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.

Great point - Thanks so much for that idea- i will need to check and see if the item could be returned locally (in the worst case scenario like it being a total dud). I will call the local Costco and inquire - I wonder if they have ever addressed this before. I did review the written warranty from Bluestar and it says something to the effect: "warranty valid for all items purchased in US or Canada. It is looking like difference it will be the same range (RCS model) and after tax, etc would be approx $450 more to buy in the states. Not a huge amount but enough to make a difference and have me consider Canadian option (assuming it goes easily and relatively pain free). I will keep checking but have to pull the trigger eventually ... Don't want to be one of those who come back in 2 years saying "ok, I'm almost ready to buy" ...lol I did look on ebay and found 1 or 2 BS ranges. For anyone else thinking of doing this, beware of a company hawking BS ranges under the name if Markdown Madness - check some if their reviews on Merchant Circle. There is a similar outfit in my area (somehow associated with this Markdown Madness outfit) and they seem shady to say the least. 1 thing I think these shady ebay sellers do is sell a ton of simple items (shoes, lunch boxes, whatever) to overcome any negatives they may have selling high ticket scratch and dent items. At least that is the only way I can imagine a company maintaining a good ebay rating while having an "F" rating at the BBB and terrible reviews online (like Markdown Madness). In other words, if you are buying a "new" or "floor sample" item from ebay or craigslist, make sure you are buying from an actual dealer or personal seller and not from some guys using a storage garage to sell potentially non-warrantied items. Good luck getting any money back from people like this no matter what assurances they give you. Not saying you can't find a deal this way but you have to ask yourself if you have the capacity to deal with a total lemon (financially and emotionally). Unfortunately people looking for deals usually can't afford to buy another appliance if the "deal" goes bad. If it seems to good to be true - it probably is.

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.

I am not sure of the phone number, I ended up going with the Thor stove and bought it from Plessers, I got the chance to look at them side by side (the "real NXR, not the home depot stripped down model), and the Thor seems to be a nicer product the handles are all metal vs plasticky like the NXRs that was the biggest deciding factor plus the price and not to mention I wanted a center griddle. I Also did a little research on the parts that the Thor is made up of, the parts that would be considered "wear Items", like the gas valves (made in Mexico, part number taped right to them, they are $30ish and readily available), the ignition control box (same part number Viking uses, readily available around $120, but there were a couple on ebay for $60), the regulator (generic design any off the shelf unit will work), the safety valve/broiler switch $60, etc Its all easy to find off the shelf stuff, honestly it looks like you can use the Viking parts and Viking replacement parts to repair pretty much anything on the stove.. Seeing the Viking about 15 feet from the thor, honestly if they were the same price from the same manufacturer I would pick the Thor, the oven seemed to have a better light and more visibility through the door (larger glass), the coating in the thors oven and in the burner trays seemed nicer (hard to tell without seeing how they look after time, but new vs new the thor is nicer). So now, I never cooked on the Viking, and I haven't owned either for a long period of time, I haven't dealt with CS, I haven't had to repair either unit, these are just preliminary findings. The Viking was more than double the price, that's a huge difference, and I just don't see where the money is short of the name plate. So, my stove is installed now. I cooked on it everyday for a solid 2 weeks currently. Mine is LP, I can boil 10 cups of water with a 70 degree ambient and unsalted or oiled 118 degree tap water in 3 minutes with a basic uncovered calphalon unison non stick soup pan. The simmer function can go low enough that it took over 15 minutes to melt a half stick of butter (from refrigerator) in a 3cup ss pan. The range top control work as well as any I have ever used. I like the oven a lot more than I thought I would, I always used electric ovens, the temp is stable I haven't noticed any huge swings, I can cook frozen raw previously breaded chicken fingers (commercial style they are around 5 oz each from restaurant supply store) in about 15 minutes, and that includes preheating. And they come crispy like they were fried!!! Now for the last part the griddle, I am new to this, and I bought the 3m griddle care kit, we have made pancakes on it, eggs, stir fry, and grilled cheese a few times. The heat settings take some getting used to, the cleaning is not as easy as removing a griddle from the burners and soaking it in the sink, BUT, its not hard by any means, I put water and vinegar in a squirt bottle, I let it cool a bit but while its still hot, I scrape it down, squirt on the water mixture, and scrub it with the 3m scrubber, after it cools, I wipe it with a sponge and then spray it with a misto full of olive oil.. It looks brand new after a couple weeks, so I suspect I can keep it nice for a long time.. It cooks much faster than a pan, I click it on and by the time I butter the bread for grilled cheese its ready to cook, I also invested in a couple melt domes which are nice for trapping the heat on the griddle and melting cheese.. I also had to invest in some metal turners since I use calphalon unison pans, I have all wood and silicone utensils, not very handy with a griddle so I bought some fox run metal turners... So anyone looking for a commercial style range, I have to say thus far I am happy with the Thor unit, besides the weight of the unit (had to take it up and down a good amount of steps to the kitchen and its got some weight, maybe 300+ lbs, so we got it in but 3 people would be better if it is going up and down stairs like in my home... good luck I hope someone finds this helpful, to wrap it up, Thor vs nxr, I would buy the thor, and vs stuff that costs much more, I would buy the thor and but the other $5000 in my pocket...