Where do you live? What service options do you have? With your username and need for a dual fuel range I'm guessing your live off grid in Hawaii or the Caribbean.

While I don't have experience with the dual-fuel ranges, I'm working with my Mom to replace a Jenn-Aire cartridge cooktop that can't be serviced any longer. It seemed like she was always buying replacement cartridges for that cooktop so, I would not consider the Jenn-Aire a good option. Electrolux to me is too unknown at this point in time. They have a lot of features and "flash" but, what about long term reliability and maintenance?

GE has been around a long time and will likely be around long into the future. With higher sales volume, service options should be greater and cheaper.

A Japanese Gyuto is a great knife but, you need to use a different techinque with it. A lot of people that go from traditional "German" chef knives cut themselves with the Gyuto because of unsafe habits learned using the German pattern knife for many years.

A German (higher tip) or French (lower top) are probably your best choices. Go to a mall with large department stores and look at the Henckels and Wusthof knives for comparison. Avoid the cheap chinese junk, consider the better Spanish knives and the premium German knives.

I'm guessing you are a vegetarian since since you don't want to use any animal fats to season your cast iron. The good news is that Lodge uses vegetable oil (corn oil I think) to season their pans at the factory so you can do the same. What you are noticing is the mild acid in the onions dissolving iron from the "new" pan. If you are going to cook acidic things in the pan, it will need a lot more seasoning first.

Take the vegetable oil you already have and coat the pan all over, not to the point of big drips but pretty "wet". Put it on a cookie sheet in your oven set to 200 degrees for a couple of hours and then let it cool slowly for another couple hours. Then lightly wash it in warm soapy water and cook in it some more, preferably things that are no acidic the first few times. This will "season" your pan much better and will allow you to cook your onions without the heavy iron taste.

I seasoned my new Lodge skillet with beef a few times when new to build up the seasoning. Now I sweat onions easily in it without the iron taste you noticed. Onions and bell peppers with scrambled eggs turn out really nice now.

I find my Lodge and Le Cruset cast iron to be very versatile multi-use cookware. As noted, cast iron can take a long time to heat up and cool down. I discovered the joys of cast iron cooking while living in an apartment that had a bad kitchen range/stove. The uneven heating and relatively low output "coils" would not brown meat and would heat things unevenly. The cast iron Dutch Oven, skillets, and pans I bought really improved the quality of my cooking. I could put cast iron in the oven or on the burner and leave them for a long time to heat up an then throw a chicken, roast, ham, etc. in to brown before the the cookware cooled. The thermal mass dealt effectively with hot and cold spots so cooking was a lot more even too.

For acidic cooking I kept a good stainless "multi-layer sandwich" pot for boiling pasta and cooking acidic sauces. Be sure to get a stainless pan that is really thick on the bottom with an aluminum disc or sandwich. Avoid the cheaper thin pans and pots because they will scorch very easily with a lot of sauces. Be sure to check out the discount surplus stores and look for closeouts to stretch your dollars.

Enameled cast iron will work very well for what you want if you can live with NOT using steel tools in it and will let it cool before washing to preserve the enamel. Be aware though that the thermal mass will require a change in cooking techique until you learn to not over heat the pan (it takes so long to cool you can scorch stuff if you over shoot the heat level).

The "cheap" hoods make a lot of noise and generally don't move/vent enough air to be effective. Like your dishwasher, it can be built to be quiet with a small price penalty. Unfortunately, most builders buy and install the cheapest hood they can find. A good hood is a totally different thing.

I don't know about you but, I generally don't want all the heat and steam in my house for reasons including but not limited to the air conditioner bill in summer.

I really don't want to sweat over a skillet and I don't want the splatter to hit me. The hood light is nice too. As others have mentioned, you really don't want to put the steam, fats, spices, etc. in the air of your house to stain your ceilings and "scent" your furniture.

After reading in this thread and others, I bought a Breville Smart Oven BOV800XL and had it delivered to my motel which had a cooktop but, not an oven (I just could not eat any more microwaved meals, soups/stews, pasta, etc. and had my fill of restaurants and various fast food places).

Yes, it's expensive for toaster oven but, it is really much more and it works better then I thought it would. It's a little big for a motel room but, it's well worth the bulk and expense because I can cook some many nice homemade meals in it.

For searing, I'll take a Lodge cast iron pan everytime and I own some nice Le Creuset pots and pans. Have you ever cooked a steak in a Lodge cast iron skillet? Give it a try if you or a friend own a good cast iron skillet. On a cheap motel electric coil cooktop, I can get a cast iron skillet screaming hot and put a good sear on a nice steak, turn the heat down and, finish it off nicely.

As long as you don't soak raw cast iron in a sink of water for long periods of time, clean up and maintenance are easy IMHO.

[quote]I have my entire new kitchen planned with the island gas 36 inch Dacor 5 burner cooktop and pop up vent with 1000 CFM blower in the island and a 30 inch Dacor wall oven with microwave above. I understand pop up and down draft systems are not as great as a hood, but I really don't want a hood.[/quote]

1,000CFM hoods or vents are going to be loud. Make sure you test them before you buy and that they can be turned down for normal conversations when you don't need that much air flow.

Having a nice dinner party where you can't hear or speak to anyone because you are cooking with a loud vent/hood running is NO FUN :(

You definitely want the ability to pull a lot of air from the burners though if you have a high BTU model. You also need to ensure you have a good placement of the hood or vent or they will be useless or even worse, in the way when you cook.

"I cook for just my boyfriend and I and I have a steady job and make a good paycheck. I don't want to wait till I'm married to get a nice set of pots, I'm looking to buy something that will last me for a long long LONG time. "

Buy a few pots and pans you will use regularly, especially starting out. I big set of pans from a starter package will give you a lot of pans you won’t really use a lot. Buy fewer higher quality pots and pans.

"-I sir frying vegetables A LOT. I usually never use a spatula, I just flip the pan till they're done, but I'm not very strong..I was looking at All-Cad frying pans but they're so heavy I could never use one hand to flip things."

Do you have a high BTU output burner on your stove top? If so, get a traditional Wok. If not, get a really have skillet and spatula since you will want lots of heat retention for your stir fry.

"-I sear meats a lot, too"

Good quality cast iron works very well for this. A good skillet or dutch oven are great for this.

"-Something to make soup in, not to big, not to small."

I find a 4 quart post works well for most things and is a very versatile size.

"-What size pot do you recommend just to boil water? I usually just boil water to make coffee in the morning for my boyfriend and I, we use a coffee press."

A 2 quart “Windsor” pot should work fine for this. Windsor’s are made to evaporate liquid and concentrate flavors but, I find the sloped sides and spout make a great pot to pour from. This would work real will with a French Press.

"-I make bread so any recommendations for a good dutch oven and size recommendation for two would be great! I've heard good things about both a Le Creuset and Staub."

Both are great brands. I’m partial to Le Creuset but, Lodge from Wal-Mart will work great for bread and a lot cheaper (just make sure they are properly seasoned ;-)

I have extensive experience using Japanese knives. I really like the larger Gyuto's where are similar to a "French" chef's knife. The lower tip then a German chef's combined with a longer length makes a rocking cut easier on my wrist and a chop/cleave is easier on something large or long. Japanese knives are thinner and have more acute edges so, they will cut easier and can chip if you use them wrong (for example prying or cutting frozen things). They will also slice your finger open if you toss them in the bottom of sink of soapy water.

I have spent a lot of money here: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/pro... and have never been disappointed with their service or speed of shipment. I can get a knife from them shipped out of Japan faster then I can get the same knife shipped domestically/CONUS.

I have several truly handmade knives from various bladesmiths. I recommend this one for people who are new to handmade Japanese knives because he and his relative communicate in very good English and his knives are very high quality and a very good value considering the price. http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/

You are probably reading a thread from someone who is using an old rice cooker without fuzzy logic that requires a lot of water to cook brown rice.

A fuzzy logic Zojirushi 5.5 cup model will cook brown rice just fine. I've cooked brown rice in a small pot on a stove top too. The problem is the amount of water needed for brown rice. On the stove top, I kept adding small amounts of hot water until the rice was done.

If you are not going to make large batches of stews and soup, cook for larger groups, etc. get the Zojirushi 5.5 cup fuzzy logic model and enjoy great rice. Be sure to get some fresh Japanese style rice to break it in. I'm particularly fond of Takamaki Gold from California.