Hmmmm, SteveCA, is that Calif or Canada?

If Calif, (anyway most of it), the weather is great enough to do grilling outside, and it would be a rare inside grill, (Indeed) that could keep up with an outside one, especially an infra red type grill.

Of course outside you don't havta worry about smoke and fumes inside the house,
(Just "Friendly Neighbors") ~~~that may "Want in on the Action".

Obviously from your post you are a Wolf/SZ fan, so I won't say anything about that~~~~Except "My mileage did vary"!!!

Course I'm glad to see the dollars spent stay in the US, but for me, there was just a better "Plan B".

Make sure you buy the "New" Wolf ovens!!!!!!!, (not the older models).

Gary

You don't really need a flame thrower rangetop to cook steaks well. A good and well seasoned cast iron skillet on an average gas top will produce fine results.

If you really need/want fast and powerful get a salamander, but it's a one trick pony and looks silly in all but a commercial or lodge look kitchen.

Have you read about the blue porcelain failures on Wolf ovens? If not, I suggest you do so before purchasing one. There is plenty to read just by searching past posts on this website. Wolf's new generation of wallovens supposedly has a removable bottom but I would even shy away from buying those until there is confirmation that is a true solution to the issue.

There are a lot of Blue Star fans around here so you might check out their cooktop. We got a Lancanche, which may or may not appeal, but since this forum is how I found out about them, I thought I'd pass along the suggestion. We haven't gotten ours yet so I can't comment except that I did test drive one and loved it. I also considered the Blue Star and Wolf (a distant 3rd). Real life experience will likely clarify your choice if you get mired down in internet commentary. Good luck!

Lacanche ranges:
www.frenchranges.com

Thanks your replies. Please keep them coming. I live in northern Cailfornia so your right, I can grill outdoors 345 days a year. My wife thought it might be nice to be able to grill veggies without going out to the bbq.

While I am leaning towards wolf sub zero, i am open to thoughts that may change my purchasing decision. The only thing that is fairly firm is the sub zero. Everything else is fair game. I have read about the blue enamel issue and will do more research to see if the new models adequately address this defect. I am going to check out a blue star cook top and a cc if I can find a dealer in norcal. I was not aware of these brands until reading about it on this forum.

Thanks for your thoughs. Please keep them coming. I want to make an informed decision, even if i have to do it quickly.

Thanks your replies. Please keep them coming. I live in northern Cailfornia so your right, I can grill outdoors 345 days a year. My wife thought it might be nice to be able to grill veggies without going out to the bbq.

While I am leaning towards wolf sub zero, i am open to thoughts that may change my purchasing decision. The only thing that is fairly firm is the sub zero. Everything else is fair game. I have read about the blue enamel issue and will do more research to see if the new models adequately address this defect. I am going to check out a blue star cook top and a cc if I can find a dealer in norcal. I was not aware of these brands until reading about it on this forum.

Thanks for your thoughs. Please keep them coming. I want to make an informed decision, even if i have to do it quickly.

I agree with Gary, don't bother indoor grilling if you have such mild weather. Ventilation becomes a much bigger issue, and even with a powerful hood, all that smoke... no thanks.

Re: Wolf ovens, know that if you want the "new design" avoid the L series. They will be replaced with the M series late this year that will have the removable bottoms, but that will be quite the wait. I believe that the new generation of the E series which has already been released has the removable bottom though. Research all you want, but these ovens have not been on the market very long and nobody has owned them long enough to prove anything. Of course the salesman will say they've fixed the problem, but who trusts salesmen? Or he may just pull the classic Wolf salesman move of denying the problem ever existed, or saying it was fixed years ago. I think it might be more helpful to call Wolf and ask them about it. It seems that Wolf is more honest about their products than salesmen are.

"You don't really need a flame thrower rangetop to cook steaks well. A good and well seasoned cast iron skillet on an average gas top will produce fine results"

Well of course nobody NEEDS a flamethrower rangetop. But pretending that a 15K BTU sealed burner will do as good of a job as a 22K open is just ignoring the truth. Maybe the result won't be that different, but cooking on high performance burners is just a better experience. It's hard to explain to someone else in words, but most people will understand what I'm talking about once they've tried it.

Of course, BTU's aren't the only thing that matter. Burner design matters more. I like open burners better and would take a 15K Bluestar burner over a sealed 18K burner any day.

Different people have different needs but I'm convinced that for the majority of people at least, high BTU open burners are the best choice if they are in the budget. And you don't need to be a professional chef to benefit from them, I think any home cook can. Now, I personally prefer induction, but if you are looking in that price range and are getting gas, I don't see why you should spend as much as or more than the cost of an open burner range and get an inferior product.

The DW of choice around here is often Miele. I wasn't going to replace my DW (2 yr old Samsung) with the reno, but I've now got a Miele Dimension on order.

I was also going to put a microwave into a cubby or cabinet or something, but also have a Miele M-Touch Speed Oven on order. I hadn't heard of speed ovens before coming here. Since we're getting a BlueStar range (30"RNB) I thought the speed oven would be a good choice because with just the two of us, I imagine it'll be our go-to oven. We considered a KA built in Microwave initially. We liked it better than the drawers, but lots of people love the drawers. (All the drawers including the Wolf are built by Sharp, IIRC, just branded differently).

After reading so many glowing reports about the BS, I found a dealer with the new platinum range in live condition. I am 100% sold. this unit fulfills all my needs for a high powered unit for searing, wok cooking without rings and as an added bonus, both a charbroiler and a griddle all without sacrificing any burners.
I could not believe that one unit could provide everything I was looking for with no compromises. Well maybe just one compromise as I woiuld have preferred all 6 burners be 25000 BTU burners but I will settle for their 1-25000, 2-22000, 1-18000, 1-15000, 1 simmer configuration. The range tops are not configurable like their ranges according to the salesman.

I am very excited about getting this unit installed.