Laughable

I have a 36" but I can answer some of your questions because I think they are applicable to all Blue Star range ovens.

No, there is no cooling fan--that is because there are no electronics--yay!! Blue Star ovens do have a convection fan that you switch on and off (manually, of course, because there is no electronic touch pad). So you can cook with convention or not. I think that the fan runs a bit loud, but I don't use it that often. The fan noise is the only complaint I have about the range, but it is a minor one.

I baked a cake in the oven over the weekend. Gorgeous and perfect. Put the cake in and took it out an hour later without touching it. I never have to turn anything. The baking is perfectly even. The oven takes about 25 minutes to get to 400. But I have a 36" so the 30" would be quicker. I am sure someone else will answer about the 30". There was a thread a few weeks ago about the amount of time the oven takes to heat. But I don't remember whether that was a discussion only about the 36".

Others need to chime in on the small oven. There is less air circulating, so I imagine that precision baking might be better in the large oven. I think people like to use the small oven more for reheating, but others say it is fine for all purposes.

The sticking door is no longer an issue, I think. Blue Star redesigned the door hinge a few years ago to resolve the sticking issue. But the old issue lingers on old threads. Check out discussions of Blue Star and see if the door issue discussion are remotely recent. I have never had an issue.

I am so jealous that you are considering a 48" Blue Star. I was salivating over it but I just couldn't rationalize giving up another 12" of cabinet space in my small kitchen. And besides we are only two now as opposed to your 9.5.

Yes, I know I am a BS fan girl and I don't want to fan the range wars, but this range has changed my relationship to cooking. I am really in love with it. As I have mentioned before, if you can manage to get yourself to a place where you can try one out, I really think you will be impressed.

Thanks for replying, Nycbluedevil. It's nice to know Bluestar has some very satisfied customers. It's a relief to hear that you don't feel roasted cooking in front of your range. Just how loud is the convection fan? Hair dryer loud, mw running loud, laptop fan loud (mine is getting loud...), airplane landing loud?

I already like to cook, so I'm hoping using one of these ranges would be very satisfying. : ) I'd like to get out to a showroom in the near future and try one out. I already told DH that this would be a great date!

Does anyone use the 18x26 baking pans in their oven? In the videos and pictures I've looked at, it looks like they juuust fit, so I'm a little concerned about air flow around them. I want to be able to do multiple full sheet pans of cookies without having to shuffle them. We also bake bread 4-5 loaves at a time, so this is something else that even baking would really help.

Thanks for the insights.

Probably microwave running loud. You definitely hear it but it is not distracting to the point of annoyance. My range hood is louder.

I have used two baking sheets the long way in the oven side by side (not sure of the size, but together they pretty much take up the whole rack) to bake cookies with no problem.

I've had my 48" BS for what will be going on 7 years this spring. I still love it as much today as the day I bought it.

There are, in my opinion, some gross exaggerations with door heat. It does get very warm to hot in some places (I still have not taken an actual temp reading), but to suggest you fry yourself while standing in front of it I think is a wild one.

I have not had any problems with my door hinges sticking, even tho I have a first generation door(have never attempted lubing them). It is a well documented issue tho, that seems to be resolved for the past two years or so.

Cooking in large oven is very even, but maybe not as even as a top end electric. The small oven is also very even heat.

Time for the ovens to heat up? I recently had a professional quality temp probe in the oven, as I needed to keep an accurate temp for a long period of time and I did take mental note of how long it took to heat the large oven up but unfortunately I can't remember what that time was. It really wasn't that long, I think about 15 mins. but it did take longer, probably about 25 mins or so for the temp to stabilize. At some point, I actually intend on documenting how long it takes to warm up, stabilize, and how accurate it is and the temp swing compared to the dial.

Only problem I have had so far is the ignition module has gone on one half of the cooktop so I have to light that side with a bbq lighter until I have time to fix the issue.

Another 36" owner, and I love it! As nycblue says the convection fan makes noise, so I don't use it, and have never missed it. My oven on the 36" takes about 25 minutes to get to 425* , for me that's not an issue because I always seem to have at least that much prep before I need to start cooking, ...or I just have another beer ;)
The stove is the best I've ever cooked on, and the easiest to clean by far!
I have the griddle, and love it actually think I use it more than the burners!
In fact, if I had room for a 48", I would get a 24" griddle and four burners...

OK, I think I could handle microwave running loud. Thanks for the comparison, NYCbluedevil.

That is some impressive feedback, Tyguy! 7 years is plenty of time to get lots of use out of the range.

I agree with you, ctydm. As long as I started heating the oven when I began a baking project, I would probably be ready about the same time it was.

How is the griddle for cleaning? Does it heat nice and even, say for pancakes, will they all be browned about the same time?

Thank you all for your feedback!