On the grill or griddle: think very hard about how often you will use these, and for what. You can buy a stovetop griddle that simply goes over two burners for under $50. I have this and use it a few times per year; not enough to justify a dedicated griddle. I would much prefer six burners over four burners and a griddle or grill. If you get the 48" then you can have both, of course.

Bluestar, Wolf, and Capital are all excellent. You'll find a lot of opinions (positive and negative) about these on this site. A *slight* step down in price would be DCS.

I think the thing is to do is figure out how much you want to spend. Then decide where you want to compromise: do you really want a 48"? If so, then maybe you go with a less expensive brand. If you really want high BTU, go with Bluestar or Capital. If you really want a certain look, go in that direction.

Given how you described your cooking needs, the fact is that nearly any of these ranges - as well as less expensive ones - will perform nearly identically for you.

You may want to go see a lot of them in person and see if any individual features click with you. For example, when my wife and I saw a DCS double oven, we knew it has the exact look we wanted and we loved the glide-out racks. The actual performance is probably about the same as many other double ovens out there, but until we saw it, we didn't appreciate it.

Finally, you'll likely have to spend a lot of money on a vent hood also (at least $750, but perhaps *a lot* more). So figure that into your budget also.

I totally agree with Darren on the grill/griddle. A stove top one that sits over burners--or even just an actual flat griddle pan--is the way to go. It's much more versatile: you have a griddle when you need it, and burners when you don't. Fratelli makes one for my range (Royal Chiantishire), but I'm still looking for another one that would fit because the one made by Fratelli is like $350. I love the Fratelli, but I'm sorry, I personally think my griddle should NOT cost 1/12th the cost of the ENTIRE STOVE.

I was vacillating between the Ilve, the Fratelli and the Bertazzoni, but I went with the Fratelli because it had so many more consistent reviews and was reasonably priced. The reviews for Ilve are all over the place--I'm just not comfortable spending that much money on something that some owners love and others hate--and while reviews for Bertazzonis are consistent, those ranges cost $2000-$3000 more than the Fratelli. I liked the idea of getting my range AND my vent hood for less than the cost of the range alone, and STILL getting the quality of something made in the first world instead of the third world (not to mention, I also like knowing that the people who made my range are earning a decent living rather than being treated like slaves in some Chinese factory).

Great input so far. Here is my question, what is it that a non-professional cook really needs? How many BTU's is enough? Open vs closed burners? I think I would use the grill in the winter here in NW Pennsylvania when the grill is less accessible.

One thing to consider is an all-gas range, you'll save a lot of money over a dual fuel. Unless you're a fussy pastry chef who insists on an electric oven, a gas oven will suit you fine.

Closed burners! Open burners are hellacious to keep clean.

As for BTUs, consider how and what you cook. Do you use a wok a lot? Are you a big meat aficionado who wants perfectly seared steak? Do you regularly make pasta for 10 people so you need to boil a huge amount of water quickly? Those are all uses that point towards higher BTUs.

But as we all remember, mom and grandma made great food on their $400 Frigidaire ranges. And Rachael Ray cooks up a storm on a 60-year-old O'Keefe and Merrit. So high BTUs are not "necessary," they're just nice if you often cook things that could benefit from them. (If you cook such things but not often, then do the math: how much more does the range with 3 22k burners cost than the range that only goes up to 12k or 15k or whatever? How many times a year would you actually use the 22k? Etc.).

So just think about what you make and how often you would need high BTUs. If you're a serious foodie, go for it. Otherwise, you may just be tossing thousands of bucks out the window for no good reason.

Ok, I think I do want a dual fuel range, but don't think I need open burners or even 22k burners. If my budget is roughly $5k, what are your opinions for what is the best buy? I have found the more I look, the more I find great and terrible reports about everything I look at.

You can counter the price of a DF by going with a smaller range. When I remodeled 5 year ago, my small kitchen would not accomodate anything larger than 30 inch range. So I installed a 30-inch DF Wolf. And absolutely love cooking on it. The 30-inch DF Wolf cost a little over $4,000 5 years ago, so it may be in your budget.

I cook everything easily on this range. The cook top has 4 large burners so I can accomodate 4 huge pans at the same time. I really wouldn't get much use out of a griddle or broiler, so I don't miss them. And I love the DF features...the gas control -- both high heat and lowest simmer -- and the convection oven.

So, if you're willing to compromise on size, check out 30-inch DF ranges and see what fits your budget.

(To put this in persecpective, I entertain groups of 8-12 constantly, and this range gets quite the workout. Its design works well for me, and allows me to do all the type of cooking I enjoy -- from simple to elegant.)

I am considering a dual fuel range as well. I am looking at wolf 30 inch or Kenmore pro 36 inch.My budget is also about 5000. I like the wolf but I am worried about a long preheat time. I am also considering the dacor 30 inch dual fuel which is 3500. Has anyone cooked with this item or the kenmore pro?