Gas Cooktops: Which?

Al Fresco said:

I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new kitchen. I
figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because it was made by
the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a good idea.

Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.

I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

Avoid Jenn-Aire downdraft ranges and cook tops like the plague. The
downdraft sucks more heat from the burners than smoke from the air.

We just replaced ours with a Kitchen Aid range - 1 15K BTU burner with
low simmer inner ring and a reversible grate that holds a wok, 1 12K for
the tea kettle, and 2 8K burners for simmering. Make sure you get a
good hood.

--

===============================================================
Regards

Louis Cohen

"Yes, yes, I will desalinate you, you grande morue!"

Émile Zola, Assommoir 1877

Al Fresco said:

I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new kitchen.
I figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because it was made
by the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a good idea.

Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.

I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

I put a Dacor in my new house and I love it. For ease of cleaning just make
sure you're getting sealed burners, it made a huge difference for us. 🙂

The highest BTUs I have on one burner is 18,000 (that's with the LP
conversion, which in this model is NOT supposed to reduce the BTUs). I have
two 12,000 burners, and two that are less but I can't remember specifics.

I am generally satisfied with simmering though I might still get a simmer
plate. I haven't bought and used a griddle on it yet, so I can't comment on
the feature where two of the burners adjacent to each other are the same
BTUs for ease of griddle use. I haven't been able to use my downdraft yet,
either because we're still waiting for a part that connects the pipe to the
vent outside (the down draft is installed, it's just the venting that needs
to be completed).

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

I have been told that to get high BTU's, I have to go to a commercial
cooktop, and people are recommending Jade and Ferguson.

The thing I didn't like about the commercial cooktops was that they
looked hard to clean.

Louis Cohen said:

Al Fresco said:

I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new kitchen.
I figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because it was
made by the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a good idea.

Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.

I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

Avoid Jenn-Aire downdraft ranges and cook tops like the plague. The
downdraft sucks more heat from the burners than smoke from the air.

We just replaced ours with a Kitchen Aid range - 1 15K BTU burner with
low simmer inner ring and a reversible grate that holds a wok, 1 12K for
the tea kettle, and 2 8K burners for simmering. Make sure you get a
good hood.

Siobhan Perricone said:

Al Fresco said:

I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new kitchen.
I figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because it was made
by the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a good idea.

Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.

I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

I put a Dacor in my new house and I love it. For ease of cleaning just make
sure you're getting sealed burners, it made a huge difference for us. 🙂

The highest BTUs I have on one burner is 18,000 (that's with the LP
conversion, which in this model is NOT supposed to reduce the BTUs). I have
two 12,000 burners, and two that are less but I can't remember specifics.

I am generally satisfied with simmering though I might still get a simmer
plate. I haven't bought and used a griddle on it yet, so I can't comment on
the feature where two of the burners adjacent to each other are the same
BTUs for ease of griddle use. I haven't been able to use my downdraft yet,
either because we're still waiting for a part that connects the pipe to the
vent outside (the down draft is installed, it's just the venting that needs
to be completed).

You get the same effect whether the downdraft is working or not. I hope
yours works better than Jenn-Air's.

--

===============================================================
Regards

Louis Cohen

"Yes, yes, I will desalinate you, you grande morue!"

Émile Zola, Assommoir 1877

Al Fresco said:

I have been told that to get high BTU's, I have to go to a commercial
cooktop, and people are recommending Jade and Ferguson.

The thing I didn't like about the commercial cooktops was that they
looked hard to clean.

Louis Cohen said:

Al Fresco said:

I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new
kitchen. I figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because
it was made by the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a
good idea.

Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.

I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

Avoid Jenn-Aire downdraft ranges and cook tops like the plague. The
downdraft sucks more heat from the burners than smoke from the air.

We just replaced ours with a Kitchen Aid range - 1 15K BTU burner with
low simmer inner ring and a reversible grate that holds a wok, 1 12K
for the tea kettle, and 2 8K burners for simmering. Make sure you get
a good hood.

During Alton Brown's tour of Kitchen Stadium, he said that the burners
the Iron Chefs use have 15,000 BTU. I think you can find high-end home
models with 18K - that should be plenty.

--

===============================================================
Regards

Louis Cohen

"Yes, yes, I will desalinate you, you grande morue!"

Émile Zola, Assommoir 1877

"Louis Cohen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Al Fresco said:

I have been told that to get high BTU's, I have to go to a commercial
cooktop, and people are recommending Jade and Ferguson.

The thing I didn't like about the commercial cooktops was that they
looked hard to clean.

Louis Cohen said:

Al Fresco wrote:

> I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new kitchen.
> I figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because it was made
> by the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a good idea.
>
> Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.
>
> I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

Avoid Jenn-Aire downdraft ranges and cook tops like the plague. The
downdraft sucks more heat from the burners than smoke from the air.

We just replaced ours with a Kitchen Aid range - 1 15K BTU burner with
low simmer inner ring and a reversible grate that holds a wok, 1 12K for
the tea kettle, and 2 8K burners for simmering. Make sure you get a
good hood.

During Alton Brown's tour of Kitchen Stadium, he said that the burners the
Iron Chefs use have 15,000 BTU. I think you can find high-end home models
with 18K - that should be plenty.

--

===============================================================
Regards

Louis Cohen

That's true, but the one with the double grate that you could drop a wok
into had 40,000.
Janet

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:52:55 -0800, Louis Cohen <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am generally satisfied with simmering though I might still get a simmer
plate. I haven't bought and used a griddle on it yet, so I can't comment on
the feature where two of the burners adjacent to each other are the same
BTUs for ease of griddle use. I haven't been able to use my downdraft yet,
either because we're still waiting for a part that connects the pipe to the
vent outside (the down draft is installed, it's just the venting that needs
to be completed).

You get the same effect whether the downdraft is working or not. I hope
yours works better than Jenn-Air's.

I'm certain it will. Dacor's a high end line with a good performance
record. I did a lot of research before we invested in the appliances in our
kitchen and this cooktop and downdraft combination always got good
performance reviews from regular people. 🙂

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

"Al Fresco" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I decided to get a Jenn-Air double oven (electric) for my new kitchen.
I figured I'd get a Jenn-Air gas cooktop, too, just because it was made
by the same company. But now I'm wondering if that's a good idea.

Someone suggested the KitchenAid Pro-Line gas cooktop.

I want lots of BTU's and easy cleaning. What's the best?

Gas is gas, and burners is burners - they are so regulated for safety, its
hard to get a "bad one" - its more the size and the tops other features and
layout.
It's a tool to let you cook, so i always felt it should not interfere
with my cooking, rather than me having a pretty one to work around.

IMHO, its the BTU size of the burners that counts, cast iron pot racks on
the burners, and the level of control. And the little things, like side
space and do they scratch easily. Pretend you are cooking on the one your
choose, what you normally cook, etc. One should feel comfortable.

-------------------
Musings on buying for show -

Do you want to drive it or ride in it? Remember that if you buy a Ferrari
and then someday run into someone who actually can drive one well, and you
can't use what it can do, what a fool they hold you. And Ferraris can't tow
big boats.

Cook with it or show you have taste? Same way with a $35,000 stove. You
had best make one hell of fine can of beans with it, or your attempt to show
fine taste will come off as just what it was - an attempt, to show. It's
is then that old Ronco cheese slicer gadget you bought, except it sits out
in the open - and for $35,000 it laughs at you. At least you can hide the
cheese slicer/wrapper/dicer/.

--------

I like 1 high/big BTU ring for big pots and woks

1 small BTU ring for fine control of some sauces - can also use it for
holding. (Athough, I do not have built into my stove, I have a commercial
gas sauce plate.)

And depending on what and how you cook, 2 to 4 more std burners.