The grates are 11" front-to-back and 11-1/4" side-to-side. The island trim still sticks up 1/2" or so above the back grates.

Thank you, velodoug!

I was one the promoters of the bump out advantage. After much debate here and measuring and actually placing my largest of pots/pans, I found the bump out only gained me 3/4 inch AT MOST of extra centering ability and that was my single largest pan. The actual difference turned out to be the trim. In my first application, I had the high riser vent. That put the SS vent right up to the rear burners almost. WIth the island trim however, most pots clear that easily. All that said, I still like the bump out look and it gives a nice little space in the back for decorative items, utensils and/or spices and oils.

But functional advantage, I will concede there is little actual added advantage if any.

I would be interested if there is ANY reason to go with a 6" riser. High back I guess I can see if you are partial to the look and the shelf, but 6" to me is just a scorch-proned obstacle. And I would not consider "non-combustable surface" a legit reason as it would not take more than about $10 of material to come up with a cheap but decent looking wall surface solution. And now your flared-out 12" skillet will fit. Do you have any other cookware that would not fit in back that would not do just fine on one of the front 22s?

In short, given that you would prefer not to bump it out, I say do not do it unless you can forsee a frequent situation where you would need it. Sounds to me like you may have a common case of over-thinking. ;)

I see no benefit to a riser vent higher than the island trim unless it is the high riser to mount a shelf on.

You hit the nail on the head about scorching. Using the rear burners on high with my 21 inch high rise vent was a huge scorching issue on the SS riser.

I agree with you. The island trim looks like the way to go. Just have to decide on how to make the wall non-combustable. So many options...tile, stainless, countertop material. Any other possibilities? I don't want to rip out the existing wall for the sake of putting in cement backer board. And you are SO right about over-thinking (which I actually enjoy!)

What is on the wall now? If dry wall, then you need only to cover that with a NC veneer. BS does require NC material behind the range and extending 6 inches below the range top surface when using the island trim kit. We used durarock for that but dry wall is fine there too I think.

I would guess that NC over drywall would be ok, but really, what is the big deal about cutting out a section of wall and screwing in some cement board first? The 30 minutes max it would take, including cleanup, is probably quicker than calling town hall and sitting on hold five times before (maybe) getting a straight answer about building code.

We have the 6" SS backsplash and it certainly is a scorch magnet. We don't clean the top of the Bluestar very often, but I have learned to pass a dish cloth over the backsplash whenever cooking on the rear 22k. Otherwise, it will tarnish then char in over time. It was tough to get back to clean SS, requiring a ton of Barkeepers' Friend and elbow grease. Have not had any scorching issues since I started taking a few seconds to wipe clean.

The bigger advantage of the island trim imho would be the extra clearance a big fry pan might gain. For that, I would consider the island trim if I were to do it all over again. The only downside would be the potential risk to my Italian glass tiles from the heat and pan collision.

If it were simple drywall, then I wouldn't have any qualms over cutting out a section and putting in cement board. However, my house was built in the 1950's and has "drywall over plaster" walls. I didn't know such a thing existed until I had to have some plumbing done that required damage to the walls. The wall repair professional told me that the walls were "drywall over plaster", and he added that although older homes sometimes have it he didn't understand why it was once a normal practice. The drywall is not simply screwed to the plaster. Rather, it is bonded to the plaster, so you can't just remove the drywall layer without destroying the plaster. My other concern about ripping out a wall section is that stirring up old lead paint dust may be an issue. The lead professional is coming to do a test this week, so I'll have a better idea of what the risks are with wall modifications. If I decide not to cut any of the existing wall, would it be possible to just put cement board over the entire existing wall? The whole kitchen is being redone, so new cabinets and countertops are going in anyway. Would you just screw the cement board through the existing drywall/plaster and into the wall studs? Would that be enough support for the cabinets?

stevep, you just gave me a new reason to tout the bump out. If for nothing else, I like the look and convenience FWIW. You are lucky you could clean the scorch marks out. I have heard of some that were unsuccessful. My understanding is if the scorch marks are more brown (which mine were with the 21 inch riser before I took precautionary measures), they will clean OK albeit with alot of elbow grease as you mention. If they are bluish, that is heat tempered into the SS and will not come out.

If anyone has bluish scorch marks on their stainless steel riser, a product called Blue Away might do the job. It's used for removing heat-induced marks on chrome, stainless steel, etc. I learned about the product from tinkering with golf clubs. In order to remove a golf shaft from the club head, you have to apply high heat to the clubhead which sometimes can cause the clubhead to discolor. Blue Away is available from many golf clubmaking supply companies. Apparently, the cleaner is also widely used in the motorcycle industry. I have not personally used the product and have no connection to the company who produces it. I believe it is made in Germany.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Away

Breezy, the scorch marks ranged from yellow/light brown to spots of black. Behind the 22k, the SS actually indented a bit - I was using a low-sided iron fajita pan that must have pushed up against the SS backsplash so the flames were licking into the SS. That was the only time that has happened, but the slight indentation is visible if you look at sharp angle. It took the work of a butter knife to carefully scrape the black charring away and the Barkeeper's Friend did the rest. I kept a consistent horizontal action with the scrubbing over the entire surface of the SS in order to keep the finish consistent.

So the moral of the story:give serious consideration the the island trim. I don't know if any additional space between the range and the wall backsplash is necessary, but the extra space of the island trim will give sloped pans more working space and you'll avoid the scorching.