Pro Style Cooktops With Grills

A recent survey said the appliance people covet the most is a cooktop with a built-in grill, like the one by Wolf pictured above.
Cooktops with grills can be found in many commercial kitchens, but grills are far from a standard feature on residential cooktops. (Note: a "rotisserie attachment" is also included in the survey response, but you'd be hard pressed to find a cooktop with a rotisserie attachment. They are typically found on outdoor grills.) Still, residential cooktops1 with grills exist; and for those of whom cost is a factor, there are even some at reasonable prices. But I'm not going to start with those. Below are some cooktops with a grill, ranging from high-end to more affordable:
Five Star rangetop with grill and griddle.
- In the "money is no object category," the likes of Wolf, BlueStar, and FiveStar all make some intense rangetops with a grill feature. We found a 48-inch pro-style behemoth from FiveStar listed for $4,484 at Abt Electronics (All prices referenced are from Abt. Prices do not reflect any manufacturer discounts or rebates.). It features four gas burners, a griddle and a grill.
KitchenAid 48" rangetop with grill and griddle.
- For about $1,000 less, KitchenAid makes a 48-inch cooktop with a setup similar to the BlueStar. It goes for $3,399. From a Btu standpoint, the cooktop is slightly less powerful than the aforementioned BlueStar model, but it still has the requisite features one would look for in a commercial-style appliance.
Jenn-Air 48" rangetop with grill and downdraft.
- Coming in at a price-point below KitchenAid is a $2,299, 48-inch cooktop from Jenn-Air. This model does not have a griddle. However, it does have a downdraft. Compared to the KitchenAid model, it has about 1,000 less Btus powering the grill. Also, the peak Btu output for the burners is 10,000; on the KitchenAid and BlueStar models it's 20,000 or more.
Jenn-Air 30" cooktop with grill and downdraft
- The most economical cooktop with a grill is Jenn-Air's 30-inch model priced at $1,199. This version only gives you two burners (max Btu: 10,000) and also includes a downdraft. The grill portion of the cooktop has a max of 8,000 Btus. It's one of the smaller cooktops you can find with a grill feature; most are at least 36 inches wide.
Of course, where there is a grill, there is smoke - often copious amounts; so if you are considering any of these grill-enhanced cooktops, we suggest you purchase something that was not on the wish-list of consumers RICKI surveyed: a high-powered vent hood.
1For the purpose of this blog post, we're going to group cooktops and range tops in the same category. Both items are independent of ovens, but have one major difference: range tops are always gas powered, and have a slide-in installation, as opposed to cooktops that have a drop-in installation. Also, cooktops can use gas, electric or induction heating. All the products discussed in this blog post are gas powered and most would be classified as "range tops," since the majority of appliances with indoor grills are range tops.