Your comments are easing the pain of this long drawn out reno we've been living in. I started the demo in Jan and have been working every day, night and weekend as I've done all the work myself. I've already used up all my vacation time for the year. I can't comment to much on the "actual" cooking experience as DW is the only cook in our house, I just reap the benefits. This kitchen is for her for because she deserves it and has always wanted an AGA and a beautiful kitchen. Our first meal was pancakes of course! The kids love pancakes. quiltgirl Regarding our counters, we have about 36" to the right and about 60" to the left. There is a large island directly across from the AGA. The granite was templated a week ago and should be ready for install in a week or so.

Thanks for the kind words. Lalitha! The induction is three elements. It's 2/3 of the 36" unit you can see in the stores (or was last year...). From the planning guide "Three cooking zones: One induction cooking zone ø 15 cm (1400 W, with booster 1800 W) [small ring]. One induction cooking zone ø 21 cm (2200 W, with booster 3300 W) [medium ring]. One induction cooking zoneø 18 cm (1800 W, with booster 2500 W) [center ring of large element] addition increases cooking zone to ø 28 cm (3600 W, with super booster function 4400 W) [outer ring plus center ring = large element]" The Wolf gas is "One medium 12,000 Btu/hr sealed burner with 800 Btu/hr delivered at simmer. One small 9,200 Btu/hr sealed burner with 300 Btu/hr delivered at simmer." The small, front one is about 9" square, and the medium, rear one is about 10"x13" I find this configuration very adaptable. Sometimes I'm trying to make a one pot quickie, which is often on the large induction element. Or I'll do a pot and a pan, with one on the large element, and one on the front medium element. These are things like pasta with vegetables, or a saute and a sauce. A few weeks ago I was making burritos to freeze. I had already made the meat in the oven and shredded it. I had the rice simmering in a large shallow pot (Le Creuset "braiser"), on the large induction element, and my Le Creuset small, square grill plate on the small gas burner for toasting the tortillas. It actually does work on the induction, and would have meant less fiddling with the heat, but it just seems wrong. Standing between the two really drove home how hot the gas is. It was on low-medium and my left side was hot, and my right side, stirring the rice, wasn't! For Passover Seder, I had the matzah balls on the back burner, the chicken soup on the large induction burner, smaller things off and on on the smaller induction burners, and the teakettle on the small gas. I did the large pot of tzimmis (roots and fruits) early and was holding it in the warming drawer. I would have done the same thing even if I twice the number of burners. Heating up the chicken broth is nothing. I wanted anything I needed to pay attention to over by that point. Meats in the ovens, and casseroles in the Advantium on oven setting. I just bought some chicken to make meatballs out of, and some red peppers for the sauce. I'll char the peppers on the gas (I even have a little mesh style barbecue grill that sits on the grate), and cook the chicken balls in a braiser on the large induction element. I'll probably make the mother sauce on the medium induction element, though if I do a saute as well, I'll do that there, and the sauce on the small gas. Most people rarely use more than three burners at once. As I said, even when I could need five or six, I'd rather use the warming drawer and three or four. And I have an electric kettle which I could use if I needed to free a hob. There are a few things which I make, which theoretically have half a dozen different pots all hot at once and combined only at plating, but even those can be done in shifts given a warming drawer or hot plate. I wanted the 24" induction because I wanted the big, powerful element and didn't want to devote the money or space to two Gaggenau dominoes to accomplish the same thing. For less than a quarter of what the two pieces would have cost me, I got the same function in 6" less counter, and a couple inches less vertical depth. The drawer underneath and the hood are both 48" wide. As you can see, I gained a couple of precious counter inches in the corner, and several on the right, which is my secondary prep area (by the clean-up sink). And I got the cool magnet knob. :)

Well ours is without question made of 304 stainless. But honestly I don't really see a problem using 430 SS either, depends on the way it was built as in some cases the 430 is better because it holds a weld better and can bend to certain specifications better without cracking. A range made of 430SS inside your house is not going to rust anyway, that is pure nonsense. I DO however think that 430 SS could have more adverse reactions to acidic type foods such as say Tomato Sauce or Lemon juice Vs 304. maybe if you sat it in a corner of an abandoned house for 30 years maybe, but if you use it everyday in a house with AC it is not going to rust, but it very well could have more staining with acidic foods. I think that 304 stainless is critical on a BBQ grill, but not so much on an indoor stove. But I am still glad mine is made of 304 Stainless anyway. But there are many things made of 400 series stainless that work just fine, never rust, one I can think of is most "Food Slicers, Deli meat slicers etc" are made of 400 series stainless. Car exhaust pipes are usually made of 409 stainless because of the better welding and heat resistance. I once had the pleasure of meeting an old guy out in California, he lived in the middle of no where on many acres of land and when I met him I drove through the classic old gate with elk antlers on top and his house was built in around the 1830's, was an old adobe that was built by a Mexican General when California was actually Mexico. House still stands today with the same tile roof, just one addition was added on about 100 years ago but other than that was all original, No AC. He had as his stove a old wood stove that was thickly enameled color of like a seafoam blue/green and all the corners and edges were all Stainless Steel. Had to be a 400 series stainless because I don't think the 300 series was even in use yet. That stove looked like it brand spanking new and at the time I saw it was about 90+ years old. Not a speck of rust on it, of course it was thick as hell but still the surface was still like new. I actually find products "Made in USA" about 75% of the time to be pure crap in every way. I bet 95% of the world views items "made in USA" exactly the way people like Deeageaux does about China. In general about every product I see with "Made in Germany" tag on it is probably about the only one I can generally count on being very well made, I can usually count on a high price for that item also. Most of the working parts in the NXR come from every place except China, it is basically just "Assembled" in China and who better to assemble than those that have been assembling things for decades. Also it is probably the larger brand name companies that are forcing retailers not to carry a quality product that cost far less, that happens all the time in every category of product.

This is an interesting conversation. I, at age 34 currently, have never in my life used gas, and I am an avid cook on my crappy electric coil. I only say crappy cause the thing is FILTHY and disgusting and soon to be swapped out for a smooth top. However, regarding simmering, I have zero issues there, and people are always asking my trick to such great rice, which as you know requires barely a simmer sustained over a duration of time. However, I have a stroganoff recipe that calls for a long and slow simmer and when my friend with gas tried to make it, and said she couldn't because her gas cooktop doesn't allow for a slow simmer - it kept leaning into a full boil no matter how low she turned it. That leads me to believe it's all a matter of experience. There are probably better and worse performing stoves in every catagory - induction, gas, or electric - and that can certainly shape experience and preference also. So this is a case where nobody is right or wrong, and thank God we all have different preferences or else we wouldn't have choices.