Thermador, Blue Star or Capital Gas 30" range

9 years ago

Hi - so many great blogs on the different types of ranges. Which actually is making my decision even harder. So all the advise and help is greatly appreciated.
I went yesterday thinking..American Range - but now I am leaning towards Blue Star RNB304BV1 - the sales person at Paul's Appliances (great place in Newark NJ) - said out of all the brands he recommended the Blue Star. But walking around I saw the Thermador PRG304GH Pro Range which i had not even thought of as part of my selection process. - I liked the look and it had preheat button, light, oven setting, etc. I knew none of the brands/models i was looking at had any of those features - how important are they? or is it just extra knobs on the oven? The oven is smaller on the Thermador but in saying that - my oven in NYC apartment is small and I cook for 10-15 people on holidays so anything is going to be BIG at this point. I believe BTU is less than BS and Capital also. Has anyone had problems with heat/searing/broil with the Thermordor? Per sales person he preferred Thermador over Wolf or Viking (I was not thinking of any of these brands until this one Thermador was pointed out to me) -

for my first choices going into the store BS, Capital and American - Sales person -said out of the 3 he liked BS best -
here are the ones he suggested
Blue Star RNB304BV1
Capital MCR305

I like the BS - size/looks -
I like the Capital because I can get 5 burners.

any advise and feedback on any of these models is greatly appreciated. or if another brand/model you can think of that I should look at - please let me know - thanks so so much for any help/direction/advise

Featured Answer

barryv_gw

9 years ago

I know one person who bought a Thermador and loved it, but remember that they way it handles low simmering is to cycle the burner on and off, and some have found the clicking annoying. Also, some of want to find as low tech a range as possible, and while I am just guessing, I would think there are more electronics in a Thermador - it would think it needs some computer board to handle the cycle on and off at the least. IMO the Bluestar and Capital are pretty comparable, I went with the BS, but there are also a lot of happy Capital owners, so you would likely be happy with either.

This post was edited by Barryv on Thu, May 29, 14 at 20:57

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Comments (10)

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Trevor Lawson (Eurostoves Inc)
9 years ago
I would go with the Bluestar due to the open burners, both the other ranges mentioned have sealed burners.
tinyhomebuilder
9 years ago
I agree. BlueStar seasoned cast iron is pure bliss to keep clean. I'll ~never~ go back to a closed burner range top.
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JACKSTER19
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks - I have been reading so many posts and bad reviews for both Capital and BS that I am just amazed - they seem like such great ranges I can't believe all the complaints. i am wondering is these are old issues (popping noise, doors lock, etc) - anyone hear about these issues?
JACKSTER19
Original Author
9 years ago
Tinyhomebuilder -have you had any problems with BS - door, etc? i jsut read on another post that you had problems out of the box - are you happy now that issues were fixed?

This post was edited by JACKSTER19 on Fri, May 30, 14 at 12:04
tinyhomebuilder
9 years ago
jackster writes:

"Tinyhomebuilder -have you had any problems with BS - door, etc? i just read on another post that you had problems out of the box - are you happy now that issues were fixed?"
_______________________________________________________________

YES! : )

We couldn't be more pleased with our little stove as well as with BlueStar's excellent customer service people. The initial issue with gas valve was quickly and easily resolved, and since then there have been no other problems

Our oven door operates perfectly. It's flush and square. It opens and closes as smoothly as a door on a Rolls Royce and seals like a bank vault. It doesn't get overly hot even when the oven is blazing at max temp.

Whatever door issues BS might have had in the past, ours sure has ~none~ of them.

We used our wok for the first time last night... and WOW does it work great!

Just lift out the grate and plunk the wok into the hole. Don't turn on the heat until everything is completely prepared for cooking because the wok heats instantly over the blowtorch 22k burner. On HIGH it got way too hot. I found that it stir fried best at about half way between LOW and HIGH and only took a couple of minutes to prepare the meal. The veggies came out perfect, and tasted ~exactly~ like they came from a Chinese restaurant.

This is what has surprised us the most... how FAST you can cook everything. Our old stove had 8K burners and you could read a novel waiting for water to boil. (lol)
JACKSTER19
Original Author
9 years ago
tinyhomebuilder - you made me happy - finally something up to date and good news....what model did you get? I have to get the 30 " gas...my dealer also recommended the Blue Star above all the other brands - he also said that since we have to get everything another consideration is the Thermador - you get the dishwasher (made by Bosch with thermodor name on it) free - savings of about 800.00 on the DW - did you look at Thermodor at all when researching. (but I think the BS is going to be my choice!!) i trust this dealer they sell everything I am looking at...and cost is all about same when you come down to it. Also, what hood size/make did you get? thanks so much
barryv_gw
9 years ago
I have the 30 inch RNB, I have the noise, the first few times it startled me, but now, I am more or less to it - it is a loud thump when that happens after you turn off the oven when it is cooling off . No problems with the door.
tinyhomebuilder
9 years ago
Jackster writes:

"Also, what hood size/make did you get? thanks so much."

______________________________________________________________

It's just a cheap 24 inch Broan I got for $100 online.
Quite a contrast to a $4,000 stove! (lol)

There was already an exhaust fan in the wall, so I added $5 heating duct elbow to connect the hood and wired up both motors to work together. It sucks like crazy!
tinyhomebuilder
9 years ago
Barryv writes:

"I have the 30 inch RNB, I have the noise, the first few times it startled me, but now, I am more or less to it - it is a loud thump when that happens after you turn off the oven when it is cooling off . No problems with the door."

__________________________________________________________

Same here. Surprized us too. I believe that "whomp" at burner shut down is when the very last bit of flame ignites the rest of the unburned gas still inside the burner.

This post was edited by tinyhomebuilder on Sat, May 31, 14 at 18:55