Is it possible that there is an air conditioning vent installed in the toe kick? Was it ducted to the grille in the toe kick, or is it dumping air into the base of the cabinet. If it is dumping air in the base, it could be finding its way to the open drawer causing an extreme draft.

Just a thought

Dan Martyn

No A/C. Think the drawer is acting as a bellows or a piston in a cylinder, and blowing air up to the cooktop. Will try to seal any cracks in the enclosure around the unit and see if that helps.

sealed units will generally have some sort of venting built into them. This venting is essentially explosion proofing the unit. In the event a leak occurs beneath the burners it will not be able to simply build up, but if it does anyway and ignites, it will blow out the vents holes instead of blowing up the unit. Sealing off the unit may void this aspect of the unit design. Based on what you describe as your problem I believe that you are correct in your conclusion. Closing the drawer forces air into the unit and through the burners in excess of the flammability limits of the gas, therefore "blowing the flame out". Instead of sealing off the unit vents maybe you could examine the cabinet itself to see if there is anything you can do to give that air another way out.