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landlord8544_gw

Thermador vs Blue Star

Landlord8544
10 years ago

Went to a dealer yesterday to see first hand the products I have been reading about here for our new kitchen. I was leaning towards a BS 48 cook top. Our plans allow for a 48". After seeing the products, my wife sees no need for a 48" and thinks the Thermador 36" with removable grill, and enameled trays under the burners would be much easier to clean than the BS. I know there is a lesser BTU factor 18000 vs 22000, but the simmer ability seems comparable. Any Thermador users out there with experiences they can share?

Comments (20)

  • jasedl
    10 years ago

    I've been debating between a thermador and bluestar for months (well and also a wolf). I was looking at 48" and thought that the duel fuel was a must-have...so bluestar was out for a while. Then got into some consumer reports user reviews (very recent) about thermador and the rumblings I'd been hearing about a not so reliable product and terrible customer service seemed to be accurate. Went to the store yesterday - thinking I was just going to suck it up and pay for the wolf duel fuel - when I got wowed by bluestar and the new platinum series. I asked about cleaning - but after they showed me how easy it was to pull things out as well as the drip trays underneath, I just wasn't really worried. (There are also some links to some good videos on their site about cleaning them). Anyway, we pulled the trigger and bought the 48" platinum bluestar that has some really great features and expect delivery by end of January, early February.

    We ended up making the decision that going with thermador was just too risky based on reviews and forums like this - and we really like the look and feature set of the new bluestar (though it does only come in 48 or 60 right now). http://www.bluestarcooking.com/products/platinum/platinum-series

  • gtadross_gw
    10 years ago

    Congrats! You'll be one of the first people on this forum who'll have the much anticipated platinum series. We'd all love hearing your thoughts on it and seeing some pix.

  • glenna
    10 years ago

    I looked at the blue star and imagined my many boil overs going down into that drip area with the exposed wires. Uuuuh, no. For those who cook more attentively than I do,I say go for it! But my life is increasingly filled with daydreaming and interruptions. I would have gladly bought a blue star 30 years ago.

  • glenna
    10 years ago

    I think I need to find one in action so I can make a perfect. mess of a merchant's careful display. You can give me some Hutterite beans and a nice pan of water, and the next thing you know,I've got bean scum everywhere..

  • jasedl
    10 years ago

    Great news! Got my new bluestar platinum installed yesterday! Tonight will be the inaugural dinner..will keep folks posted on performance and issues as we move forward. So excited!

  • YuliaO
    10 years ago

    Congrats!! So cool!

  • cookncarpenter
    10 years ago

    Gorgeous! ...Enjoy!

  • mcattrone
    10 years ago

    How's it cooking? Mine gets installed next week. Excited to hear initial thoughts - fingers crossed.

  • trinkette1
    10 years ago

    Congratulations on your beautiful new platinum series BlueStar! Can't wait to hear all about it.

    For those concerned about cleanup, one suggestion I've heard is to wrap drip trays in aluminum foil, then discard and replace dirty foil when necessary.

  • jasedl
    10 years ago

    Hi all - so far so good! A few things I've noticed:

    There are a LOT of choices in terms of which burner to use. Knew that of course going in, but will take some time to figure out what best meets my needs when cooking.

    The PowR burner in the main oven (circular gas flame) makes a kind of high pitched noise as it's starting up. Since the burner cycles on and off, the noise happens pretty frequently in a baking cycle. (Doesn't bother me, but FYI).

    The knobs do get a little hot when you've got the oven(s) cranking. Oven doors however, do not get hot.

    One of my burners has about 4 holes that didn't get drilled so not fully lighting. Will notify BlueStar about that. Also the handle on the convection oven is not level.

    Performance: I LOVE the simmer burner. I can't believe how low that thing can get. Great for keeping sides warm as I'm finishing up other dishes.

    Oven seems to run a little hot. Used an oven thermometer last night to gauge it - had my knob set to 350 and it went up to 450 and then came down from there. Fair warning - I may also need a new oven thermometer.

    Used the griddle for pancakes this weekend. Worked beautifully - only downside is the weight - WHOA those things are heavy. Also, I may not have totally figured this out yet, but there are two square opens caddy corner of each other on the griddle. My worry is that if you were making bacon or something on the griddle, the grease would drip underneath directly onto the gas flame. There is a "grease diverter" to use for when you are using the charbroiler, but it doesn't say to use it for the griddle. Will likely just ask dealer about that as well.

    Haven't baked a cake or anything in there yet, but looking forward to doing more of that once we actually have kitchen countertops!

    Oh and clean up seems pretty easy - everything will fall under drip trays which easily pull out (I did put a layer of aluminum on there for ease) and then just a little scrub of the cast iron and light oiling every once in a while seems like it will do the trick. Hardest part again is how heavy things are - but I could use some more upper body strength! Will try to get more pics this weekend and upload then.

  • cookncarpenter
    10 years ago

    jasmith- re the hot knobs, when using the oven, and especially the broiler with the door open, pull the drip tray out about an inch and a half. It's just enough to help shield the knobs from the direct heat...

    Thanks to GW, I've been using this simple hint!

  • eyezonz
    10 years ago

    jasmith - I sent you a email, did you receive it

    mcattrone - could you email me at eyezonz@gmail.com, I have a specific question for you that I would like to ask.

  • MarinaGal
    10 years ago

    jasmith - I am trying to make a decision between the 48" Bluestar Platinum and the RNB. I am curious to know if you have further thoughts on the oven (noise, temp, etc.) I roast a lot and wonder if you have done any roasting - the noise you described with the oven burner was a little concerning to me. I haven't see the Platinum in person, but the RNB oven and fan seemed really quiet to me. Thanks! Hope you are enjoying your new range!

  • feisty68
    10 years ago

    I'm loving my 30" Bluestar RNB.

    I had great customer service when a child broke the shaft to the oven knob somehow. I am not 100% certain of the circumstances so I don't know whether there was a faulty part or not. They fixed it under warranty and were very pleasant and easy to deal with on the phone. They hired a very reputable local appliance repair company to do the work.

    I was worried about cleaning but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The drip tray is great and the top parts go in the dishwasher regularly.

  • feisty68
    10 years ago

    Oh, and I haven't had any noise issues.

    My oven door and under does get hot and I would not want to have this range if I had a baby/toddler in the house.

    One can calibrate the oven temperature - the instructions are in the manual.

  • jasedl
    9 years ago

    Sorry for the long delay in responding here. Unfortunately there were some issues the Blue Star needed to address. They just yesterday finally came and fixed them. A short recap: some of the supports for the burners were warped (all three had to be replaced); the door handle on the smaller oven was not level and had to be adjusted; one of the burners did not have all the burner holes drilled through, so was replaced. I'm glad it's all fixed and performance wise it's been great so far. I used the grill feature for the first time the other night and that was truly awesome. It got smokey of course, but bought a powerful hood for that reason with no problems with smoke alarms etc. So far have grilled octopus and steaks on the grill. Also roasted a chicken in there yesterday - turned out beautifully.

    I have noticed that the baking seems to be something i need to get used to in the main oven. I think i need to be using the convect feature more consistently to get more even results. But baked a cake in the smaller oven and it turned out beautifully.

    In terms of the noise, it's really not a loud noise, it's just that the back PowR burner cycles on and off while heating up and to maintain heat, so there's a little high-pitched starting noise and then a fan that kicks in. You don't need to raise your voice or anything over it though.

    The only thing I've been a little unhappy with is our Blue Star rep, pretty unresponsive when it came to all these problems, but after some angry emails things finally got resolved.

  • bober
    9 years ago

    Anyone know about BS service in San Francisco? I still have not ordered but am leaning toward the 36" RNB.

    Thanks in advance!

  • sfong06
    9 years ago

    Thanks to many threads in this forum, I went to a bluestar dealer this morning and checked out the new platinum range. i could not believe that everything I ever wanted in a cooktop exists in a single unit until i saw this unit. My requirements were even heat even when using smaller pots, intense searing capability, intense wok burner without the ugly and sometimes unstable wok ring, griddle and grill without sacrificing burners when I need them. Imagine my excitement when I saw the new platinum unit which has all of these available in one unit. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

    I am ordering the 36" platinum cook top with griddle and grill. I'm told it is 5 weeks out as the 36" cook tops are just being released. I hope that information is correct!

    I compared the flame spread on the bluestar with the thermador and it wasn't even close. Flames went up the sides on the Thermador on a 6 inch pot but stayed evenly under the pot on the bluestar.

    Thanks to this forum, I am going to be one happy camper when my remodel is done. I am glad I researched this before buying the Wolf I had in mind.

  • jormydog
    9 years ago

    That's the first I have heard about a 36" platnium series. Steve, what dealer do you have here in CA?