For a 36" five burner cooktop, I also would look at the less expensive DCS or even a Bosch which, IIRC. is sold by AJ Madison for under $900. The Bosch has standard sealed burners. so not as versatile as the DCS. [EDITED TO ADD: just saw bmorepanic's post and I defer to the greater knowledge there on Bosch and Dacor.) My experience with cleaning sealed cooktops is that stainless is no easier to clean and sometimes harder because it can scratch more easily than a porcelain enamel surface. What I've found makes a big difference is the depth of the burner wells and the material used for the burner hardware. With deeper wells (typical of the more "pro-style" appliances), the cooktop surfaces are a but further away from the flames, so less bakes on. The porcelain-coated single-cap burners on the Bosch will require scrubbing with Barkeeper's Friend (BKF) where (I think) the DCS is using brass components which are less likely to stain and spot. I'm guessing the Dacor will be similar but have no experience with it. I have my doubts about a magically more easy cleaning surface. I wound up buying an NXR stove a few months back. It has no magic anything and it's cooktop is one of the easiest to clean that I have owned. Only induction was easier and that was mainly because I didn't have to move the big grates. And speaking of induction, your stainless pots may or may not be induction suitable. You need to test with a magnet. If a refrigerator magnet sticks, the pot will work on induction. However, a lot of stainless cookware is not magnetic. That said, induction has a lot to recommend it and there's a wealth of info and opinions here on the subject of induction cooktops. With your house being built, it probably would be a fairly simple thing to have a 240v 40a line installed for connecting an induction cooktop. Might want to have that done for future proofing in case you decide to swap out the gas for something else. As for fridges, top freezer models are the most energy and space efficient and the least expensive to buy. SO, I would psend a bit less on the cooktop and apply the savings to a bigger fridge. Seriously, a 14.4 cu. ft fridge is tiny for a house where you will be cooking on a 36" cooktop. Unless you shop everyday. The current Maytags are made by Whirlpool (which also owns and makes Amana and Kitchenaid and some of the Sears Kenmore brand). Pretty much any top-freezer you buy without an ice-maker or water dispenser is going to have about the same reasonably good reliability. (Consumer Reports most recent membership survey of 82,000 members who bought a top-freezer fridge since 2006 show all brands having a 7%-8% defect rate. With ice & water, Whirlpool top-freezers are about as reliable but it starts climbing with other brands and GE has defect rate of 13% for top freezers with ice and water). You might want to look at the 18 cu. ft M1TXEGMY or one of the 17 cu. ft. Frigidaires which will run $700 to $800. I have no recent experience with wall ovens, so I'll have to defer to others on that. The dishwasher choice is another one where you might be able to get something better. Maytags are a Whirlpool product. Some Whirlpool made DWs have reportedly shorted out and burned out the circuit boards and several have started fires. Do a search here and you will find people with some pretty strong opinions and links to the sites discussing the controversy. Consumer Reports generally favors Bosch, Miele, and Kitchenaids DWs in more or less that order. They like the Bosch Ascenta line best, some of which can be had from AJ Madison at the same prices as the Maytag "77" model you selected. IIRC correctly, the Ascenta's are supposed to cycle a load in 95 minutes while the Maytags run between 115 and 125 minutes, and the Bosch DWs are generally regarded as noticeably quieter that the Maytags and Whirlpools. The microwave is a commodity product as you've doubtless already discovered. This post was edited by JWVideo on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 23:37

The sealed drip area around the burners is a matte silvery metal, not brushed or the same shiny stainless as the exterior of the range. It does not appear to be coated but it is very smooth. The simmer ring on all the burners is a great feature. I've cooked on wimpy gas cooktops that still needed a flame tamer, but the DCS goes low enough with the simmer ring to be a true simmer with any size pot. When we were ready to buy our range, DCS had just changed the burner sizes from all the same size to 4 at 17,500 BTU and 2 smaller ones at 12,000, but with the same size grates all around, and added the fantastic rolling oven racks. At first I didn't like the idea of the smaller burners, but now I find that the smaller burners help tremendously with small pots. I agree with Weissman about the flame control; it's easy to crank the flame up too high at first but you don't need to. I don't think the grates are too close to the burner tops. I haven't noticed a tendency for the flame to spread; it's just that this is a powerful range.

Hi Jessica, I just found your original posting and also wondering where you are now in your process? I am also considering installing both induction and gas hobs after a less than totally satisfactory experience with a countertop induction unit. I liked a lot about the induction unit, much better than the smooth-top electric in the rental house in which we are living while our new home has been in planning and now construction phases. But when the oven failed and the landlord asked if I wanted it replaced with a gas stove, I said "YES", and haven't used the induction countertop again. The responses you got have helped a lot with some of the problems I encountered (granularity of control, cycling), but I'm still not convinced about the problems I had with my cast iron pans, my go-to pans for much of my stove-top cooking. These well-seasoned jewels cooked unevenly and things stuck badly; they even lost their seasoning. I have since learned that I may have heated them too quickly or maybe it was the characteristics of the countertop unit but I am leary of totally relying on construction. Our new house is planned as all-electric (highly energy-efficient and with PV solar). There is no gas on the property although it is nearby in the street. Running a gas line just for my one gas burner seems a little extravagant. So decision time is here. I'm leaning much as you were in your original posting - 30" induction and single gas burner (looking at the Miele 12" or 15" combiset unit), with a 48" hood. This is more than I really need; I rarely use more than 3 burners at a time but really want to be sure I have a large (I don't mean to hi-jack your posting but could use some of the info you may have gained and the decision you made. Also comments from anyone else on possibilities for induction cooktops with less than 4 burners but with at least one large one.

I now have delivery and installation of my DCS "30 AG range AND the DCS "30 convection oven (the new one with knobs). Love, Love, Love them both! DH is over the moon as well. Have not really had a chance to cook with either much as we're still fitting the granite (blue pearl) countertops over the (Kohler) kitchen farm sink so plumbing and fixtures are not complete and I'm still camping out. But so far both of these are knock-out appliances! I'm blown away with what the convection oven can do (in terms of cooking methods) and anticipate bringing my culinary skills to a whole new level now that I have all kinds of precision at my fingertips. I'm beyond happy!