The criticisms you cite are valid (though the one about "holes" is not really a big deal, and the back burners will take an 11"+ pot). BlueStar is very similar to the CC. BlueStar has really good roll-out racks. CC has a great rotisserie. BlueStar has a raised vent at the back which is, if anything, a bit more restrictive than the CC. The CC has a great wok support; the BS is still good for wokking; the KA is not in the same league for wokking.

If you can do a wall oven instead of a range, you should. Then you can consider induction (which has its own set of pro's and con's vs gas, but should definitely be given some thought).

I have a self clean Culinarian. On the one hand I think the grate criticism is correct with regards to very small pots can fall in. On the other hand I have not found it difficult to slide pots. And the flames do not burn off the enamel on the center part of grates. I guess that is a looks over cooks decission. But the Culinarian wok grate is the best I have seen or used.

I have used large pots on the rear burners against the oven vent. They fit but you might discolor the SS,turning dark purplish like many commercial stoves I have seen.

Oven racks. The CC racks are certainly not Wolf but worst in the history of ranges is way over the top. They are OK.

CC fans do get carried away in their praise and sometimes new owners have way over the top expectations but I would buy mine again in heart beat. I wish I could combine the best features of every range for a reasonable price. But that is not going to happen. Given real world choices, I think the CC is the best option out there.

I have a question for the CC owners. I thought I read a post about the self clean and manual clean ovens having different racks. I can' find that post now. Is there a difference? I don't necessarily need self clean. I don't use it today because I don't want to stress the electric range. To answer the question about induction, I have decided against it becasue it would be too much work to add a wall oven and I currently have a ceramic top which is OK but what I don't like is that I can't slide a pan back and forth on the ceramic like I could on my old gas range. Part of what is making the decision hard is that I am mostly a range top cook and my wife likes to bake. She prefers electric for baking because that is all she knows and I prefer gas for the rangtop because I have had both and definitley prefer gas. That is the reason we are considering the KA. Sort of a compromise because the KA is good for a sealed burner and it has an elecrtric oven. I talked to someone about the Capital DF and they said it is a very bad design and I should not consider it over the all gas. I think the major complaint was that the controls are below the bullnose on the front of the range which makes them impossible to see unless you bend down and look below the bullnose.

Vs. Induction.

Self-clean range has full extension ez glide racks.

Manual clean range has standard racks.

Not all gas burners are the same neither are all gas ovens.

Or induction hobs or electric ovens.

If wifey is a fussy pastry chef used to baking on three full sheets in her Gaggenau or Wolf oven then she will find the CC oven lacking.

The CC oven is at least as good as the KA electric in terms of evenness just not as good as the very best electric. Especially when you turn on the convection. Some pastry bakes better in the dry heat of electric some breads bake better in the moist heat of gas. As a whole most bakers do prefer electric but most bakers have not used a really good gas oven. Plus gas ovens roast meats a bit better too.

Can't speak to Capital electric ovens or DF ranges as I have never used them.

@Tom2013 said "I can't slide a pan back and forth on the ceramic"

Why do you want to? I know why you have to with a radiant ceramic top, but with induction there is no need to move pans "off the heat"; you just cut the power to the burner and heating stops instantly. FWIW, we used to slide pans around all the time when we had a ceramic smoothtop; it wasn't a problem.

@deeageaux" said: "Self-clean range has full extension ez glide racks. "

The racks are NOT full extension; they only come out about half-way. And "EZ-glide" is a triumph of marketing-speak over reality: the CC rolling racks are pitiful - balky and crude compared to the competition.

The big benefit the self-clean has over the non-self-clean is a really nice rotisserie.

I move the skillet on the range to toss or flip the food. I lift and shake to toss the food but still I need to be very conscious of what I am doing so I don't scratch the ceramic or come down too hard on it.

I found the old thread on the racks. It sounds like the racks are fixed on the manual clean. I think the gas oven will probably work for us based on what deeageaux said. No pastry cooking going on here. More like cookies and simple cakes. I guess the only thing I would want the self clean for is the rotisserie and I have never used one so I am not sure if I would ever use it.

I contacted Capital and they are going to be updating their website in a couple months with info on the duel fuel model. The 2013 culinarians will now come with a simmer burner but I didn't see any info on the website about that.