I know a lot of people like to push organic marketing, however, I've used pre-emerge herbicides for years. Discouraging the use of herbicides around the garden is far from "pushing organic gardening". The two issues aren't even related. Herbicides have their role in landscaping, commercial agriculture, and horticulture, no doubt, but the issue with using them around the vegetable garden is the damage to the plants you WANT to grow, not the herbicides themselves. Every year both the tomato and pepper forums are inundated "what is wrong with my plant" posts with pics of plants damaged by herbicide use. And no it is not just from spraying. Herbicide damage can also result from using mulch that has been exposed to it. Dave

To all you 30" DCS owners, can you please help me determine the interior oven dimensions of this range??? I can't find the specs anywhere online and am totally stressed tonight about finalizing my range choice!! Today, I received the news from my local appliance store that they are having a special 2-day offer for the 30" all gas, sealed burner Viking...$2999.00!!!!! With my VERY tight budget constraints, this seems like an impossible one to pass up. However, the last thing I want to do is make a mistake and decision I'll later regret. I truly don't know what I should do! The Viking has 4 15,000 BTU burners - is this enough power for most anything I'll want to do??? I'm also scared off my so many unfavorable reviews. Are there any happy Viking owners out there? Here is a link that might be useful: viking range with special promo

I have a viking 30 inch vdsc that has been installed for about a year and a half and am happy with it. I chose this range because I wanted a black range and I wanted dual fuel, we have to use a lp tank and did not want to have both the range top and oven dependent on the tank. I am a cook-something-quick-and-easy-that-my-picky-kids-and-picky-husband-will-eat-5-days-a-week cook so did not need a super high powered cook top, I almost never go above med-high. I do use the simmer a lot and it is not the best so I bought a simmer plate to help get an evenly low cooking surface. The burners are closed and have been very easy to clean but I have not had any overflows or cooking mishaps that would get anywhere near that part of the burners. The black, shiny surface that is below the grates of the viking does show every little bit of dirt and I do clean it frequently using soap and water and a dry rag to buff out water streaks. The oven seems to take a bit longer to preheat than my old stove and because it uses the broiler to help preheat you cannot stick items in before the preheat is done or you will burn the tops (I still sometimes put items in early but keep them on the bottom rack.) The oven also cooks a little differently than I am used to, cannot really explain how or why but it does leave most items moister which is nice. If you have concerns with how a viking cooks I would recommend finding a dealer that offers demonstrations, the dealer I bought from had demos all of the time.

Odors are just one component of cooking ventilation. Heat, Odors, Grease, Steam, and Smoke are all what is removed by good ventilation. Those “indoor smog” pollutants affect your indoor air quality negatively. Having them stay in your home affects your health. Multiple studies show that ventilation of cooking products improves that indoor air quality and keeps you healthier. While a retrofit situation may not be able to strive for the ideal, in 85% of my designed from scratch kitchens, the hood will always be specified to be larger than the cooking zone. It is ALWAYS discussed as the ideal, with any client being fully informed and signing off on the consequences of any other choice. When there is is no other choice but to have the same size, planning for it to be as deep as possible is the best solution to limiting the width. In all cases, it is the cooking appliance below and cooking style that determines the CFM needed for ventilation. You will have a low number and a high number based off of that cooking appliance. A high BTU cooking appliance will always have a much higher low number than a consumer grade appliance. Cooking style will increase that base number of the acceptable CFM span. It will never decrease that number. A Wolf range in a kitchen with someone who uses it as an ornament will still need a 600 CFMhood above, merely based on it’s potential. If that potential is lived up to by it’s cook, then that top CFM number will increase. It is the choice of a high BTU pro-style range that has the consequences of requiring that expensive high CFM ventilation system and expensive make up air system. They are inseparable from each other once the choice of cooking appliance is made. It is a package requirement, even though most appliance store salesmen will never discuss that need due to their fear of losing a sale. Instead, they should focus on gaining a sale if they approach the needs for the vent and MUA with the customer. Ventahood or Broan are both good choices. But you need to get with your HVAC specialist to discuss that MUA system. That has to do with climate, local codes that are possible stricter than national codes, and several other details, in addition to the hood power.