Infrared is vasty superior to regular gas burners, IMHO.

I have not used the specific units you've mentioned. However, I do have considerable experience grilling with gas-infrared and with regular gas. The difference is significant.

I encourage you to find a friend or commercial demonstrator who may allow you to work with gas-infrared before making your decision. I have little doubt you will soon share my opinion.

When looking for a range we spoke with a professional chef who was conducting a cooking demonstration. He highly recommended the infrared broilers. The range we ordered has them but was have yet to recieve it.

The infrared charbroiler delivers a more evenly distributed heat. Also it is quite hot. You learn a new dance routine when cooking on it.

What do we cook on it? Well so far (>1yr.) we've done:
Burgers
Steaks
Pork chops
Bell peppers
Pork tenderloin, finished in the oven
Chicken breast, marinated, finger sliced for sandwiches
Deli meat for hot sandwiches

I'm sure I've left something out and I can tell you there will be other items added as we continue to explore the grill. For burgers and sandwiches we like to toast the buns on the grill also.

The infrared grill produces fantastic grill marks leading to a nice presentation.

Thank you all. John -- what range do you have? Did you get the griddle also? Have you tried fish inside (or would that be too stinky)?

We have the Wolf 36" dual fuel. Four burner, charbroiler in the middle. No room for a griddle too in our tiny kitchen. That would've required 48". Woulda been nice though.

Have not tried fish yet. I like fish, but being inland here in Minnesota fresh fish is kinda $pendy. We do have a shop nearby (Coastal Seafoods) that specializes in fresh seafood. They are great. I'll have to make the trip again soon.

Me, I wouldn't worry about the stink, er, uh, smell, uh odor. The VAH removes most of the smell.

We have the Wolf 36 inch rangetop with charbroiler.

It does take some getting used to but we love it. We have tried all of the foods that John above mentioned. Key to steaks and fish (salmon steaks) for us has been the brief searing on the grill and finishing in the oven, as he mentioned. Restaurant style, for a reason.

We had a real epiphany recently when we did a whole slew of vegetables including Vidalia onions, asparagus, and red peppers. They were beyond fabulous, easy to do, limited smoke/mess. My daughter is planning to grill fuit--we have not tried that yet.

We turn on the vent hood (Broan) before the grill, leave the hood running about 20 minutes after finishing, and it pulls out all the fumes. No next-day reminder of the salmon dinner.

I don't know about grills other than this one, which every sales person discouraged us from buying. We are happy that we got it.

Wolf does wonderful (and free) demonstration dinners at distributor showrooms. Worth seeking out if you live near one, as we do.

Good luck!

kkcooks wrote: >> I don't know about grills other than this one, which every sales person discouraged us from buying. We are happy that we got it.

We had the same reception/response and I still don't understand why that was?!

>>My daughter is planning to grill fuit--we have not tried that yet.

I want to try some mango/hot pepper combo!

Lobster is also great on the charbroiler.

Ooh...mango/hot pepper! That sounds fabulous. I am also planning on pineapple. Do you put oil on the fruit? How do you prevent sticking to the grill?

Well I haven't tried it yet. I've found other items on the charbroiler stick less if they are allowed sufficient time to char.

A bit olive oil on the fruit might be a good idea.

Isn't the grill fun!? It seems to expand my creative energy.

We have grilled fruit on outdoor grill, just using that Weber non-stick spray (hmm....I wonder whether we coudl use that indoors as well).

Thank you for info on your experience. Our salespersons also have tried to dissuade us from charbroiler, but I really want it. Not as sold on the griddle, even though Wolf sells more of those than charbroilers.