Some people want a dedicated griddle space but there are quite a few with this. You can then have the best of both worlds.
There is also an aluminum version by Royal industries that would be lighter weight, conducts heat more evenly and more responsive to heat changes. No one has reviewed it though. There are also nonstick versions in aluminum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chef King

I'll give my input because you will probably get a lot of recommendations here for 6 burners and an after market portable griddle pan. Or some suggest getting the grill and using a griddle pan on top of the grill. I was torn with this decision myself.

I DID buy a 36" CC with built in griddle, and I am confident I made the right choice. I'm sure the grill would have been cool too, but the griddle is fantastic. Despite what people say it is VERY easy to clean. It is a very thick piece of steel, so once it comes up to temp the temp distribution is very even, although when the burner cycles you do get a bit hotter area down the middle (actually a good thing). And it STAYS hot-warm for a very long time.

I can turn off the griddle, eat our meal... and with the griddle still hot I scrape it down with a dough scraper. Then simply a damp kitchen towel wipe-down (steam clean). If there is a particularly sticky spot I use a steel scrubby. Never need to use soap or chemicals, and it gets perfectly clean.

I can cook six cheeseburgers at once.
I often saute onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, etc...
Chicken breasts/tenders, sliced steak.
Oh, a pound of shrimp with garlic and butter.
Fish fillets
The BEST French toast ever.
An entire package of bacon.

You know when you make a grilled cheese in a frying pan, the second side never gets as nice golden brown as the first side? On the griddle you just make then butterfly style like at the diner and you don't have that problem.

Because there is so much surface area you can cook an omelet in about 30 seconds.

When I stir fry, I make fried rice in a wok, then dump the rice onto the griddle to keep it hot until serving, while making a chicken/beef/veg dish in the wok.

Griddle is great with left overs. Sliced chicken or steak, squirt some sauce. Get to know how to use steam in your griddle cooking. Use pot tops or steel bowls upside down to cover and cook food.

If I didn't have an outdoor grill, just outside my kitchen, I probably would have went for the grill instead. I admit it would be nice to be able to char a steak inside in the dead of Winter. Or grill some veggies to get that taste you can only get from open flame. But I love the hibachi/short-order cooking style. And I am skeptical how well a griddle pan on top of a grill would work. I would think a lot of smoke would be produced. But I'll let others who have first hand experience with that post their comments.

Oh, and about the griddle having hot-spots... every grill/griddle has them. I would think on the built-in griddle the heat is more uniform than a griddle pan due to the thickness of the steel. The CC's griddle has cooler areas down the sides and at the front few inches. This is useful because you can slide food that is already cooked that you want to keep warm while to cook other stuff.

Also, when the oven or griddle is on, the little ledge on the vent in back is great for keeping sauces warm, melting butter, etc... I often put some small rectangular Pyrex bowls on there while cooking.

No matter what you do GET THE WOK GRATE! I have never been able to do a proper stir-fry until now. It is THE best part about the range. And by the way, skip the cutting board insert for the griddle. I made that mistake. It's a good cutting board, but over priced, and it never sits in the griddle spot because who wants cooking splatter/spills on their cutting board? I'd rather clean the stainless cover.

Takkone, good post and it is helpful to know how you use your griddle.

I would however disagree with this.

"Oh, and about the griddle having hot-spots... every grill/griddle has them. I would think on the built-in griddle the heat is more uniform than a griddle pan due to the thickness of the steel. The CC's griddle has cooler areas down the sides and at the front few inches. This is useful because you can slide food that is already cooked that you want to keep warm while to cook other stuff. "

Steel is more prone to it because it conducts heat poorly. I have nonstick griddle in aluminum and you can make sandwiches wall to wall and they will be remarkably even. No need to rotate or change positions, It has to do with the heat transfer properties of the aluminum vs the thickness of the metal. If I need a cooler area, I just turn one of the burners down. I am not a fan of the coated griddle but am using it until it dies. I have a smaller uncoated griddle that doesn't fit very well but it heats evenly too.

This is not meant to take away from the way you use your griddle but just additional info. Here is good article with info on heat conductivity, if you scroll down.

Here is a link that might be useful: E-Gullet Understanding cookware

I don't recall folks complaining about cleaning built-in griddles - it's the grills that can get yucky.

What a great griddle review. I have the 48 inch Culi rangetop with grill and griddle sitting on my living room floor as we speak. I contemplated going 24 inch grill with a griddle plate, but am glad, after reading your post, I switched to one of each. I cook for big groups and having lots of space to cook many things at once appealed to me, but I do A LOT of griddle work on the weekends, especially at breakfast.
I had a 6 burner rangetop in my last house, the griddle top to that was aluminum with a non-stick coating and it was just OK. Hard to brown with nonstick, and also the edges are not as high, so things would dive off the sides onto my sealed but impossible to clean burner top.
If you go built in griddle, do not think you can't use it as a place to put pots. More than likely, when you have more than 4 pots/pans, going at once, one is simmering, which should be a snap on the griddle. No I wouldn't boil water in a pot on the griddle surface, but why not keep that sauce at a low bubble on it?
I don't mind dirty cooktops. Makes them looked love. I don't clean my grill outside. I scrub the grates down when hot, but not for more than 10 seconds. I'm guessing my inside grill will be the same.
The griddle sounds easy to clean, thanks for the tips....

"Steel is more prone to it because it conducts heat poorly. I have nonstick griddle in aluminum and you can make sandwiches wall to wall and they will be remarkably even. No need to rotate or change positions, It has to do with the heat transfer properties of the aluminum vs the thickness of the metal. If I need a cooler area, I just turn one of the burners down. I am not a fan of the coated griddle but am using it until it dies. I have a smaller uncoated griddle that doesn't fit very well but it heats evenly too."

Steel has more "heat capacity" for normal size/thickness pans. If you give it time to come up to temperature before cooking it DOES cook more EVENLY, especially on weaker heat sources. Steel density has a real advantage here.

Regarding the griddle in Takkone's post, there is a great point about using it like a French Top. That post is one of the better ones I have read in a long time and brings up a lot of good points.

This post was edited by sidpost on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 7:59

" Posted by sidpost (My Page)

Steel has more "heat capacity" for normal size/thickness pans. If you give it time to come up to temperature before cooking it DOES cook more EVENLY, especially on weaker heat sources. Steel density has a real advantage here.

By "more EVENLY", do you mean
-more evenly than if you don't let it heat up ?
-more evenly than aluminum ?
-more of a heat reservoir so that when food is put in the skillet, it doesn't cool off as much?

Hey everyone I appreciate the feedback on the griddle. Will I be compromising available burners especially with the new simmer burner being added to all capital ranges? If I get the griddle then that leaves me with 3 large burners a griddle and the simmer burner. Should that be a concern?

Thanks for your opinions. I have decided to go with the capital Culinarian range. I am going for it and doing the griddle. We will cook more than just pancakes on it. Very exciting. Just went back to the dealer to look at it again. Cant wait for my kitchen now to be done. Also looking for a fridge. Dont wantto spend the money on the sub zero. What would be a good alternative?

Just about every post that we've seen, has been very positive about the Kitchen Aid Fridges, so you might want to start there.

Gary