For a quality stainless steel 4 to 5 burner cooktop with at least one high btu in rear, I'd look at Dacor. I had a 36" Dacor SS cooktop with sealed burners and nice grates that looked almost as good on it's way out the door as it did coming in twelve years earlier (bought new range instead). And it had high btu rear burner. Dacor is known for a nice, lasting, easy to clean up stainless finish.

Can't help you with the island hood, sorry.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to Dacor cooktops:

This post was edited by SparklingWater on Thu, Oct 31, 13 at 21:10

Thanks. Anybody have suggestions for a good island hood that would go with the dacor distinctive, which is I think 54,000 BTUs?

What compromises are you willing to make? Is your budget for each item 2K per item, or is it 2K for both combined? What size vent pipe are you planning to install?

The problem is that your budget is low for what you are asking about as a combo, even if your budget is 4K. Compromises will have to be made. A lower BTU cooktop coupled with a lower CFM fan that uses a only 6" vent can probably be found on your budget if you're willing to go Chinese on the hood and aren't that concerned about noise. (Looks not cooks compromise) Or, you could do the high BTU cooktop and compromise on a wimpy (but still expensive) vent above. (Cooks, but adds CLEANING a lot more as a compromise. Not recommended in my book.) But, to get both a high BTU cooktop and an effective island hood above it with the larger coverage, CFM and vent pipe, well, that will require a larger budget. (Cooks and looks)

And we haven't even discussed the labor costs for installation.

Or, you could explore moving the cooktop to a perimeter location. It's a lot cheaper for ventilation, and you get better quality ventilation because the wall helps to contain some of the cooking products and funnel them into the hood. Therefore, you can choose less CFM for a wall hood setup than an island hood setup.

So, yes, for $2k I'm hoping to buy a cooktop and hood. I know that the ventilation labor is going to be an additional cost. I really can't move my cooktop off the island without remodeling a big portion of the kitchen (there is not a good counter space where I could fit it and have a workable zone around it), and that isn't in the budget. I was also looking at Dacor Classic and KA because they have the burner configuration I am looking for. If I select a cooktop that is under 45,000 BTU, can I find a hood that cooks and looks and stay in budget?

Well, the matching Dacor range hood has a 600 CFM fan and uses an 8" duct with baffle filters. That's the absolute minimum capabilities that I'd see using there. If you need additional appliances, you may be able to get a retailer to give you a package deal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dacor 36