The exterior of a BlueStar range will not get any hotter than any other "prosumer" range on the market.

That said, those pullouts are not the best place to store perishable items due to the heat of any "prosumer" range on the market.

So yes, you're better off storing non-food items, IMO...

i think the front and sides of my bluestar seem like they get way hotter than the dynasty range i had in my last house got. it's one thing i'm fairly displeased with about the bluestar.

i wouldn't keep any spices or oils right next to the sides.

We did pullouts on each side of our range & our cabinet maker slotted them for narrow inserts to hold skillets, trays, or racks. On one side, the inserts run sideways to allow for more skillets, and the other side runs front to back for wider items. Here's a photo:

I have my spices and oils in pullouts next to my Bluestar. They never feel warm at all, and are doing just fine there.

This is a great question and I'm also very interest to read what others have experienced. I'm still in the planning phase of my own kitchen remodel. In my current plan, I have an 18 inch area right next to the range for spices/oils. I had intended to insulate this area along the side next to the range regardless of what range I end up with (currently leaning toward a 48 inch BlueStar).

I also have a spice pullout next to my BlueStar. My approach would be to worry about it if and when it becomes a problem, but DH is a nervous nelly and is already thinking about screwing a piece of rigid board insulation (like that pink foam stuff you'd find at HD) in the cabinet since there's room behind the face frame to do it.

Thanks for the perspectives. Nice BPO, Gizmonite! Straw_bale, does the pull-out next to the BlueStar feel warm when you bake? I have room to put 1" of insulation on either side of the range, and cover it with a filler piece in the cabinet run, but I'm not sure this would look well. Moving the spice/oil pullouts messes with my kitchen plan a bit, so I would really prefer to leave them there...

I have no idea how hot it gets in the pullout. Other than the burnoff process I haven't really used the oven and at that time I didn't have anything stored in the pullout. I'll be roasting a chicken tomorrow so I'll have some more data available :)

As I said above, I have never noticed any heat in my pullouts and I've used the oven a lot.

i was pretty surprised at how hot the sides and front of my newly-installed BS felt during the burn-in process, but when i opened the adjacent cabinets and felt the insides of them, they weren't hot.

i have cabinets that are built with 1 1/2" plywood boxes, so that must be adequate enough, insulation-wise.

personally, i wouldn't want spices and oils in base pullouts simply because it seems much more difficult to access them. i'm planning on doing a oil and spice pullouts in one of my uppers flanking the vent hood for just that very reason.

Edlakin, you said it wasn't hot. But was there any warmth at all? Like anything more than room temperature. TIA.

no, not on the inside of the adjacent cabinets. wasn't even warm.

OK, so I used the oven for about 1.5 hrs at around 350F and the spice pullout didn't get warm at all. It feels hotter than Hades every time you use the burners, but nothing goin' on with the pullout.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad I can keep my spices and oils near the action.