They have 35 years of commercial expierence and have hired many former Jade people. They look like the real thing and have some great features and designs.

1.3 million hits on google, the first several pages seem to be all about antiques...

Links, anyone?

Links, I have links, Here's one from a distributor: http://www.dvorsons.com/ and here's the main website..

Notice that they make two models in several sizes, The stepped-up ones seems to have a better broiler??

Here is a link that might be useful: american ranges

oruboris, how soon you forget! ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: 17 Feb 2007 GWeb -- American brand ranges-check this out

Joe, The problem is - that link is almost entirely about Bluestars!

So, I called my local place that sells them. Which is Dvorson's in Sausilito Ca. I spoke to a friendly guy named Josh. He told me that a 30" range has a retail list price of $3500, but sells for about $2600 for now at least. It does have an Infra-red broiler and he's gotten one letter from a satisfied customer. He hasn't sold any of the Step-up models but they are about $500 more.

He mentioned that someone from Jade helped with this range,and that the convection has 2 fans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Retail store in S.F. Bay area

You're right, it is mostly about BlueStar.

But, it does answer oruboris' request for links, as it is clearly posted in the first message of that thread. Not to mention, oruboris is the second person to post in that thread...

Oops... well, my excuse is that back then I was fairly certain I was going with the bluestar, but I'm put off by the looks, and the number of people who seem to have problems with them.

So I'm very near decision deadline, and panicing. Want to examine all my options one last time. Would like to find something with Bluestar burners [yeah, right], Cornufe looks, and the dependibility [and self cleaning ovens] of a cheap one from Sears!

I'm going to have to look at these Americans more closely: didn't realize that they come in colors...

"Would like to find something with Bluestar burners [yeah, right], Cornufe looks, and the dependibility [and self cleaning ovens] of a cheap one from Sears!"

Well sign me up, too!

I checked in with the distributor is the SE and the suggested pricing for the 30" was about the same as above ($3500). Retail was a bit higher than above ($3200) - but he was guessing at that. I did not talk to a retailer, just the distributor.

Color ads $350 for standard colors and for another $100 they can custom match colors. However, only the front door and kick panel are painted - not the sides.

Sealed burners, seamless ss top. They have one live to look at there.

He said they got a lot of interest at a recent home show here.

i spoke to a guy in Sausilito Ca. he quoted me a great price and i think i'm gonna go for the arr-486gdi, thats the american
range 48" a/g. today is the decision day. any last thoughts on american range??? i will post the sequence of events with a.j. .madison in brooklyn, n.y. it didn't end favorible. just another store promissing the world..... to be continued.
john : )

Oruboris, I have been so happy with my Bluestar, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Especially the burners. But I have to admire all the French (and Italian) stoves, and the interesting features, like the step-up on the American (and two convection fans) or the fancy new Capital that seems to have everything including self-clean (if you want) and a rotisserie... but I bet they're close to the French models in price.

Johnny, that's great, I think you'll be the first to report back on the American Range, I can't add anything, except they look well thought out and solid.

Ooh, pretty. Please report back if you get one?

Thank you!
Catherine

Between American (untried and unproven) and Capital (tried and true and highest performance and best service record), I'd go with Capital.

I for one wouldn't want to spend all that money only to find that the unit doesn't work properly, and then i am frustrated, spending time and energy on service calls, not to mention the NIGHTMARE of what will happen once the warranty expires.

A wise woman once said, "They may be cheaper, but Capital is better!"

Think about it...and check out www.capital-cooking.com before you spend your money.

so is it either a Hotpoint or a Capital ??

American has a longer history in cooking than Capital. American has been producing commercial ranges and ovens for over 35 years. Capital is the start up company. That doesn't diminish Capital, but don"t sell American short. They are good people with years of expierence.

I saw the new American Range in person today. (In San F.) They looked very nice. One of my neighbors may buy one...

Thought I'd give a more complete review. The place I looked at them was a showroom and they were hooked up so I could look at burners, broiler, etc.

The back of the oven has two convection fans and they don't stick out into the oven cavity, rather they have their own wall they sit behind with slots for the air to come out of.

The burners, at least the 17,500 BTU ones have an extra ring of gas that comes on at the high position, I guess to allow for a better simmer on those burners.

The stainless cooktop that the burners sit in seemed deeper than most to collect spills that 'might' not cook on to the top as much.

The oven window was bigger than some.

The grates come off in pairs and were pretty massive.

It has a separate knob for Temp. and then another knob for function, such as oven or broiler.

The oven racks were massive, but were not the gliding type.

The front nose above the controls was rounded.

There was no 'fake' drip tray , just a metal shield to keep heat from the oven away from controls.

Seemed hefty and well constructed. On the painted models, only the doors were painted, not the sides.

And most interesting, there seemed to be a separate circuit for each burner ignitor. So that when you turned a burner on, only that burner would spark.

One of the bigger oven cavities, similar to Capital and Bluestar on roominess.

Broiler was infra-red with glow plug.

Broiler is closed door cooking only, but can be worked around at least for demonstration purposes by holding the door button in. (Don't ask!)

Burner control knobs had to be pushed in to turn them, this seemed a bit more solid than some I've tried. i.e. The knobs seemed solid.

I don't remember how much convection noise the fans made.

There seemed to be No fan to cool electronics. I certainly didn't hear any.

alexr - thanks! very interesting - there may be one hooked up in the SE in a week or so, I may go look to. Curiosity!

re- the painted sides - I did ask if they could be painted and they said no, something to do with the way the panels are constructed.

They did say that is you get a color range that you can also have the ss panels and swap them out if you ever wanted to. (Guess that means you could also swap colors if you wanted!)

well i went with the american range , i purchased it from josh dvorson he had the best price and after talking to the dist. they said he has been in business for awhile and had no problems with him. he seemed genuinely concerned about my purchase and returned calls promptly and there were many. i hope that it was a wise choice. i will post again when we get it, should be shipped on the 19th of june. if anyone is interested i will start a new post on my experiance with a.j. madison. thank you all, for all your insight and help it is really appreciated.
john
jackson, n.j.

I'd love to hear more about the American Range, when you get yours -- I went to
Reno's Appliances out in NJ today, and the (seemingly knowledgeable) salesman pointed me straight to either the Bluestar (if I didn't mind the open burner clean up) or the American Range (if I did mind, and preferred sealed). I'm 95% sold (my fiance generally does the cleanups after I do the cooking, so she's got the call on the open vs. closed, and you can guess what she chose) so let us hear how it works out for you!

We're waiting, my neighbor ordered one. I have a Bluestar. I don't think the Bluestar's are very difficult to clean at all, and they have a drip tray, that stays cool below the burners and slides out. Anyway, I think they're both good ranges.

Guadalupe, American certainly DO NOT have 35 years in the commercial biz, and even if that's what they're claiming, they've been making residential ranges for less than 1 year. Capital have been making residential since the good ole days of DCS which is back in 1988. So, who has the longer track record for making pro-style residential ranges? Hmmmm....I'd say Capital. And who essentially are the founding fathers of the high end appliance industry? Hmm, the folks from Capital who prior to DCS created the Viking ranges back in 86 or so? That's Capital again. And who are the folks that built both commercial and residential while at DCS? And were building new commercial innovations before American was even a company? Oh, yeah, Capital people. And American definitely have not been around for 35 years, my dear. As far as I can tell, they were a spinoff of another commercial company called Imperial in the 90's. So, who truly has the longer track record? I guess that's the folks behind Capital?

Do any of you that have actually purchased this range have it in your possession yet? Wondering what made you decide on this brand. I was just on the universal-akb.com website and the prices on the 48" range seem more reasonable compared to other brands. Thanks

johnnytugs - care to share the price you paid? You can always email me thru my page. I also live in NJ. Did you shop price anywhere local besides AJ Madison?

nietzche and on the seventh day they rested

nietzche, That's your spin but not really true- anymore than saying American residential also came from Jade. And I wouldn't boast about Viking in my background even if there was some small truth to it.

My neighbor hasn't got her American range yet, but I think it's due right after her floors are done. Another week or so.

mal,
i paid 5,500. for the arr-486gdi from josh dvorson it includes the shipping and 4" trim. i spoke to all the distributers in n.j. and they were ummmmmm very attitudey i'll say ,and they never returned calls. the cali. distributer i believe it was "sierra" along with josh were very nice and returned calls promptly and seemed genuinely concerned about my questions. the range was ordered on 6/5 and was supposed to be shipped 1-3 wks. it's still being built maybe shipped monday.7/16 it's ok though they keep in constant contact. they just started building the 48" so i can understand the delays.i went to renos off rt.80and they wanted like 6200. + for the step up. what i like best is the stove is a commercial stove modified for residential use not vise versa like most others i.e. viking etc.hope it helps,
john
jackson, n.j.
917-842-1809

price for 60" capital precision: 11,900 from karl's in nj. retail is approx $15K; still a very reasonable cost considering the features.
the salesmen at reno's are extremely knowledgable. i purchased from them when at our last house. we've moved and karl's is closer for us now ...not to mention the pricing i'm getting is considerably less. i'm far from purchase as our home is not built yet but i'll let you know how it goes.

ok i got a call from american range VP/GM chris thompson he gave me his cell phone number and said if i have any problems with the stove to call him. it should be here friday 7/27 it was basically a month late but if it stands up to the buzz then i'm ok with that. josh dvorson was easily accessible and never tried to avoid my calls. ohhh man i can't wait.
john

Johhny - please report back after you get yours installed. Still not even close to figuring out what I'm getting.

Problem you are going to have by buying out of market is service. Local distributor doesn't like outside players

FLASH, my neighbor got her new American Range today, it's a small one but quite nice, and I went over tonight and helped her set it up. I have a BlueStar, so it was fun to compare the two. It's of course a Sealed burner style, but looked as good as the Capital etc. It's definitely upper tier, much nicer than the Bertazoni's,etc, and it weighs a ton.

It had:
Locking casters (wheels) in the back, front legs were adjustable but could be wider where it meets the floor.
(or put those nylon sliders under the legs).

The convection fan(s) will run by itself, or in bake mode, but cannot accidentally be turned on during broil. (a nice feature BlueStar doesn't have).

The infrared broiler is large and works well, it uses a glow plug like mine. The interesting thing is: if you open the oven door, the broiler shuts off. I don't know if I'd like this or not, it's probably a safety thing, I might find it annoying because I like to sometimes watch as things brown, except 1. it goes back on automatically when you close the door, and 2...

It has a huge, clear door window, and more rack positions!
(that's nice and I have heard complaints about other brands, mine included)

Two(2) knobs are used to control the oven, one is the thermostat (temperature) setting, the other is used to set to bake, bake/convection, fan only or broil. A little more complicated, but with the benefit mentioned above (you can't run fan on Broil, or run Broil with the door open).

The controls knobs work well. You must PUSH and turn each knob to start the burners. Each knob has it's own blue indicator lite to let you know which burner is on.

The burners went to a very low simmer..very nice.

The stainless steel top has a deep enough well to catch most spills, without knocking out the ignitors/burners.

Each grate covers 2 burners. This might be a little awkward to lift off and on for some. (the step-up model has single grates).

The small simmer burner was on the left front.

The oven is big and deep as advertised. Two lights, dual fans. Except the 24" has 2 lights and one fan. The oven racks are thick and nicely made (no they don't have gliders)

Fit and finish looked great. I did not try to take the thing apart-didn't look like the oven floor was removable (remember, it's not mine). but it looked well built.

I'm not a big fan of sealed burners on high heat, but these looked as good as any. The discs weren't so big as to have a huge cool spot in the middle.

That's about it.

I had to go look! I agree with everything alexr says above. Those grates are sturdy! There is a sep ignitor for each burner. According to the distributor here, there are plans for a self cleaning model in another year or so. The wall ovens are coming soon. And, the island trim for the range is on the way too. (not available now)
The door was not heavy or hard to open at all. Here a few pictures. Enjoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: American Photos

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, it came today, what a beautiful range. sturdy, feels great in your hands, and did i mention what a beautiful range it is. i didn't cook on it because by the time i got it hooked up it was 9:00pm. it had a few minor issues but josh called vp chris and chris called me after hours assureing me that every thing would be squared away,turns out it was my bad , i had it hooked up to an extension cord with a bad ground. what a great experience compared to some of your other horror stories.i'm beat gotta go to bed , but i will get back to you on wifey's performance evaluation. god i'm on top of the world. what a satisfied feeling. i hope it cooks as well, i just couldn't imagine that it wouldn't, but i will share that with you soon.i'd like to thank all you good "folks" out here that have shared and have given me the insight to make such a great decision. oh by the way , you heard about the lovely experience that i had with a.j. madison well i forgot to (or just didn't remember to mention, maybe not wanting to make them look bad )when i ordered the stove the sales guy (who was relatively new to the trade) miss quoted me on the price of the stove and josh stood by it. i gotta tell ya i feel like i stepped in a big ole pile of happiness. i kinda wish he sold cars too.well i'll get back to you soon with the performance evaluation. thanks again,
john : )
917-842-1809

It sure is pretty! I bought the Capital (which is sitting in a box waiting patiently untill my kitchen is ready for it), but I think this looks very similar. Features are similar - Capital has a little more power (not that that will probably make any difference in my life) but if you want a range in a color I think this would be a great choice (or even if you want good 'ol stainless)

well it's offical, wifey cooked a pot of gravy (spaghetti sauce) in six hours on simmer stirred it 3 times out of force of habit, came out great. the oven's work like a gem. made cookies in the 18" oven only 3-4 per rack with 3 racks as a test and they all came out great. made a pizza in the 30" oven, middle rack, came out great.still gotta get the hood in but i'm really happy with it so far.had the oven's up to 500 degree's outside was warm to the touch at the most. handles were cool and the stove cleaned easily.the fans are quiet and the individual ignitors work well. looks classy, great oven lights,oven racks aren't flimsy, very well built.it's a keeper!
john

John, thanks for the update! I couldn't wait to hear. It seems like this might be a good option for us, though we probably aren't starting for a year or so.

So you paid $5500 for the 48 inch, but local guys were quoting you more like $6200?

I am also in NJ, so I am curious about your experience with NJ dealers (and it doesn't sound good!)

Also, with the 48 inch, is it possible to use one of the ovens as a warming oven, let's say if you are entertaining?

I don't have space allocated for a warming drawer, but would love one. I also only have 2 feet spec'd on each side of a 36, but with an island for prep closeby. I might push it to a 48 just so I can have the 2 ovens, esp. if the American Range is so worth it. (I would love an Aga but I think the price will be too high.)

hi soshh,
i went to one dealer, reno's in north jersey, nice selection but the salesman reminded me of used car guys and they wouldn't budge on price or toss ya a bone. but i didn't like the distributers they had no answers and didn't seem to care.no return calls and this wasn't even for a problem. it was sales related. i'm still waiting for john @ signature marketing (the jersey dist.) to call me and let me know when the 48's are coming in so i could ck them out. no reply ..........nothing.both ovens can be used for warming and defrosting my wife tells me. i built a 10' island and across the way will be my fridg a 12" cabinet the stove, a 6" cabinet and in the corner a 33" easy reach it's still being built do to the delay on the stove i didn't want to complete the floor when i didn't know when the stove was gonna be delivered.she's a heavy son of a gun and i didn't want to have to hump it over freshly laid tile. it was a big job, combined the kitchen and dining room by removing a bareing wall and a filler wall. reran the plumbimg, new lights , wow it's been a bear. but hey you only live once. anything i can help you with or if you would like o ck it out feel free to call . be well and good luck. oh btw where in jersey are ya? i'm in jackson.not to far from great adventure.
john
917-842-1809

Hi John,

Thanks for that info! We are farther north, not too far from Newark airport.

We are doing an addition (kitchen/family room) to a 1920's home, my existing horrid kitchen will become a powder room and laundry/mudroom! This probably won't happen for awhile...first we are redoing the master suite, 2 bathrooms and the living room!

I am guessing a year or two before we break ground, but I am trying to really plan things out, and hope my planning pays off!

So glad to hear you are happy with your purchase, and hopefully prices won't increase TOO much by the time we are ready to buy.