I hope you don't mind my suggesting something totally off topic- but have you considered a Bosch gas cooktop instead? The money saved would help offset other splurges (like the 42" SZ refrigerator someone mentioned :-)

The Bosch gas cooktops get pretty good reviews.

No, I have not had the Bosch gas cooktop (I have induction). But I have used a simmer plate with a brand that was far inferior to Bosch and it worked out great.

Hi,

We just installed a 30" Wolf Transitional cooktop to replace an old Jennair and like it very much. You cannot beat the wolf stacked burners. You get the best of both worlds high heat and low simmer. The cooktop meets our needs, we are a family of two. There is more cooking area than with the old Jennair and we like the continuous grates. If you are considering the 36" contemporary cooktop with front controls why not make the leap to a 36" range top? If you are replacing an old cooktop you will be reconfiguring your cabinet and counter to accommodate the new cooktop anyway so not much extra work. If new construction/ renovation just a different design. Even though we replaced our 30" cooktop with another 30" cooktop we needed to have the granite cut to a wider opening; the replacements are never the same size.

We have the 36" range top in another home where we do a good deal of entertaining and we love it! Lots of "extra real estate" for cooking, simmering, setting aside hot pans for cool down, etc. The other advantage is it is a slide in so at replacement time no reconfiguring of cabinets and counters.

Which ever Wolf cooktop/range top you select I'm sure you"ll be happy with the performance. I love having the ability to simmer soups, stocks, sauces, etc for hours with no scorching or burning. I also love the high BTU burners for other purposes.

Best of luck,

MJ

Thank you for the info, Kay. I am also considering a Wolf Contemporary. Is it weird to have pans completely flush to the counter? That is our only concern.

K. Holiday, it has been awhile since your post... how are you liking the contemporary cooktop? Any issues after two years of ownership? My biggest concern was hot pots overlapping the counter, but you mentioned it didn't seem to be a problem. I wish they offered this cooktop with profession grates, similar to the option of different grates of their transitional/professional cooktops I think it would be a great alternative to the bigger rangetop, but with a similar pro look.

I have had the Wolf contemporary cooktop now for about a year and a half.

What I love:

5 burners, no knobs on the top to ruin the profile, easy to clean, flush mount is great, because pans can slide on and off. It looks beautiful, it has been very reliable.

What I don't love:

I bump into the knobs, they click as if you are lighting it, but like an above comment, I have gotten used to this.

Installation was a nightmare. What is not clear is there are TWO mounts. Be very clear with your installer and granite template which installation. There is a "flush" mount, and a nearly flush mount. WHAT you really want is the nearly flush mount so the pan sits just on the granite, there is like 3/16" difference. We sent a 10ft granite slap to be replaced because we thought that had templated it wrong. Turns out, the template was right, the installer said it was wrong flush was not correct and required different routing that looked terrible. We wanted the lip of the pan to sit on top of the granite, which is pretty flush.

The installer was wrong. We wanted exactly like the display in the store. The templater realized there were 2 mounts, the installer didn't.

I love it. It looks very sleek, it works very well. I like the way it cooks.

I also agree with the splatter issue. Because it is stainless and not black everything shows. I realize I just didn't clean the black as often....It's ok with me. i have also gotten used to it because I love the way it looks and performs.

Quick question, the panel where the knobs come out, is it attached to the cabinet. My cabinet maker has ours on hinges so it opens for installation but now it’s not staying flush. My husband will fix it but just curious how your cabinet was made.

The knobs are on the front panel just below the stove, in the cabinetry. It does not open and the installer preferred to put the holes for the knobs themselves during the installation rather than the cabinet maker. The panel where the knobs sit is firm and flush. No hinges.

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense that the installer could drill the holes. I guess our cabinetmaker thought it would be easier to install with that access but didn’t fully understand how it gets installed.

Are the grates dishwasher safe on the contemporary 36”

Craig, no they can not go in the dishwasher and you are not suppose to submerge then either. Wipe them with water and detergent or baking soda.

Wolf Problems

Hate to rain on anyone, got the Wolf 36 Contemporary installed about a year ago and have had to replace the side grates 4 times in the past hear. One has cracked in the same place 4 times. Side grate, middle of span looking in from knobs, inboard span shared with center grate, junction between cross member and spanwise member. Just soap and water for the washing, no soaking, air dry and towel dry. Regular pots and pans; saute, browning, pasta water etc....

Wolf has sent replacements but seem to be getting more and more reluctant. Now,.... Im an Aerospace Engineer and specialize in turbo machinery--rocket/jet engine design, so i understand a little about metal fatigue. Nothing we are doing should be causing this.

Anyone else having this problem?

Mine is almost a year old. I have not seen this problem. I only wipe them with a wet sponge. I can’t even imagine how that could happen.

Mine is 2 years now. Nothing like that.

Nothing in the manual says “don’t use this or that type of pan or this burner with that burner on”. Customer service person once said maybe my pan was too big and was trapping the heat and making it too hot. ........
I countered with “maybe you shouldn’t advertise and make your burners go up to 20k btu’s”? It’s supposed to be a “stove” right?

Have you heard of Roth Living? It’s a place that demonstrates Wolf appliances. You might want to look them up even if they are not in your area and ask them about it. They do cooking demos so probably would know more than any customer service person behind a desk.

I'm about to decide on the contemporary cooktop from Wolf. The ones who have had this for quite some time now, would you recommend it?

• Does this heat up the pan/pot quickly? I've seen that a few cooktops or rangetops have too much distance from the burner to the top of the grate, which takes quite longer for the pots or pans to heat up. Let alone the water boiling.
• Wolf advertises this cooktop as lightweight cooking in one of their videos. Would you say this is good enough for about 4 to 5 hours of cooking per day?
• Does the countertop on the sides heat up when cooking on high flame?

How would you rate the w

I would recommend against it. Had it for about 2-3 years and the grates on top crack in half every 3-4 months. The left and right grates crack on he unsupported section half way across. The middle grate has never cracked. When I say crack I mean all the way through. It cooks fine, but on my next house I’m going to get something different

Hemalpatel19 did you decide on which cooktop to get? I am also considering the Wolf Contemporary and interested in any answers you received to your questions. you raise a good point concerning whether the counter becomes warm next to the cooktop.

The flush mount would work very well for me but torn having read through this chain and the issues flathat has had with the greates cracking.

Ditto. I like how cool it looks. But I saw some YT videos and they all say it’s for lightweight cooking. I’ll pass on this.

If I had it to do again, and I am moving, I’ll do the 36 in or larger range top. Heavy duty. Or the 48 in oven with dual oven

The grates on our 36" contemporary cooktop crack and have needed to be replaced at least 6 times in the 7 years we have owned the cooktop. Poor design, the grates need to be supported in the middle of the cooktop. Simple metal fatigue paired with poor design. We don't get the grates wet, soak in water, or cook with heavy pots for any length of time. Use the cooktop for breakfast and dinner on low BTU settings. (gentle saute, simmer) Would definitely get something different.

I have had the cooktop for 5 years, and am still very happy with it, and have had not had to replace the grates ever. I wipe them down with a moist rag, I have used heavy pots, it gets a lot of wear an tear at even the higher settings. I still love it. I have 36". Don't go full flush, because it's only 1/16" difference. I had trouble with that and had to have the granite redone. The flange sits on top of the granite and seems fully flush.

We have the Wolf Transitional Gas Cooktop with black knobs and a glass panel. CLEANING THE GLASS IS A NIGHTMARE! We had ordered the all stainless (not sure what the model is called) but it was out of stock. The glass panel gets grease on it which is very laborious to clean.

i would stay away from the glass panel model.

I would stay away from the Wolf Transitional Gas Cooktop with the black glass panel and knobs. THE GLASS PANEL AND KNOBS ARE A NIGHTMARE TO KEEP CLEAN.

We had ordered the stainless steel version, but it was out of stock.

We have owned a Wolf Transitional Gas Cooktop for 6 years. It is stainless with a black glass panel for the knobs and we have not experienced any problems with keeping the glass panel and knobs clean. We love our Wolf cooktop.

What do you use to clean the grease from the glass

Method All Purpose Cleaner, the light purple one. I know we don’t expect an

”environmentally conscious” cleaner to clean well, but it reaaly does work!

I’m considering getting the 36” gas Wolf cooktop but can‘t decide between the professional model (stainless steel with red knobs) vs the transitional model with the black glass panel & black knobs. Wondering if it’s difficult to clean the red knobs since they don‘t sit flush on the panel but are within a metal well?

Does anyone have 36 inch gas Contemporary installed on Cambria Quartz? I read somewhere that Quartz could warp with the heat trapped in the pan. Unfortunately I came across the negatives after I installed the cooktop. I just assumed that since its a WOLF product, it is made perfect with all odds in mind.

We had the contemporary (CG365C/S) cooktop installed two weeks ago. Had a dealer recommended installer come out and inspect. We had to cut 3/4" along the width in out granite countertops.

Everything went smooth. This cooktop looks SLEEK! Only one downside - the pan edges are rectangular - and sometimes it becomes a hassle to reach the corner. Not a biggie - just get a cheap cordless hand vacuum from Amazon ($20) and that does the job to clean.

Highly recommend the cooktop. Have the dealer-recommended installer to come out and inspect the kitchen before you buy it.