Stay far away from Viking. My Viking range from 2003 + my MIL’s cooktop has had so many problems. Vikings seem to continue it’s reputation of being problematic.

Wolf has the best griddle of consumer ranges that I'm aware of. Bluestar RNB is good but not as even of heat as Wolf. Even so and even though we use our griddle frequently we choose an RNB for the better burners.

A good thermostatic griddle can do double duty and in many ways is better and much more versatile than burners. We currently have a 48" BS RNB w/ 4 burners + 24" griddle (that replaced a 36” Wolf w/ 4 burners + 12” griddle) and do a lot of intricate cooking, baking, entertaining and host local chef’s. We've rarely needed more than the 4 burners but it's also not unusual to have a half dozen or more pans on the griddle doing sauces or keeping something warm. With half of the griddle turned on (typically for us to 150-200°f) and the other half off it's kind of like a linear French Top that you can move stuff around on for whatever temp is needed. It’s a hugely versatile cooking surface.

A thermostatic griddle is a much improved version of what Sasha is doing here: https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/10/hack-your-way-to-a-bigger-stovetop-no-renovation-required.html

When we do need more actual burners we use portable countertop induction hobs. While we prefer gas burners for most tasks there are some instances where these portable induction hobs have some advantages (besides easily adding extra burners when necessary). They can be placed anywhere so they can keep fondue or chili hot on the kitchen island or the bar in the rec room. A few (Control Freak, Max Burton) have accurate temp & probe capabilities so can be more accurate for some tasks than gas, especially when you’d like to leave something unattended for a bit.

——

There's a big difference in a good built-in thermostatic griddle / flat-top and one placed on top of burners. Built-in Thermostatic griddles have more even heat across their surface, maintain temps better over time and have faster and more accurate recovery time. Burner top griddles have greater temp variance across their surface, huge temp swings over time and usually a very slow recovery time. (However, if you have a large thick flat burner top griddle or baking steel and powerful enough burners then you can treat it kind of like a Plancha which is great for veggies and some other things.)

For example, I know that my thermostatic griddle is 360°f ± 30° and that it is maintaining that for me. On a burner top the temp will drop down significantly when any food or a pan is placed on it so I either have to continuously make manual adjustments to the burners underneath or put up with the temp dropping and then extremely slow recovery time. While that may be OK for some things (veggies can do well that way on high heat) it’s not so good for other things like crepés or pancakes and it’s quite awful for delicate sauces.

So overall this results in much greater versatility and capability.

We are going with Monogram, because I was a good deal with the advantium speed oven rebate and I got a discount right before they changed the design when I thought I could renovate last spring and then covid hit.. I feel like I've read pretty good things if you were looking for other brands but Im sure others probably have an opinion on it...

Not sure if this is your speed, but you may want to look at Lacanche. Bluestar is also another well loved high-end appliance brand.

I also agree that I much prefer the griddles that are removable. Those that are built-in to the range top are hard to clean and difficult to use. We have a GE with a built-in griddle in our vacation home and I cannot stand it. Our Lacanche has a removable cast-iron griddle that sits atop two gas burners when we want to use it and it’s so much easier to use!

"Those that are built-in to the range top are hard to clean and difficult to use."

If seasoned properly they shouldn't be. After cooking scrape off any food particles left on it with a flat spatula or scrapper and then when it's cooled down to slightly warm apply a light bit of oil and it's ready for next time.

Mine on the GE does not need to be seasoned. I stand by that they are difficult to use, especially if cooking something in a pot or pan while using the griddle. Just my experience.

@megs1030, what surface is your griddle that it doesn't need to be seasoned? Why "especially if cooking something in a pot or pan while using the griddle"?

Advantages to an add on griddle

-The obvious difference is that you can remove the griddle to clean or store. This may or may not be as big an issue with a 48” range.

-You can use different types of metal and surfaces. If you want the most even heating, you can use aluminum. If you want nonstick, they make coated aluminum. They make steel if you want that. There are people that change out the different kinds for different types of cooking. The steel seasons like cast iron. The aluminum is quicker to change temperature up or down.

-Depending on what type of add on you get, you can get a fitted one like the person in the first response has or you can get one like Royal Industries makes. It has almost 50% more cooking area than the built in griddle over 2 burners. They are aluminum so that even if you have the bigger size, they heat evenly. .

http://royalindustriesinc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_22_48

Chef King makes one very similar to the Royal Industries but in steel. This is better for zoned type of heat.

-The heat is limited on the built in to 15-16K/2 burners. You will usually have 15K from each burner with the add on but it could be more if you have a BS. You can adjust the heat separately for each burner. The speed of recovery depends on how much heat is coming into the griddle, and how fast the metal conducts the heat. With a thermostat there can be a delay on heat coming in because the heat loss has to make its way across the griddle so that the sensor can sense it and turn on the heat. The add on is more of an organic type of cooking like cooking with a pan. if You are constantly turning it up and down you are doing it wrong. Eventually you will get the feel of what the burners do just like with a pan.

You could use the griddle for high heat if you want to. Some people stir fry with it. You can put an add on on the burners any way you want to, across the back or front to back. With the Royal industries you can pick up the griddle if you want and put it in the oven.

Advantages to the built in

-You can set the knob to a setting and get the same heat every time.

-Some people want the pro look of the built in

In looking at the built in griddles you mention, there are several things that go into even heating. These same things go into the add on griddles.

The Thermador has an electric element and aluminum removable plate. It is nonstick so might need to be replaced down the road. Between the aluminum and the heat source, this would most likely have the most consistent in temperature across the griddle of the built ins.

The Wolf uses an infrared burner. It has a rolled steel griddle plate. In the manual, it says that one end of the griddle is warmer than the other.

BlueStar mentioned has this type of element. It’s griddle is also steel but half the thickness of Wolf so it is more of a zoned heating

The application of heat is different with the thermostatically controlled griddle because it comes on and off moving up up to the high temperature and then shutting off and the temperature falling until it triggers the heat to come back on. The heat for the add on is constant unless you change it. The difference is like cooking with an electric skillet or electric burner vs cooking with a pan on a gas burner.

There isn’t one best. You have to see what fits with your style of cooking. If you use the griddle and want a built in, I would consider getting a 24”x24” if you get the built in. Measure the actual cooking area of the two burner. Of course you could always add the add on if you need more space.

@opaone, Im not sure what the GE has for their griddle but the Monogram has stainless over aluminum so it is somewhat like clad cookware and it does not need to be seasoned although I have seen pictures here where people have seasoned it.

This is about the difference in metals and how it effects eveness of heat.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/120/Common-Materials-of-Cookware

Burners are another story. The “best” depends on how you cook and your cookware.

Kat, what did you decide? We’re having the same exact dilemma for our 48” gas range w/griddle, but for us, the 3 choices are:

Thermador pro harmony w/ griddle (electric, nonstick, removeable but the sales guys are saying the griddle isn’t that great? Seems great to me).

Jenn Air Rise w/ chromium-infused griddle. (My wife is leaning toward this b/c she hates the idea of having a seasoned patina dirty look. But is it a good griddle? People with it seem to not like it).

Monogram w/ griddle. Sales guys say the rolled steel is like the wolf, says it’s among the best on market. But will need seasoned and have the dirty look.

What to do??? The griddle is most important to us. Which one is best to cook on? I feel like the Thermador might actually be best for us? Because removable, won’t look dirty? Can you get a great sear?

I have the Jenn Air with griddle. Granted I only use the griddle 4-5 times a year but it looks the same as the day I bought it over 3 years ago. It cleans up very nice with only water.

Thanks! I will probably be using the griddle every day - pretty much every time i would normally use a frying pan. Is the griddle great to cook on? I assume with a little oil that its pretty non-stick? The stickiness when cooking is what I'm reading is the hang-up for people.

"I assume with a little oil that its pretty non-stick?"

A properly seasoned steel griddle yes. Scrap it off well with a flat blade of some sort and then when it's cooled to maybe 120-150° rub a light coat of oil on it and it's ready for the next use. I do a more thorough bricking of ours about once every 3-6 months.

BTW, think of your kitchen as a workshop and the food you create the real art and aesthetic. Think function first and then make that function look as good as possible without compromising it. Compromising function for aesthetic (e.g., I don't like the look of a seasoned griddle) results in a kitchen that you enjoy using less and that you can't produce as good of food in as you'd like.

Form overcoming function often results in a kitchen that looks fake (because it kind of is).

Also, most ranges include a cover for the griddle.

Electric griddles, except some commercial, do not maintain temps very well.

The Monogram is not rolled steel.

This is from the current web page. This is the new model but the old model was the same. It is like a pan similar to All-Clad. It has a layer of aluminum so that it heats more evenly and that is covered by a layer of stainless. recently there was a thread on seasoning these.

https://appliances.monogram.com/us/specs/ZGP486NDNSS#features

I would search on this forum about some discussion of the “chrome infused griddles“. Jennair doesn’t talk about the construction of the griddle that I can see. It doesn’t say “chrome plated griddle” like some commercial griddles are. Does “chrome infused” mean that it is just stainless which usually has chromium added anyway? Is there an underlying metal like aluminum that would make it heat more evenly?Stainless by itself is the worst heat conductor of metals commonly used in cookware.

The Thermador as I talked about above would seem to cook evenly because it is aluminum but it is nonstick so would need to be replaced down the road. I would look at the replacement cost for the nonstick.

I think your decision with these three would be cooking on nonstick vs stainless if “chrome infused” is not “chrome plated”.

It would be interesting to see if you could get a straight answer from Jennair about this.

Thanks wekick - this is very helpful. We have narrowed our choices down to only two all gas 48" ranges: Thermador pro harmony, Jenn Air Rise. The guys at our appliance store say that the Jenn Air griddle would get hotter because it is 'closer' to the heat source as opposed to the Thermador because that plate is removeable. Not sure if that actually makes sense to me. We are stuck. maybe the answer is we cant go wrong either way. we are leaning toward the Thermador only because the matching 72" free standing refrigerator has larger capacity (24c.f.) versus the new Thermador freedom 72" tall (20c.f). MAYBE comparing the ovens will help me decide. I read your very helpful description of the gas vs electric, convection vs not, discussion in another recent post of yours. Between the two (both all gas), the Thermador has 1 fan in the larger oven, the Jenn Air has a twin fan true convection. Is it fair to say that as a result, the 'evenness' of temperatures in the Jenn Air gas would be better than the Thermador and maybe closer to that of an electric oven? in other words, we don't bake a lot, but do sometimes. Not enough to justify the higher dual fuel cost. But would the difference in oven performance between a dual fuel and all gas be less in the Jenn Air because of the 'true' convection?

I would avoid non-stick coatings on whichever option you ho with. This can be relevant nit only due to wear issues for coatings, but also because many of thise coatings can be tixic when ingested and some of this material will end up on your food as it wears.