I have an RNB range and a Wolf wall oven. I would say the lower panel on my Wolf gets to about the same temp as the BS door glass. I was surprised it got that warm, certainly not an issue but I've read so much about the BS door I was pleased to find it was NOT as bad as some would lead us to believe. At the same time I've never read anyone say that a Wolf oven gets hot/warm. Granted it's not the door but being in a wall it's still at a height one could easily touch it. I have 4 yo twins and would not worry about them touching either one, they know what hot is.
My wife opened the oven door on the BS a couple days ago and the star fell onto the floor, the clips popped off the back. Not a big deal but I'll have to pull the skin to put in back on, a BS needs a star :)

You could just use a two part liquid epoxy

I've had my RNB36 for about three months now, love it!
Here are my only criticisms about it: Broiler is ridiculously small for such a large oven space. Convection fan is a bit noisy, although I don't do much if any convection baking, so it's really a non issue. And my biggest complaint is the star on the oven door is not blue! Not sure why they changed to a silver star? I'm going to see if I can still get the old blue star, or have mine re finished...

This post was edited by ctycdm on Wed, May 22, 13 at 12:11

Thats wierd. The pictures online all show the range with a Blue Star. I am not getting mine for another 4 weeks or so. I guess I will find out what color star it has then.

Mines not blue if it were it would look silly on a green range.

hmmm my range is black, maybe the blue star only comes on the stainless ones? but I do think a blue one would look good on black...

I've been using one for a year. I'm disappointed with the broiler. The book says to keep the door closed but when I do it cycles on and off at about 50%. The broiler doesn't get hot enough. Steaks turn gray instead of charred. When I leave the door partly open the boiler stays on but the knobs get too hot to touch. Something in the oven knob melted and it wobbles on the shaft. But I can make black and blue steaks this way. A lot of smoke bypasses the hood.

I think the oven needs an exhaust fan blowing through the rear riser to cool the oven while the broiler is on and the door is closed.

Catman, used the broiler tonight on a medium sized rectangular casserole dish. It was on the second rack, and I thought I had it pretty well centered under the broiler, but got burning on the middle before either end was done. I am surprised the steaks don't get charred - are they dry when they go in? Any moisture on the face of the steak will keep it from browning. I did some turkey breasts and patted them dry and they browned nicely. The knobs gets pretty warm when you leave the door closed, so I guess it is not surprising you can have some problems if the door is open. I just checked, and my knob is metal, except for a small plastic part on the inside - you might want to check to see if Bluestar can send you just the plastic insert.

I agree that it is usable but I don't get the benefit of the intense heat that BS advertises. The knobs look like bakelite or a similar hard rubber. I'll replace it but there's no reason to think that the next one will survive either.

Does your broiler cycle on and off?

Catman, yes the broiler cycles. One of the first tests I did was to turn on the broiler, with the door closed and watch it light up, then go off, and repeat a few times. If the kitchen is dark, the oven light is off, and you have an aluminum pan on the bottom rack, you can see when the ignitor comes on ( boy is that bright) and also when the flames come on and off, just by standing near the oven and looking through the door. I don't expect to use the broiler much due to its size, and the intensity, though it did work for the small turkey breasts. It is way too small to be helpful for pizza, IMHO. I also tested simmer on the burners, and compared them to my Viking. I need to do one more set of tests, and then post my results.

Catman,

Yes, broiler will cycle on and off with door closed. I think pretty much all ranges do.

A good trick to avoid hot knobs when the door is left open is to pull your drip tray out a few inches so that the hot air is diverted out past the knobs. I always do this and the knobs never get past warm.

Hope this helps.

I also pull my drip tray out a bit when broiling with the door open.

I also think that Bluestar could insulate the door better now that they have the better hinges. They put too many ventilation slots in the sides of the door. They really just need a few at the top to help moisture evaporate. And they used to use insulation material around the door glass, which they don't do anymore.

Tyguy and Alex, thanks for the suggestion. I never would have thought of it.

When I buy a knob I also have to get a spark module. One burner isn't sparking and I've tried a new igniter already. I probably fried the electronics when I melted the knob.

I'll be ordering my 36" RNB tomorrow and I appreciate the review here. The only thing I can contribute at this point is that our salesman told us that you get a stainless star if you order a colored stove. The blue ones only come with the SS stoves.

FarmerMcLarry, hope you like it, and be sure to post a review after you have spent a few weeks working with it.

If i could have a do over, I would never have purchased RNB 36"
It is a constant reminder of overpriced poor craftsmanship...and it has been less than two months.

The customer service dept. has been curt when responsive and unhelpful which only causes us to question the quality and our decision even more.

It has been one hell of seven months without a kitchen and then now this.
It makes me so sad!!

This post was edited by endives on Thu, Dec 5, 13 at 18:31

Endives, sorry your experience has not been positive. I have had mine now for about 6 months, have not had a problem with it, and overall am quite pleased. Have you gone back to your dealer to try to get things straightened out?

Barryv,
We are perplexed. My apologies. i don't want to take the shine off your good fortune. I really should have posted my own post re: concerns.

Endives, no worries on my end. I just wonder if you can post your issues. There are some really good people here, and they may be familiar with your problem and a possible solution. We all play the lottery when we buy an appliance ( sometimes it is two lotteries) Sometimes we get a good ticket and the appliance works perfectly, and sometimes we get a bad one and just have things fall apart. That is when you draw cards for the second lottery. Some get a good repair person, the appliance gets fixed promptly, and life is good. Others endure long waits for a less than competent repair person, or disinterested customer service reps, and never get it resolved. I have been lucky on this purchase, but on another occasion with a prior stove, ran into some roadblocks, but a post by another user showed a solution to a problem that the repairman ( who is actually pretty good) and the factory customer service said could not be fixed. If you make a new thread with a description of the problem in the title, you should get more of a response.