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glawrence_gw

Choosing A 36" Range

Glawrence
11 years ago

Has anyone had a very positive experience with their range? If yes, please tell me about it!

4 years ago we took a risk on a Fratelli Onofri range which has brought nothing but grief. It is a terrible range - at least ours is, and now the company is out of business with no parts or repairs available. I can't get the oven up to temperature, it doesn't broil. I am hobbled in the kitchen!

We are going to cut our losses and start over - and try to do it right this time. I look at the "names" out there - Wolf, Viking, Thermador, Aga - seems that everything has mixed reviews for various reasons.

I love to cook. I want a quality range that will deliver a solid performance for many years. I am less concerned with the name brand than with it being consistent and solid. At least 5 burners, large oven. Power.

Any ideas/happy stories/raves?

Thanks!

Comments (2)

  • wekick
    11 years ago

    The ranges that are most discussed on this forum -

    The Capital Culinarian-6 burners, open -23K on all the burners There have been a few threads here on trouble with the simmer end of things but they are supposed to come out with a simmer burner to fix that at some point. The range seems to require adjustment after you get it to reach it's lowest setting. Some have had to come to this forum and hope to get their attention to get any service. Some have been happy with the simmer while others thought it was still too high. The oven is gas with convection fan.

    Bluestar-Star shaped burners, open are mixed in size from simmer to 22K. It is customizable in burner configuration. Service used to be iffy but seems to be better now. The oven holds a full sheet baking pan and has a convection fan.

    Wolf-has sealed dual stacked burners(as does DCS) I own a Wolf DF and love it. Each burner has a top burner and a simmer burner under it. The BTUs are lower at the high end-15K BTUs but are plenty to sear a steak or do stirfry for 2. I cook a lot and rarely turn the heat up all the way. The simmer goes to just warm on all the burners.
    The oven has a convection element and various modes to direct heat from the top for roasting and the bottom for baking. It bakes very evenly. The Wolf AG just has the convection fan. I haven't seen many complaints about the DF but service/response has been great.

    I would consider whether you would like cleaning open or sealed burners, what kind of cooking you do to determine what burner configuration would be best for you.
    I would also read about the differences in electric and gas ovens. In the thread below I wrote my opinion about that.

    There are a few people with DCS and NXR that like their ranges. Thermador gets mixed reviews but the newer ones seem to get better reviews.
    The NXR is around $2K and you can buy it from Costco so if service fails you, you can take it back. It has burners like Wolf had on the AG, up until very recently.

    Here is a link that might be useful: gas vs electric ovens

  • willtv
    11 years ago

    We've had a Bluestar 36" 6 burner range for just shy of 2 years and absolutely love it.
    Ours has the standard burner configuration but you can get it custom configured any way you like.
    To date we've had only one problem with a squeeky hinge, but a call to Bluestar and we had a complete new door shipped to us within a week.
    The oven is cavernous and dead-on accurate.
    We were hesitant to spend so much on an all gas range with no bells and whistles, but we're glad we did.
    Because it is so basic, there's very little to go wrong.
    It is well built, easy to clean and I'm pretty sure it will outlast me.
    It was the single best purchase of our kitchen renovation.