Was in the same LP boat as you and opted for induction since we don't wok cook and also boil water a lot for pasta, lobster etc. seriously considered Thermador range at the time. I think they still have the 1, 2 free promotion running. If you buy a cooktop plus ovens you can get their hood "free". I think CC and Wolf are both nice and come in preconveted LP versions like the Thermador does if you are sticking with gas. Ours is a second home so we had to buy new cook wear anyway but that is a potential problem for converting to induction.

Some here may advise you to keep the cooktop off the island if at all possible. We wound up putting our single wall oven (Bosch) on the island and going with a 240 V Monogram Advantium over the cook top to serve as a second oven due to space constraints. Nice thing about induction is the ventilation req are lower so 300 cfm externally vented is enough. Advantium is expensive but we justified it somehow ; )

The microwave drawers are really nice but also costly. As far as refridgerators go I liked Samsung CD and Liebehr but ultimately went with a panel ready Thermador because I got a good deal and really didn't want the fridge to stick out into our aisle. Kitchen Aid stuff is supposed to be good too.

It's pretty hard to go wrong with the selections you mentioned. We were able to get our stuff under your budget but my brother works for Siemens so we got his employee discount. If you are shopping tomorrow or Monday you might get some good sale prices. The other consideration to keep your budget down would be to look for open box specials and floor models.

Good luck

I have the bluestar, for natural gas and I do love the power of the burners. I would not say it is a nightmare to keep clean but this is not going to look brand spanking new if you use it frequently . Check over on the appliance forum as you can read up on a few threads the discuss the cleaning. You are correct about the griddle. Not sure I would do that again.

We deliberately did not get a combo microwave and oven unit. The microwave usually is what fails first. Then you end up having to replace the whole unit. That is quite expensive. So, for our reno we got separate appliances. The microwave is a countertop model with a trim kit around it to give it the built-in look. That sits on a shelf above our wall oven.

Also, while some may try to discourage you from having a cooktop in the island, we love that arrangement in our new kitchen. As long as you give yourself a good work area on the sides of the cooktop and adequate space behind the cooktop, it works out just great. If your island is 4'x7', then you should be fine. Our island is close to that, at 3'6" x 8'7".

carree,

I had discovered the Bluestar cooktop option on these forums, and had read about the cleaning issues (including ideas on how to deal with cleaning), but once we saw one firsthand it was obvious how difficult it would be. The range has the pull out catch-pan that I think would make it workable, but the drop-in cook top does not… in fact, to clean out the bottom you need to disassemble the burners and then clean down in an area that is surprisingly deep, and hence not that accessible and where there are loose wires and sharp metal edges… Not that it is not doable, but certainly anything but easy.

And yes I agree that that kind of stove with its prevalence of cast iron is going to show it's use unlike a cooktop which can be cleaned back to like-new (more or less). Same thing goes for the Culinarian.

So I think it may be a matter of finding a cooktop that has the best power (using LP) possible, and that does not have the layout problem of the Capital cooktop.

Thanks for your comments!

zeitgast,

Thanks for all the feedback.

I have not looked much into induction but I really don't see giving up gas. I would be sad for instance to not be able to roast a red pepper right over the flame.

I think the Thermador does not have a preconfigured LP -- it requires a converter and the loss of BTU is a whopping 25% according to their specs. I could be misunderstanding that -- it is hard to keep all this stuff straight.

The Wolf cooktop in contrast can be purchased either as NG or LP -- I assume (but am not really sure) this means that the 15K rating is still accurate even for LP. If so, then Wolf's 15K is better than the Thermador's 18K for LP, since the latter loses 25% to 13.5K.

The Capital Maestro says 20K, and does not give any different number for their LP version. The GE Monogram specifies that the LP version of their 18K burner is only 15K (so comparable to Wolf at least.)

We did look at many different configurations as to where things could go in the kitchen, and the winning layout by far was to put the cooktop on the island, so I know we will stick with that. But I get your point, and I do think this makes it harder for us to agree to go with a range top, even though we would like the power and versatility.

For the Advantium -- still waiting on prices from the sales folks. On the web, I cannot find a price anywhere for the GE Monogram, but I see the MSRP is $3400. That is budget-busting if that is really where it is at. But for whatever reason, the over-the-range version is just a bit over $1000 (online), presumably for the same exact technology and mostly the same unit (PLUS an exhaust fan).

Microwave drawers: we briefly considered this and it sounded good (and units are ~$1000), but it seemed like microwaving any liquid (e.g. soup) would lead to a lot of sloshing around and making messes.

We'll look into your suggestions on refrigerators.

Thanks again!

gpraceman,

Awesome photos -- thanks!

Your island looks very similar to our plan -- I am glad to see it can work out.

Regarding microwaves -- I did not realize any countertop model could be put into a built-in using a trim kit. I thought the built-in microwaves were specially built for that purpose. (e.g. are there venting concerns?) Should I be able to just pick out any microwave and they should be able to find a trim kit to make it look like a 30" built in?

What models did you go with and how did it work out?

Yes, several manufacturers will have trim kits for their countertop microwaves. That is much cheaper of an option than a "built-in" microwave.

Our microwave is a KitchenAid KCMS1655BSS and they had both a 27" and 30" version of the trim kit available. Ours is a 30" (MK2160AS) to match the oven width. We got the microwave on sale for about $450 and the trim kit was a hair over $100. Both were from Lowes.

When shopping for appliances, we wanted the microwave and oven to be the same brand, as we wanted those to match style-wise, since they are together in the same cabinet. For countertop microwaves, you do have to verify that there is an available trim kit (usually listed in the manufacturer's specs or their installation manual, which you can find online).

Our trim kit actually provides venting along the bottom and top edges, so you don't really see them. Other manufacturers trim kits can have noticeable vents in the face of the trim, which we really didn't like the looks of.

Our trim kit came with a bracket that mounted to the shelf above the oven. The microwave sits on the bracket and the trim kit fits around the front. It is attached to the cabinet face with four screws.

It has only been a few months since the reno, but we are happy with these so far.

If you want to see some more pics of our island, you can check out our reveal link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Journey's End - Final Reveal

This post was edited by gpraceman on Fri, Nov 29, 13 at 1:31