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julia_k_gw

Gas range - Verona, Bluestar, Capital Precision, Bertazzoni?

Julia_K
12 years ago

Hello,

We are starting our kitchen renovation soon and I've been going crazy reading about various gas ranges.

I would like to have a duel fuel range since I've heard that electric oven is better for baking. I've personally never baked in a gas oven, so I don't know. I like to bake, so oven is important. However, duel fuel is not that easy to find, so I'll settle for all gas.

I am considering 30" and 36" ranges and keep changing opinion over which one I want. I don't think I've ever needed more than 4 burners before, so 30" should suffice, however, it would be nice to have 36"

I don't do a lot of stir frying and I don't use wok, so I don't need really high btu burners.

I'm trying to be around 3,000$ (or less), but I'm willing to go for 3,500$

I'm considering:

1. Verona 36" duel fuel double oven for 3,079 USD (VEFSGE365DSS). I love the idea of two ovens but I'm not sure if the largest one is big enough. Also, I am not sure about only 1 year warranty. I can't find any reviews of that range. However, somehow my heart yearns for this range.

2. BlueStar 36" for 3,199 CAD (RCS36CW3CN). It has a gas oven, so it's a negative for me, but the reviews of that brand are very good.

3. BlueStar 30" for 2,399 CAD (RCS30CW3CN)

4. Capital Precision 30" for 2,999 CAD down from 4,555 CAD (GCR304)

5. Bertazzoni 30" for 2,999 CAD down from 3,199 CAD (X304GGVXFR)

Any help, advice or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in Canada (Toronto) if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Comments (5)

  • deeageaux
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you can I would go to see these in person and take biggest/most used bakeware and see how it fits in the ovens.

    The Italian ovens are significantly smaller.
    The Bluestars fit full size commericial baking sheets.

    1)2.4 & 1.5 cu ft
    2)5.0 "
    3)4.5 "
    4)4.1 "
    5)2.9 "

    Conventional wisdom says electric ovens are better for baking becuase they are more even. Some really high end electric ovens are shockingly accurate. Some low end gas ovens are shockingly uneven. With these ovens I don't think there is that huge disparity.The biggest advantage to those small Italian electric ovens is quick pre-heat time.

    If I were you I would take advantage of the fact I live in Canada and buy one of those Bluestars from Costco Canada. The huge difference in oven size IMO trumps marginal advantage in evenness of heat.

    I do understand notion of yearning for range. But 2.4 and 1.5 is just really small.An RCS and Breville Smart Oven seems a much more logical choice.Plus you get the even heat of the BS burners on the cooktop

  • stooxie
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just a few comments.

    If you really like to bake you might want a 36" range just for the larger oven.

    I think the notion that electricity is better for baking is somewhat of a myth. I've never had any trouble turning out crispy skin or flaky pie crusts in my gas oven. Others will agree.

    On the other hand, an electric oven tends to have a lot more modes and times that can be very useful. A proofing mode might be important to you but I dunno if you'll find that in the price range.

    -Stooxie

  • Julia_K
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @deeageaux - thank you for your help. I think you are right and although I love (love, love) the look of the Verona range, it's not practical for me since the ovens are so small. I'm also leaning towards BlueStar and now trying to figure out which size I should get. I think I'll go with 30' since 36' is a bit over the budget and would require a more expensive hood.

    @stooxie - thank you for your comments. You put me more at ease at the idea of getting a gas oven. I'm thinking of the 30" RCS BlueStar.

  • janicedallas
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just spent the last few months looking at ovens. It would be helpful if someone would do a chart. I never found a Verona or a Capitol. I finally found a Blue Star and didn't care for the look. I have a vacation home and therefore two different kitchen setups.
    Over $6000.00 I didn't look at those ovens
    Over $3500.00 good quality sturdy racks, true convection oven, continuous grates, high speed burners, quality simmer burners, a must is a better ventahood for higher cpm, quality stainless steel, decorator look
    Dual Fuel requires 220 wiring. Some of the ovens have wok or griddles and some don't.
    Between $2000 and 3500, some with better racks than others, continuous grates, high speed burners, simmer burners are a bit high, good stainless steel quality, designer look, a ventahood may be necessary
    Between $1000 and 2000 microwave with fan is possible for the ventahood, self cleaning, timer, bake modes, convection oven, not as good quality stainless steel, little better racks than lower priced ranges;
    Between 500 and 1000 low quality stainless steel that
    can rust, scratch, show burn stains, few with ontinuous grates, most with flimsy racks, has a timer, regular burners, oven light, then there are the differences between the larger ovens and the smaller ovens. Smaller ovens pre heat faster.
    Take your favorite roasting pan and perhaps a 2nd pan to the store with you and place them in the oven and see how you like it.
    Bertazzoni height is small. American Range has a very large capacity. The Wolf has a very low simmer burner. The Viking grates are too heavy for me to clean up easily. A lot of the more expensive ovens do not have timers and some don't have temperature indicators or even oven off/on lights. Some knobs turn too easily and my new Kitchen Aid cooktop turns on when I clean. Also, I have to look twice to see if they are on or off. My new Kenmore electric wall ovens have a warm and hold feature and they heat evenly and rapidly. I'll be afraid to use the self cleaning oven for fear it will burn out the electronics. The Bertazzoni burners take an extra 3 seconds to start. The oven needs to be started with the door ajar. Some of the ovens I looked at have oven burners that will light with a match others don't. I liked the write ups on the Blue Star but when I saw it - I knew immediately it was not for me. There is a great deal of discussion about open burners vs. closed burners. I really liked the American Range but didn't want to spend that much money and I wanted a stainless steel top and the one I saw was black porcelain. My last oven rusted (a builder's model) so the quality of the stainless steel was very important to me. Take a magnet with you when you shop to see which stainless steel is better. The Bertazzoni went on sale for just under $2000 and I decided to go with that price. Did I get everything I wanted? - not quite. Do I really like my new oven? Absolutely. The look is exactly what I wanted, the stainless steel is high quality, the simmer burner is not low enough, the high speed burner is more than I need. The information says it is not necessary to preheat. There is no indicator beep when it does preheat. It has continuous grates that are the right weight for me and I find the closed burners and stainless steel exceptionally easy to clean. The oven is a little small but preheats rapidly and I think for my family it will be fine. It has good lighting. The fan noise is like my microwave on low. It turns off when you are through cooking. Some ovens keep blowing and continue the noise. Previously, I never used my self cleaning oven and this one doesn't even have one. I miss having a timer and will be buying something hopefully with a long ring. There are no electronics to burn out so I'm hoping I won't have repair problems. I purchased an oven thermometer to check the temperature. Either the oven or the thermometer is slightly off but not enough to cause any problems. I will probably purchase another thermometer to see which is correct. The convection, I assume, will take getting used to and so far I prefer not to use it. I did use it to dehydraate the other day and it worked fairly well making 'kale'. I like the heavy black knobs and I read that some of the stainless metal knobs on other ovens get hot. The black knobs are easy to read after one day of getting used to them and I immediately can tell if they are on or off. In addition, some ovens let heat out the front and possibly get hot. I am used to the ovens that let heat out the back top and don't feel I will get burned that way. I hope someone will make a chart. GOOD LUCK finding the right appliance for you.

  • lloyddoolittle
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You will find that a gas oven actually outperforms an electric oven for most things. A byproduct of the combustion of natural gas (or liquid propane) is water. Consequently you are baking or roasting in a much moister atmosphere than in an electric oven. That's why you will find, for example, gas ovens in bakeries. Both BlueStar and Bertazzoni offer ranges with gas ovens.

    If you need lots of power for stir fry the BlueStar includes several 22,000 BTU burners. The BlueStar will accommodate a round bottomed wok without the use of a wok ring.

    The Bertazzoni has a 15,000 BTU burner that is more efficient than most other 15,000 BTU burners (i.e. Viking, Wolf, etc.) because it is situated closer to the bottom of the pan. Bertazzoni can do this while manufacturers using all 15,000 BTU burners must lower them in order to provide any kind of low simmering capability. The small burner on the Bertazzoni goes down to 750 BTU, providing not only a simmering capability but a keep-warm capability. Bertazzoni, by the way, includes a wok ring with each range.