I was fully ready to purchase the Blue Star. It was luck / fate / good fortune that I learned of the Capital Culinarian before I bought the Blue Star.

That, and the fact that on the Blue Star side of things, nobody seemed to be _available_. I called the company for sales. I called the company for customer service. I called the company for parts replacement. Every time I went through the menus I ended with "leave a message. there's nobody here to take your call."

That's --dunno-- maybe not scary, but certainly not reassuring.

My advise is: investigate the Capital Culinarian. It has open burners, similar to the BlueStar, and it seems to test more than well against the BlueStar for the oven.

If you can possibly find time, visit Eurostoves. Tell them what you want to try, and I bet they will accommodate you. You can draw your own conclusions. If you're planning to spend a few thousand dollars on a range, then the cost of a plane ticket is worth the knowledge you'll gain.

If you are going to have a 30" rangetop/cooktop, it is a better to get the rangetop. 30" is not that wide if you also have a cooktop's knobs taking up cooking surface real estate. With a rangetop, the knobs are not using up cooking surface, and for a 30" space, that will be essential. Most of the time people get a cooktop when they are getting at least the 36" size.

It sounds like you already realize that a shelf will impede the hood exhaust performance. Furthermore, it will become a landing spot for your grease from your cooking, and so, will be one more cleaning chore. If you need a spot for hot pots, and have a rangetop (instead of a cooktop), there should be enough room on your rangetop to slide pots over. Also, while it does sound like your kitchen space is small, you should have countertops next to your cooking surface to put your hot pots down.

I am linking below a thread which goes through the pros and cons of rangetops vs. cooktops. Usually I would say it's a matter of personal preference and aesthetics, but in your case, because your space is tight, I would advise a rangetop, as I noted above.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Rangetops vs. Cooktops

I forgot in my previous post to answer your question about countertops - you absolutely can put hot pots down on granite and soapstone. I am not sure about manmade countertops; you should do a search on the Kitchens Forum for that topic, or post there.

Regarding Bluestar as a company, there has been a long history on this forum of complaints about customer service and build quality. Bluestar has let it be known that they are aware of the past history, and are seeking to rectify it with their "White Glove Service" and better responsiveness, but it remains to be seen. Having said that, there are avid Bluestar enthusiasts who wouldn't cook on anything else and love their Bluestars. Even people who are unhappy with Bluestar acknowledge that their star-shaped open burners are the best. Also, most of the problems have been with Bluestar ranges; I cannot recall complaints about Bluestar rangetops or cooktops (though there are always complaints about every manufacturer).

You should also check out the Kitchens Forum which is very helpful for layout questions. Since your space is small, it is essential you get the most efficient layout possible. You can post your layout on that forum, and there are very helpful people who will give you feedback and advice, and think of things that never would have occurred to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb's Kitchens Forum

I would recommend the Range top. And I'm one that thinks Bluestar burners are the way to go. I would not get a high vent with built in shelf. You could always put your own metal shelf up later if you want one. Since they are usually stainless rods, they won't impede the fan too much.

Also consider the shortest splash/vent on the rangetop, known as "island trim". When used against a wall you must have tile or stainless behind it (non-flammable), but it will allow you to use slightly larger pans on the back burners (if the pan has a slanted side).

I think different sized burners are the way to go, while you can cook with a very small pan on any of the burners, the smaller burners have lower simmers, useful when you only have a small amount of food to simmer.

The largest burners also go down to a simmer, but it's not quite as low and more appropriate for medium or larger pans (really it's the amount of food in the pan). Hope that helps.

I think it depends on a few factors:

--price you are willing to spend.
--the neighborhood that you live in.
--power of BTUs desired.
--quality of service
--whether you are a person who HAS to have the absolute latest and greatest appliance on the market (maximizer vs. satisfizer)

Price:

Bluestar cooktop will undoubtedly be cheaper than the rangetop, I'm guessing by at least $1,000. The BS cooktops probably start at around $1,650 give or take. So, I'd factor in 1k more (at least) for the rangetop. The highest burners on a BlueStar is 22k.

The Capital Culinarian line does not make a cooktop currently. Capital's Maestro line does have a cooktop, but it's not as powerful as the all 23k BTU burners from the Culinarian line. I think the highest one on the Maestro cooktop is about 20k-- That might not be important to you that all burners be 23k though. The culinarian rangetop costs around $3,500, give or take.

Neighborhood

If your neighborhood is not that swanky, you probably don't want to spend the max on an appliance unless you plan to take it with you if you decided to move. Not everyone is a gourmand, and not everyone is willing to spend the extra money for a cool cooktop/rangetop.

BTUs

As I said above, the Culinarian max BTUs are 23k and the Bluestar are 22k. ALL Culinarian BTUs are 23k. Only two of the Bluestar burners operate at the 22k max. I think the simmer on Bluestar is lower though. You just have to decided if this matters to you, especially weighed against the added cost of a Culinarian.

Quality of Service.

I've been a lurker on this site for awhile. It seems that in terms of the best service/reputation, Wolf can't be beat. But you'd have a rangetop with less BTUS (i'm sure you know that if you are interested in BlueStar).

You'd be hard pressed to find a company without a customer service issue or two, but some people are reporting problems with Bluestar. Other have had a positive experience. I would call Bluestar and see how they treat you when you ask about possible issues.

In the past, the Capital Precision line has been pretty good to many people. The Culinarian is somewhat an unknown entity since it just started shipping this year. I haven't seen too many complaints from Capital owners.

Maximizer vs Satisfizer.

I'm borrowing this lingo from social psych. If you feel like you HAVE to HAVE the highest BTUs on the market today (maximizer), then Capital Culinarian may be your line. If you okay with specs that just meet your needs and desires, ie.if you are content with a 21k drop in BTU (but a lower simmer), then BlueStar may be fine.

Hope this helps a bit. There may be other factors, such as performance, but I think we haven't seen enough of the Culinarian to establish a history of high performance. I'm interested to see how people enjoy cooking on it. People seemed to be happy with Bluestar's performance, outside of any service issues.

Also, you could go to see Trevor at Eurostoves, but you could also go to the factory in Southern California and possibly meet the CEO of Capital. It also depends on where in the country you are located--you don't want traveling to be too much of a pain. Although I understand that Trevor will cook on both ranges with you, but I don't know enough about him to vouch for his credibility as a salesman. You'd have to talk to people who have bought items from him.

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. It's taking a while for it to sink in. I think that it'll be early April before the kitchen can be installed so I have some time. I have a layout from the architect that considers hood vent routing and a kitchen designer is coming tomorrow. Right now, a rangetop with different size burners seems okay. If these are what the TV cooks use it's a little scary. It's a lot of fire. I've never seen one in person. This board is a remarkable resource.