dee- 15k btu's with a cast iron pan heated for a 5-10 min. will sear the he** out of anything. Sure the 18k will boil water faster than the 15k everything else being equal, but if one is really concerned about quickly boiling a huge pot of water then induction is hands down the winner, not even close. P.S. don't confuse sauteing with searing. 15,ooo btu is plenty for sauteing as the piece size should be fairly small and uniform. jmith- you are simply misinformed, or are just biased regarding simmer plates. They are not necessary with some cooktops/burner designs. Your not caring for simmer burners is one thing - but that's not the same thing them not working or being a gimmick. I'll match the end results with several tops against you and any cooktop + simmer plate of your choosing. You pick the item to be simmered too. There's no substitute for skill. The reason many frenchies don't have a simmer burner is because of the style of cooking. The myriad of sauces that sit all night on their "french tops" is just more convenient especially in their smaller kitchens. But, this is not really a discussion of commercial equipment vs. commercial "looking" domestic units. This discussion is not about "open burner" configurations either. Tony specifically asked about sealed burner rangetops. Tony - Wolf is not really any more or less profitable than the other high line marques. They are touted often because they offer a good product, are reliable -so offer the least risk for dealer and customer, have good support networks, and have market cache.

Homechef, this is some additional info that the OP put in another post. "Is 15BTU on older Thermador enough to sear a steak and boil water quick? Going to a used appliance store and have an option of a Wolf RTS366 and Thermador PCS366US I am not experiences with gas much. I am really uncomfortable with the fact that Wolf burners have all different BTU." To the OP, I am confused as to what the choices are. If you are asking about older Wolf burners, topping at 15K, then all the burners are the same except the small pot burner in the back. If the burners are different, I think it is SRT 366, which tops at 20K and they are different sizes. I have the one that tops at 15K and yes you can sear a steak but there are a couple considerations. As Jakvis says on the other post, use a cast iron pan. This will takes longer to preheat but the CI holds a lot of heat and will go to a very high temperature. You need to have a fairly big skillet so that you have enough cast iron to accumulate enough heat. I use a 12" skillet for a couple weeks of filets but if you had 2 T-bones you would need 14". You can stir fry but with a less amount. Boiling water- 15K BTUs is less heat than something that is 23-25K. If it is a smaller amount of water, the difference in time might not be as noticeable. Both of these burners you are considering are capped burners, so try to see them live somewhere so you can see how this will be with your pans. I have the 15K and all my stock pots, Dutch ovens and skillets that I might heat at full blast are at least 12". My sauce pans are mostly squat and 7" wide and work well. If it is the 20K Wolf I would want to see how wide the flame is. If you stir fry a lot, this may not be the best for that. As far as simmer, I think the small burners on both have about the same BTUs but while the Wolf has the dual stacked burners if it is the model I am thinking about this allows the flame to stay on. The Thermador clicks the flame off and on to get a low simmer. Some people do not like the clicking. I am not sure how the rest of the burners compare but both companies tell you how many BTUs the burners have on the low side. I agree with homechef that you can and will adjust the heat as needed on different sized burners. A star shaped burner might be a good thing if you do use cast iron, steel or some sort of stainless cookware. Those metals do not conduct heat very well. If you have heavy copper or aluminum or plied cookware that involves enough of these metals, the shape isn't that important. BS and Thermador are very different in the execution of the "star". The BS, being uncapped, keeps the flame straight up from the star while the Thermador, which is capped, widens as it is turned up. If you can look beyond the current two choices, you might do better with uncapped burners if speed in heating large amounts of water or stir frying is important. They will keep the heat more to the middle of the pan. Consider the BlueStar or American Performer for star shaped burners or Capital Culinarian triple ring burners(all the same too except one small pot burner). It is hard to compare the simmers on these because they do not rate it in BTUs. The temperature rating used is pretty meaningless. Anecdotally most say the simmer is ok on though on BS and CC. Less is known about the Performer.

I will be going with half Wolf/Subzero and half Miele, even though I might not maximize the promotions they are both offering. The 48" Miele dual fuel range just didn't seem quite right for me. The oven sizes weren't quite right. A little too digital for something I use everyday! I did like that I could order with 8 burners, since I rarely use the grill/griddle, but even that wasn't enough to sway me. I will be going with the Wolf 48" dual fuel and hoping that the blue flaking oven issue won't be a problem with the unit I order. Wolf: 48" DF range, Subzero column 36" fridge and 24" freezer, 24" drawer MW Miele: 24" coffee machine, 24" CS Oven XXL, dishwasher.

maire_cate and Wekick Thanks both. I think I've watched Trevor's video before. the simplicity of the BS is very similar to my Russell range except everything in the Russell is stainless. (which I do like) I'm not terribly concerned about service as there is little that can go wrong. Having a high BTU kiln I'm used to taking he venturis apart and cleaning the burners. So I'm comfortable working with burners, cleaning adjusting. Unfortunately, there is no BS dealer close. I've watched all of the BS videos to ad nauseam drove to Las Vegas some months ago as I was told I could see one and try it out. They had a range which I would think is similar to a range top. They knew nothing about it. It was not live, disappointing to make a 5.5 hr trip for nothing. Next closest is Salt Lake city a 8- 9 hour round trip. Maybe when I get close to actually buying I'll make the trip and spend the night.. Trevor wrote his phone number on one of my posts suggesting I call him. Haven't done it yet and of course the paper I had has disappeared from my desk. Sales person also told me how wonderful Wolf ovens were. Yikes, I remember reading about your pain Wekick. When I mentioned the blue enamel chipping there was just a blank stare. I told him I plan on getting the GE French door wall oven as I have one in the FL house and like it. . When I asked if he can give me a deal on SZ (side by side and wine cooler) if I buy all of my appliances he said no they are sold at full price unless I purchse a suite of SZ/Wolf, which isn't going to happen.::(( There is a Ferguson in town as well. I don't think their set up is nearly as large but will head there one of these days. The only thing I'm still on the fence about is the dishwasher. Do I get another Bosch which cleans really well but doesn't load very well with my handmade dishes. Maybe by the time I actually get to remodel, Bosch will have improved their interior set up...I'm hoping. Inga