I have the 30" wolf. Love it. I love the high and the low low simmer (terribly useful to me) and I absolutely LOVE the lighted dials.

great :) I'm looking at a 36" and have found many ppl on this site that love the GE monogram also. I think its between those two at this point...

thanks for the input!

I have a caldera cooktop and am lusting for Friday when the gas will be hooked up and I can do more than drool over it in the box. I was initially very interested because it is hte cooktop used by New England Culinary Institute . . . sold more by comments on this board . . . and pushed over to the "sold" category when I had a response from the owner of the company himself when I called with a question. Try Caldera as a thread and see what comes up!

Here is a link that might be useful: caldera cooktops

Not to add to the confusion... But we bought the Miele 36" (#3474) and are loving it. We had also considered the Caldera and the Wolf. The Caldera wasn't sold where I live (central VA) and the Wolf was more expensive. Plus we were buying the Miele double ovens and DW, and we were impressed with the company's responsiveness. (Not to take anything away from Caldera--they were also great!)

I don't think you can go wrong with any of these choices.

Check out the new 30 and 36" BlueStar drop in cooktops

Mindstorm: we've narrowed our choice to the 30" Wolf cooktop or rangetop. I'm concerned about having enought room to manuever on the cooktop. How is it working for you? With the rangetop, there are still only 4 burners but there's definitely more room because of the depth. Yet we'll sacrifice the sleekness of the cooktop. Your thoughts?

Thanks, A.

ainsley, I really like the cooktop and although I had the same concern as you, for the same reason you mentioned, did not want the rangetop. In my house, most of the cooking is done for one or two people so my largest pots and pans are about 10 or 11". I have I think 2 of these larger ones and the rest are 9" (one) or less. I have used the 11, 10 and 9 at the same time with great ease - multi course dinner for friends. If you have much larger pots, it may be an issue but I *think* you could use a couple of 12" quite easily - can't say for sure because I don't have any that size and of course a single large one will not be a problem. The 9 - 11 have definitely been used simultaneously and very easily. Also, two of us routinely have cooked at the 30" cooktop quite easily.

Backstory: My previous kitchen had a 30" range; we replaced it with a 30" cooktop (not the Wolf, a Bosch, but has the same configuration as the Wolf). The cooktop was good and looked sleek but I immediately noticed that there was a difference at the cooktop compared to the range because of the very issue you pointed out - the controls crowding the burners. It didn't feel uncomfortable but it did feel less spacious than the range. It took us about 2 weeks to completely get used to it. (But then again, the highs and the control was so much better than the previous range that that may well have reduced the pain which we may have felt had we been used to a higher caliber 30" range).

I replaced the Bosch cooktop with the Wolf and because I was already used to the cooktop by now I was only pleased with the more substantial grates, the excellent simmer and the lighted dials compared to the other which was no slouch as cooktops go. So, I'm not sure this helped much, but that's the full story.

Also, we considered the Viking designer series cooktop (a VGSU, the one with the swept wing grate design) for this same reason - that the controls may eat into the cooking space. The Viking swept wing cooktop has the controls neatly and compactly arranged in front. However, I did not go that route because the Viking simmer was not then a good one (over 1000 BTUs). I don't know what it is now. That may be one you want to consider as well? Amazingly, other than that one Viking, I don't know of any other 30" cooktop that doesn't put the controls on the side (and eat up a whopping 6" of space).

the Wolf and Monogram 36" I'm looking at all have the knobs along the front. The look of which I prefer, and now I can see how the ones on top may be in the way a bit. Any comments on the simmer between the Wolf and Monogram? I like the idea of the Wolf's burner design... but maybe it makes little difference.

This site has been most helpful...thanks to all those who contribute.

I'll look into the bluestar also..dang more choices :)

Mindstorm: thanks so much for your very helpful reply. You addressed all my areas of concern. There's just the 2 of us, except for when our college age daughter is home (which is less and less). And I don't like to entertain (dinner anyway) for more than 8, so I think the cooktop will be fine. More than fine. Of all the things I'm looking forward to with the kitchen reno, the appliances are by far the most exciting. A.

ainsley, I debated between the 30" rangetop and the cooktop for exactly the same reasons. I took my biggest pots, pans and woks(I do heavy duty cooking frequently) to the showroom and thought they were a bit crowded when using the woks on the Wolf cooktop there. But, we were not replacing our cabinets, so opted to replace our previous Thermador cooktop with the Wolf cooktop. I did buy the wok grates for the Wolf cooktop and was pleasantly surprised to find that made the cooktop roomier when using the woks.

bump - My Caldera 30" gas cooktop is being delivered tomorrow (Sat) - I had never heard of it till I started reading this list and now it will be MINE!! It has 5 burners in 30" -- a great design. I, too, have had a number of conversations with Al, the owner, who answers his own phone.

They are not starting my kitchen till early next month, but this will sit in my livingroom till then. Can't wait. I agree with mommycooks - you have to check it out.

I've been using my Gaggenau KG291 for a couple of years now. It's one of the best and most responsive cooking appliances I've ever used. I've been extremely well pleased.

One of its major advantages, relative to other gas cooktops, is that each burner has either 2 or 3 rings of flame which provide very even heat across the bottom of a pan. Most other cooktops have a single ring of flame which shoots outward when turned up high, sending all the heat out to the edges of the pan. The Gaggenau puts flame under the middle of the pan, too.

{{gwi:1375804}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaggenau Cooktops

I've had a 36" Wolf cooktop for nearly three years now. I've been very happy with it.

36 inch wolf rangetop

Love, love. love my 36" Caldera. Have been cooking on it since May. Plenty of space for my largest pots and pans. Love the super powerful center burner in the center. (I am an impatient cook!)

Had a 48" open-burner Wolf with grill and charbroiler. Going with a 36" sealed-burner Wolf with just charbroiler in a new (well, renovated) house.

While people seem to be happy with both open and sealed Wolf burners, I welcome any comments about performance, reliability, or anything else that haven't yet been made or have been and bear repeating repeating.

Sealed Pros and Cons:
 Wider distribution of simmer flame compared to sealed burners.
 Extra-low simmer on small burner.
 Continuous grates are heavy to remove for cleaning.
 No gaps for spills to fall through.
 More expensive.

Open Pros and Cons:
 All burners the same.
 Simmer only on central puck, not on outer ring.
 Pans removable for cleaning.
 Difficult to clean burner "bridges" when spills reach them.
 More attractive (control) control knobs.

One big difference beside looks that I see in the Wolf rangetop vs cooktop is the rangetop has all the same burners. From low simmer to 15,000 BTU'S. The cooktop has only one 15,000, one 12,000 and two 9,000 burners. I don't know about the others except to say I have read of happy owners of the Caldera and Monogram.

To clarify, I am comparing Wolf's sealed-burner rangetop and open-burner rangetop. Cooktops are not under consideration.