One more comment---I suppose the best oven test is how well your turkey cooks! So everyone cooking a turkey in their new BS ovens should comment! Thanks again. Wishing all you BS bloggers a very happy Thanksgiving and good cooking! Robert.

@rdantuano... Robert, I have the gas and both the convection fan and whatever other circulation fan for cooling, etc are built in, are not noisy and are well within or below normal limits. Nothing like what is being described for the electric.

Hi all. I'm thinking about getting French door oven but I'll be installing it under the counter top. Does anyone have this? I see it's definitely easier than a drop down when it's waist height or above, but does anyone have any experience with it lower? Is it more convenient or less convenient than a conventional drop down oven? Thanks!

I stacked 2 of the electric wall ovens. The lowest is still probably 4" higher than below counter height. I think French doors down low makes it much easier than reaching around or over a door dropped down. My personal preference. BUT this oven may seem super low since the controls take so much space on top. I would have to look at the design of other ovens and see how low they got. Sorry I am not a lot of help with that. I use my lower oven as much as my upper. But like I said it is at least 4" above the counter. I would double check that with the specs this oven would even fit below counter.

Robert,

My turkey cooked just fine in my electric wall oven. It was nice opening the french doors and pulling the gliding rack out to baste, at chest height, instead of bending way down with the oven door open at my shins. It was also nice that my turkey and my duck both fit in the same oven, and then I could use my gas range oven for other stuff.

Was everyone's turn around time for this product around 8 months? I am in PA where they are made and my kitchen should be finished in at least 4 months. I really don't want to have to wait that long! I don't even have to wait that long for my Lacanche!! Any more word about the Viking French door unit? I am going with the Lacanche french blue and both Viking and BlueStar can be matched to that color.

Thanks!

I have the drop down door version and getting ready to stack the French door version on top. For those that have stacked the BS ovens, can you tell me if there are any modifications that need to be made to the units.

Thanks in advance for your insight,

V

I have the electric french doors stacked. There are no modifications as far as building. They are 2 separate units. I think there was a plate in between the 2 if I recall correctly. (That may not be accurate) Most important is making sure you have your electrical in the right spot for both ovens. Mine was not, even though I had given the specs to the builder the electrical had to be moved. That is the biggest thing. ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT, my ovens had to be stacked and then installed. They way a ton as you must know. Anyhow, the stacking takes place before they go in. Making it a several person job to get them in and hooked up. I am sure you have someone coming to install but we had to have extra guys on site to help with this. Would love to see pictures when finished

catjackabby, since you are in PA I would go to Reading if you haven't and look at the painted units they have on the floor. Worth the time. I went and changed my mind to the SS. I was going to get mine in a color but when I saw them live I thought the SS looked so much nicer. My BS products were ordered earlier then we needed because we anticipated a delay but they arrived pronto.

I think the big delay in delivery time might be if you order a custom color. Contact Bluestar and ask. You may have the same problem with Viking if you order a custom color. If it's stainless steel, I wouldn't forsee much of a delay. Debbi's delay was because of custom color and it was a very new product.

When I ordered my Platinum Rangetop, I was expecting a big delay, too. To my surprise, they could have provided it within the month. I went ahead and ordered it. I had my appliance store hold it until I was ready for installation.

Does anyone have experience with the GE monogram french door oven? Have heard both the BS and viking are very loud with a constantly running fan - is this a problem with all electric french door ovens?

I Have a GE Monogram French Door oven which has been installed for a month. In my opinion, it is not very loud. The minute you turn the oven on, there is a fan that runs. I mostly notice it because you can feel air moving and coming out of the bottom. You feel it more than you hear it. Hope that helps.

Inga

Both my ovens are finally in!

Congratulations Victor! Looks great!

Looks fabulous! Please tell us if you like how it works, or any quirks, etc.

what do you think?

gspinn, what are you referring to?

FRENCH DOOR oven enthusiasts ... our BS electric goes into action within 4 weeks. Been sitting idle since OCt awaiting Bldg Permit signoffs. Will report back. This is going in a semi enclosed tight pantry as our kitchen is fully open to dining and l/r --- metro loft style (loft this isnt!)

Suffice to say that our BS Gas French door install continues to delight at another location with the upper body convenient height and being able to stand-in close to the pans you need to turn, baste or probe.

All the comments and information is very helpful. Thanks to all. We are in final appliance selection stage....analysis paralysis. Why? all of the contrary "reviews." Drives me nuts frankly. However, the French Door BS remains our first choice...lots of reasons. Being July '17 (just about), does anybody have any updated thoughts on their Bluestar experience? Anybody use other Bluestar appliances? Ventilation, refrigeration, induction?? Too much info is often a bad thing, but one last ask. Thanks to all! TH

I still adore my RNB range! I love my wall oven too, although it does have the noisy cooling fan and I have issues with the display clock resetting time all on its own. Apparently BS is making version 2 of the wall oven now and it should correct all of the issues. I definitely would buy it again. The french doors are wonderful, as is the size (full sheet pan fits). I don't have BS ventilation (I have Vent A Hood), but I am so lusting after the fridge (in the same blue as my range and oven). I'm already trying to figure out how to swing the fridge :) I wish the price was lower by about half!!

Tamami82 - appliance + plumbing fixture decisions consume as much time as the reno itself!!! LOL. having experience in 3 kitchens (Actively using each; full list of appliances embedded in text), I remain BlueS happy,for the French door ovens and more.

Ovens: gas one has been perfect no issues. We just completed our kitchen reno so frankly cannot comment of the electric French door BS performance. Seems that the controls (Dig read out etc) are more 'advanced' - whether that is a good thing I cannot say. My gas unit is old fashioned turn the dial and has minimal read outs, the convection fan not disturbingly noisy tho obviously audible, and yes, takes time to cool during which time the fan will continue (in the NE becomes periodic additional heating! I don't use a big oven late June thru August). The Electric version requires a burn in time/ procedure --- something I will wait to do for a few weeks when weather moderates. I look forward to the built in heating stone and the upper element for broil effect.

Cooktops: I tend to 36" (6) burner/all burners over a Range (bending, passageways and more than 1 person in the kitchen are the reasons). We have had 36" BS cooktop for 7 years. Still love it. It is propane fueled. In above referenced just-completed different reno, we opted for Capitol 6 burner. Price was slightly less. Burners equally good if not better; more of the burners deliver higher BTU. Cast iron grills and the continuous motion of moving pans slightly better than BS. Two negs: 1) Unlike BS, it is not cast iron in the burner surround area which means cleaning is different story than the very forgiving cast iron of BS. (Both makes have large pull out drip pans which I happen to think are practical and good.) 2) The seating of the 6 grates is tricky and not always falling into place and space evenly. This has to do with stainless steel guide rails having motion and play.

Hoods: the first BS cooktop has an over-engineered hood. Its a Franke higher RPM and that thing could have been the lower model and still been appropriate. It's cool looking, rectilinear and not a centerpiece with removable multiple metal mesh panels for dishwasher. The Capitol has a high RPB Fagor and that has removable st.steel fin panels. Actually easier to clean.

Chilling: amongst (3) kitchens all have Leibherr refrig: 24" all refrig 7 years old with the bio fresh drawers remains terrific. This is augmented by a basement freezer and a small 2 drawer under counter freezer/ref in the kitchen for immediate access to ice, ice cream., We use the Refrig drawer for all the ubiquitous condiments that take up so much space and have long shelf lives

30" R/F with NON PLUMBED ice maker (we LOVE that feature) in two other kitchens. In our home the Leibherr is augmented by a 23 year old still-handy-trusty working Subzero all refrig and a recent Electrolux freezer. We are a family of 5 with plenty of visitor traffic so it is a lot of machinery for sure. But we also, by having excellent refrigeration need to shop every 2 - 2 1/2 weeks as dairy, fruit that is starting to ripen up, and veggies all keep very well with superior refrigeration. I am glad to not have to consider replacing the SZ at this time. I would not buy a recent SZ both for price and performance reasons.

Dishwasher: used an all stainless steel ASKO for 15 years before relocating to the ofc where it still runs well. Have worked with (3) Bosch and they are equally quiet. Bosch offers too many models and it is confusing to sort out features. We are a short cycle, air dry family. We also use very little soap and I will never use a D/W that demands pods (too much soap. really not great on glass ware and so forth). We also scrape dishes and do not rinse. We use a 30 min cycle. The dishes might sit a few hours before we fire it up but we have excellent cleaning results. But that also is because we have superior water. In our SoCalif family locations NOT the case and the Bosch performance has not been great. Have to use Lemme Shine and other things. The KitchenAid in my parental home is newish but a dog in terms of unnecessarily long cycle and noise. We also are routine users (1x /month) of running an empty machine with vinegar to help clear soap residue. There is also a high power D/W cleaning product we've needed to use on our oldest Bosch because the water jets do clog after 5 years or so.

Clothes washing: Using an ASKO front loader and love it. This was preceded by a Wascomat residential front loader (bought (2) 20 years back for 2 homes. One died). Wasco really isn't in this market and does not fully support. They may be owned by another company now. At the time, they were amongst the few offering small front loaders.

More info than you asked for. Hope your decisions fall in place satisfactorily

Here's my french door Bluestar.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm sure you will be very pleased. French door is the way to go. In a prior life I trained in France and we used french door ovens..only way to go. Thus my attraction to the BS. We are building a home in Hawaii, so I was (increasingly) worried about the negative reviews I've seen. Yes, I understand the negative's get emphasized. But with all the $$ this project is costing, decided to play it safe...and that is a very relative term for sure. Decided to go with M series Wolf and Wolf induction cook top, rather than BS. Surprisingly it was a couple thousand less. Still have very mixed emotions but, none of this stuff is without problems...sometimes it is a flip of a coin. Actually looked hard at the DCS double convection ovens...seemed to have great value....but I guess you (might) get what you pay for...too good to be true. Who knows. Thanks again for the photo! I bet it is a pleasure to use. Bon chance! TH

Just saw the other comments, very nice, thank you. Though I just posted yesterday, this has been a drawn out evaluation....as you all know, agonizing. We were also going to go with Liebherr refrigerator and wine refrig, price point can't be beat. Again the service and remote location was a worry...I worry too much. Almost went with LG refrigerator...look great at Lowes but, allegedly, nobody can get service...have to replace. So, alas, bit the bullet and went with SZ...so darn expensive and just a box to keep things cool. This is the last house, I want the appliances to last longer than I do. We left a house where I decided to go cheap...Kitchenaid, Bosch, etc....mistake. All broke down in 5 years. We replaced with Jenn-Air before selling, but they were only so-so. It's funny, working in professional kitchen you just go for big horsepower. But in your home you go for quiet and reliable. Who knows. I'm having chest pain just thinking about all of the $$ :) But rationalizing, it's like buying a car that lost all it's value in 2 years :) For what it's worth, since all sorts of people read these, if you have room for a wine room/cellar...closet, small room, that is the way to go. We had a 10 x 10 room, insulated it, put a cellar AC ($1500) and built out a 1000 bottle cellar. Perfect (except kept drinking the wine). These wine refrigerators cost 3 times that (or less depending)...but that's for 120 bottles...thereabouts. I've enjoyed all the posts everybody has. Thank you! Th

I'm remodeling or vacation home and was looking for a french door oven and I am torn between the BS and the GE Monogram (ZET1FHSS) one thing I really like with the GE is if you pull one one door, both doors open.....does the BS do this as well. I like the baking stone in the bottom of the BS. If anyone has any additional feed back on the GE I would appreciate it.

YEs on the BS Gas/Propane and Electric both doors open as you grab the right bar. Counterintuitively, one learns to shut the LEFT door first. Electric takes up far less footprint but the cooling down fans run appreciably longer. We have gas/propane in a rural home in RI, open kitchen, and sound no issue. For the electric, recently installed in an urban apt., I am VERY glad that it is in a somewhat isolated area (a semi pantry).

Yes, if you pull one door open on the Bluestar both doors open. I've had mine for about a year now and and cooling fan noise just isn't an issue. I can barely hear it. Also after baking bread when the cooling fan stops, the bread is cool enough to wrap and freeze. Baking using the convention fan means the bread turns out even without having to rotate.

The broiler is great. I use it as much as I use the oven or the stone. Squash from the broiler:

Thanks Guys for the quick responses. It really helps as there are just so many products out there...makes it tough to decide

Hi Everyone. I'm hoping that someone who's had the Bluestar Electric Double ovens with the French door can give me some feedback on their performance. Eg: Do they hold their heat well? How is the service record, are they reliable. I am having a hard time trying to decide which double ovens I want to replace my Thermadore with. I have had 2 sets of ovens in 4 years. Neither one of them have worked properly from day 1, and Thermadore customer service is horrible. All I want is good, high end ovens that I can bake and cook properly in, ovens that I don't have to leave the light on and keep checking that the temperature is proper. I really don't want to invest in expensive ovens and have the same issues as the Thermadore. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have read earlier reviews that Bluestar is noisy, have they fixed that? I also like the Wolf, and if they made french doors then this would be an easier decision. Thanks for any help.

as noted throughout the threads above your post many of us are pleased with blue star French door ovens. I have 2 in different locations one older is gas and the most recent is electric. The model is about 18 months old but only in service for about 8 months.

Plus items
French doors really convenient,
body height as opposed to bending over, beautiful Glides on the pull-out racks, built in heat Stone, holds heat well and does not seem to overly heat the surrounding area (please to note that this unit is installed in a small narrow Pantry with limited circulation and cross ventilation. It's sits in a room with my freezer and my all refrigerator vintage Sub-Zero.)
once you learn how to use the touchpad it's reasonably logical but not entirely so.
thus far all results have been quite good it does get pretty hot and therefore where you place an item within the cavity becomes important.
1 of its biggest advantages is that the cavity given that the overall Dimension is in the 30 inch range is quite large. I can put two half trays side by side on each rack

Drawbacks
the touchpad is a little weird in that you think you've done a setting such as selecting the temperature, but then as it preheats and comes up to temperature one has to hit start as opposed to it automatically kicking into action. may be this is just a user ignorance item but so far I have not conquered it.
the two biggest drawbacks are also likely to be the reason of a surprising upside, that is that this oven does not seem to heat the general area in an uncomfortable manner. Those drawbacks are it takes a while to come up to temperature so the preheat is a little longer than I expected and the cooldown really does take time with that fan running in entirety. Now for us that fan noise is not an issue because this oven is not in our open kitchen area so I just pull the pantry door partially closed if I'm not interested in hearing the fan.

am I satisfied? yes
btw French doors close counterintuitive... left door closes to look down
no service issues. but its bike. gas cousin is 7 years old and a dream but it's larger space vertically, and doesn't have built in pizza stone
have not tested infra red broiler yet
we are not bakers beyond the bare basics so take my comments in that context

note that you have to spend half day breaking it in to burn off the oils that's a one-time deal. you'll certainly learn your equipment in that process

Thank you YB for responding so quickly! This is very helpful! Well noted your pro's and con's. Since my Thermadore take over 30 min to preheat, - and then looses 25 to 50 degrees as soon as I put in my trays, then doesn't recover until I reset the temperature as if I was starting over, then another 30 min, I'm hoping that though you say it takes time, it can't be worse than that? :).

I have had mine for a year now.

1. No service issues. I use the oven at least three times a week.

2. If you're looking, you're not cooking :-) I rarely use the light. Bread (shown below) is baked every other week--sometimes more often--and I've yet to have a batch turn out uneven.

Flatbread and pizza using the baking stone turn out fine. I use the light to check the cheese melting on the flatbread because the minimum time setting is one minute. Process is five minutes at 500F to bake the flatbread, sprinkle cheese, then less than one minute to melt the cheese.

3. You can hear it, but it's not as if you have to shout to make yourself heard. It's noisier than the Miele dishwasher. It's less noisy than the Vent-a-hood on high (which also isn't that noisy). I'm sure some folks will complain, but neither Denise nor I have found it to be anywhere close to objectionable. Noise is always a YMMV issue.

4. The broiler is to die for. Sweet potatoes (large size), cut in half, brush on olive oil sprinkle cut side with cinnamon, place cut side down on broiling pan (parchment paper over the broiling pan), don't wrap, 45 minutes middle rack, broiler on low heat.

5. The doors are rather industrial, so when closing them use both hands and a bit of force and speed--just imagine how a chef would do it in a busy restaurant and do likewise. Opening is easy using one hand on either handle.

6. Would I repeat the purchase if I had to do it over again? You betcha.

Evenly cooked whole wheat bread cooling on full size baking sheet. Wheat is ground on the KoMo grinder that you can see behind the bread. Convection fan on, no rotation.

Squash from the broiler. (Method similar to sweet potatoes but shorter time).

Note: I have never had to reset the temperature.

Jerry, wonderful! Thank you. I agree about the looking not cooking- lol:), Unfortunately with my current ovens it's a must, since the temperature fluctuates 25 - 50 degrees and I have to keep adjusting. Am truly looking forward to having NOT to do that anymore. :) I'm truly thankful for everyone's feedback, I think I may have made my decision. :)

The touch control preheating and then pressing again to start is, in my opinion, because:

1. Except when using the broiler, which preheats instantly, you don't put food in before the preheating is done. According to the manual, the oven may use any or all of the heating methods during preheating. It's not like an oven that just works in one way.

2. If you are out of the room or otherwise occupied--it's been 15-30 minutes depending, so that's pretty common--the oven holds the temperature until you are ready to start cooking. Then the start is to start the timer. I've found it intuitive but some folks don't.

Makes sense. Good to know from both of you, and .... Bingo! You just gave me the golden ticket :)- Oven holds temperature, I'm sold. All these comments are very helpful. Thanks.

Jerry and D Zeigler. Concur with all that is said, and yes DZ, I think this oven will outperform the ones you've been less satisfied with. I kept a thermometer in there initially but it was a nuisance. Am pretty sure this holds. Then again I use it to make vats of Granola, Pecan Pies, Apple Tarts and Crostata.... none of which are exacting.

Thanks Urbicoastal. All those items sound yummy. I will be glad when I don't have to keep a thermometer in the oven.

Late to the party here with this comment: I was so excited to have an oven fit for a home chef. Installed the 30” electric dbl oven in June 2019...so enamored with the upper french door unit I didn’t bother to fire up the bottom oven until close to Thanksgiving. OOops! Bottom oven fan didn’t work at all and it sounded like a jet engine. Survived the holiday season with top oven and then it had the same fan issue. That was Dec 28, 2019. We have been back and forth with trying to get fans replaced twice, unsuccessful! It’s now Feb 21, 2019 and finally BLUESTAR says they will take back the defective oven but we will need to wait in line for 8 weeks or so for a replacement. No way! We are getting are $$$ back and going with the VIKING 7 series french door oven. Sad, because the top oven was awesome while it lasted, convection baked, baked every other day. Fabulous capacity but it is super loud!!!

installed our electric French door AWAY from open kitchen in a utility pantry, partly due to layout constraints buit also b/c were learned fan upon cooking IS quite audible. this, it turns out is the tradeoff for this unit emitting very little heat into the space

When you open the French doors will they swing open greater than 90 degrees or do they just stick straight out? I'm looking at a 30" range and debating about french doors below. I think it would be easier to clean an oven with French doors but if they don't open more than 90 degrees, I worry about burning my hands.

mht579 -- They swing slightly greater than 90 degrees. It's not been an issue (Installed in 2017). Note that I use these mitts

Ninety degrees

Fully open

yes have electric 3 yrs old & propane fueled 7 yrs old in different homes. no issues w doors (except to adapt to left closing). both perform well.
electric more bells whistles being newer.. digital and pizza stone. however on advice on tech (we had 1 svc call for faulty thermostat ez repair but they pulled entire panel and replaced), pizza stone carefully removed, stored. this way oven heats and cools faster. note that neither throws excessive heat into space. trade off is a fan running to aid slow deliberate cool down. this might annoy in an open space eat in kitchen. our fan friendly oven is installed in walk in pantry utility room that houses freezer and extra refrig (main kitchen has 30" Leibherr)

@Jerry Jorgenson thanks for the picture, I'm interested in the double wall oven with french door top oven but worried about clearance to of the doors/hinges. I have 2 inch to the left and then have another cabinet (a tall pantry cabinet). Do you think that would be an issue for the french door clearance? It doesn't look like it from your pic

brownlambt -- To give you some scale, the wood strip that appears dark in the picture is exactly two inches. I don't believe you'll have a problem as the door, when open, only covers about 1/4 inch of the two inches.

I have BS double wall ovens french on top. The fan noise doesn’t bother me but the fans are powerful and interminly go on while baking, the problem the blow heat is over cooking the top of my baked goods. Anyone else having this issue?

rozannj -- This is not a problem with my single oven french door BS wall oven. No experience with the double ovens. The fan either runs or it doesn't run depending upon whether I turn it on or not.

Thank you Jerry for your reply. Service is due today to fix my BS refrigerator that's not cooling. I will bring up the fan issue agian when he's here. Also being a double oven shouldn't matter, two seperate ovens. I didn't think the fan should run with the fan off thnaks for the confirmation.

rozannj -- At least in mine there are two fans. One is the convection fan that turns on or off with your settings or with the fan icon. The other is the cooling fan which runs until the oven cools down. It's possible there is now some kind of auto convection as mine is a 2017 oven.

Mine is also 2017. There is only one fan on the back wall that has a dual function, convection and cooling. i believe it's possible the fan running occasionally during bake mode is keeping the temp at the initial setting. As I mentioned it doenst stay on but does go on every once in a while. Maybe the seals on the french doors aren't tight and heat is escaping?

we are thinking viking french door, but so much on the fence. in other forums more recent reviews are stating french door double ovens are riddled with problems with the doors. Recommending wolf (even though theres issues eith enamel chipping). Hoping to make a decision in 2 days.