which cooktop should I get???

w'rabbit -

I have the six burner Viking Pro.

DO NOT GO THERE - or any other Viking cr%p.
repairs..? you don't wanna hear about it.

well, at least that may help take one or two items off the table....

w'rabbit -

I picked the 36" six burner because I wanted sealed burners and I like the heavy grates, as opposed to the then current airy lightweight grate designs.

at that time, my preference was Wolf - but they did not have a sealed burner design.

as I do not own/use multiple other brands, no - wish I could but I can't tell you "what's good" but I sure can tell you in terms of reliability and 4-5 year quality satisfaction.... Viking is not a candidate.

Dillbert is not only right. He's very right. He's right in spades. No trump even.

I used to have a Viking 60" gas range, and it certainly had its problems. More, I've had clients in various parts of the "white goods" business (stoves and cooktops are white goods), and all of them recommend staying away from Viking.

Pretty much everything in the "commercial" residential field is more likely to need expensive and difficult repair than straight residential. I'm not saying don't buy it. If you like the look or the size, a commercial look cooktop may be the best choice. What I am saying is lock down a long term warranty, know who will do the repairs, what the part supply in your area is like and so on. This is not as difficult as it might sound. Start by talking to stove repair people in your area. They know what breaks and what it costs to fix it.

Again: Nail down the warranty and get all promises in writing. Things you want are parts and labor including the cost of the service call for a period of several years. Warranty that all repairs will be completed within thirty days, even if seller has to have parts shipped by air. "Lemon" replacement if the stove breaks more than "X" times within "Y" period. And so on. In writing. Did I mention you want it in writing?

My impression is that the best commercial-residential brands in terms of reliability are American, Imperial and Jade. American seems to be the most bang for the buck in the group. Jade is probably the best built in absolute terms.

The ultra high-end models by the big manufacturers? "Architectural," "Monarch" and so on -- just as trouble prone as the other commercial-looks. No free lunch is there?

What you want more than anything else is something reliable and easy to clean. Super high power burners don't mean as much as stove salespeople would have you believe. In fact, they do nothing. On the other hand... Continuous grates are wonderful.

I know I'm throwing in a lot of ambiguity into an already ambivalent process with the extra information. But you should have all the information. On account of you being smarter than me. Or maybe even Dillbert.

Hope this helps,
BDL

White Rabbit,

Just an addition: No matter which one you eventually choose, make sure the venturii valves are factory adjusted for propane. I know Wolf does that, and assume the others will too. If you don't specify, the default is for natural gas.

Do not count on an installer to do that for you; most of them haven't a clue how it's done.

I returned my last stove to the store for that reason. I had specified that it had to be adjusted for propane. When the delivery guys showed up their idea of "installing" it was to screw down the gooseneck hose to the fitting on the back of the stove. And they wanted to charge me 35 bucks to do that. Yeah, right. But they didn't even know that the valves are adjustible, or that that propane and natural gas use different pressure systems.

I don't know why some posts don't appear, but here's a second attempt and I'm not going to retype the whole spiel.

no cooktop will use 15 amps for spark ignition. bad info there. local/national electric codes will require any convenience outlet to be min 15 amps; kitchen 20 amp, and no they don't care if it's buried under a cabinet and only used for the cooktop.

verify the cooktop will allow gas flow without electrical hookup.
that way you can use a match or any convenient lightening bolt to get the flame going.

on or off grid, sometimes the grid goes away and it's really cool to have hot food when everything is in the ditch.

I looked today at The Great Indoors because my wife and I need a new one. Does anyone know have one with the griddle or grill in the middle? If so how often do they use it? Anyone have a wok burner?