A cooktop with a downdraft

Most kitchens are laid out so that there's a ventilation system right over the cooktop. But Jenn-Air's Designer Line Gas Downdraft Cooktop offers a way to lay out a kitchen without having to arrange for bulky ventilation. Instead, the cooktop uses a downdraft ventilation system that can capture smoke, steam, and odors without hanging over the cooktop. The Designer Line version comes in a 30-inch gas model. The downdraft ventilation system is also available in other Jenn-Air cooktops, which require a ventilation kit in addition to the cooktop itself. It has a sleek appearance that will work well with a variety of countertops and is available in stainless steel.

The Jenn-Air Designer Line Gas Downdraft Cooktop has both ultrahigh and ultralow output burners,which provide you with the precision control necessary for so many recipes. Between the two types of burners, you can heat a burner from 900 BTUs all the way up to 15,000 BTUs. The burners are also equipped with electronic ignitions, as well as Jenn-Air's Flame-Sensing reignition system. The burners are sealed and the glass-ceramic surface makes burner bowls entirely unnecessary, which means clean up is little more than a matter of wiping down the cooktop. The cooktop is priced at $1,299.