubby but it wasn't near the cooking area in that house. I would look at a drawer micro or mount it in a cabinet mid height. I would NOT get a Double Oven where one is a microwave. I only had one dishwasher in the old house. I would have two dishwashers in the new kitchen. One a standard dishwasher and one a drawer unit for quick wash like glasses, utensils, but NEVER knives. Knives need to be out of the way but accessible. In the old house, I just had them in a block. I know have them on the wall on a magnetic bar designed for knives. Much better. Another thing I would do in my new dream kitchen would be to move as much stuff off the counters as possible. And have more plug-ins. And more lighting. Those are my thoughts, from an amateur chef who has had recipe's published in popular magazines.

As I have stated an unknown number of times,the buzzing sound is not the appliance it is the pan. Induction makes no noise at all. The only thing you should hear is the hum of a small cooling fan(s). Pans depending upon their construction is the source of your buzzing. Cheaply constructed pans will produce buzzing. Even very good quality pans can be heard if enough power is used on them, but generally this is in the "boost mode" and not an issue on normal cooking settings. Expensive does not necessarily mean good quality! Weather you need a service upgrade is dependent upon whether or not your new appliance exceeds the electrical capacity of the existing circuit. As a general rule, 40 Amp service will suffice with "most" modern units. Obviously looking at the specifications would be the prudent thing to do before attempting to connect a new induction unit. If this is over your head, then have an electrician look at your service and determine if it is safe to put the desired unit in place without an upgrade. Knobs, personal choice. I personally love knobs but it is not a deal breaker. When replacement time comes if I find one with electronic controls I like I will go for it. As was pointed out earlier it is better IMO to have individual controls for each hob as opposed to having to select the hob and then manipulate power settings. I have also known touch controls to not function if enough moisture gets on them, boil over for example. Magnetic fields, yes they exist, obviously this at the heart of how it operates. As "M" pointed out an individuals actions to be affected by them would have to be so far off the wall, it is hardly worth mentioning.