How to...Buy a Professional Gas Cooktop

On the surface, this is another purchase that seems to be an enigma to consumers. To simplify, the specs to any cooktop would be how fast is the unit to boil or the maximum BTU output and how low is the simmer or the low BTU output. That's all, except of course choosing style and manufacturer.

Happily there are only two styles: Professional and Regular. The professional has the burners on the face of the unit instead of the top for a commercial look. Typically, every burner is high output of 15,000 BTU or greater with varying capabilities on the simmer. They are also available in different sizes of 30, 36 and 48 inch as well as sundry grill and griddle options(with an occasional wok option)

A couple of suggestions:

For powerful burners, look at the DCS unit with a maximum rating of 17,500 BTU. For reference, the average stove burner from 5 years ago was 9-12,000 BTU.

DCS:


For simmering, look at the Thermador, which has a low of 200 BTU through an electronic intermittent simmer on two burners. Wolf is another consideration at 500 BTU continuous simmer on all burners.

Thermador:


Wolf: