Uhhh, that's interesting. I haven't read anything on Bluestar's website or in my Bluestar manual to suggest any such wonder! Such a process would require a tremendous amount of heat (over 1000 degrees) and a sophisticated air channeling system.

Maybe this guy is a former car mechanic and he is looking at the metal mesh that covers the convection fan. I'll be you a buck he is making some kind of connection to the honeycomb of a catalytic converter.

Still, he should pass the bong!

-Stooxie

When I was considering a Bluestar rangetop with grill, I talked to the BS rep (not the sales person) about venting. He told me we needed at least 1200cfm to dissipate the heat and smells from grilling. This was last spring. I suspect your information is bogus.

Cheryl

No doubt there are various coatings being developed by makers that try to minimize the oven smells and messes we all dislike. Perhaps the rep heard about something up and coming from the metal coatings side of their business and misunderstood the time frame involved.

I believe the Bluestar broiler uses a large ceramic infrared heating plate above the food to broil the food. The plate gets heated up to about 1800F

I don't know if at this hot temperature there is catalytic activity taking place, or simply the ability to turn more carbon compound into CO2, which is odorless.

Otherwise unless it can accommodate an activated carbon filter, you can't eliminate odor very well.

dcarch

Actually, I've seen ovens that have this kind of system in them. I can't say how effective they are, but they do exist. I also don't know if BlueStar has this or not.

So there really maybe possibly could be such a system in the Bluestat, maybe??

We just seem to be getting so much conflicting information. Today at a different store I was talking with the American Range rep since we are also looking at their Performer series. He told me that even with the 25K of some of the burners on this model and their high power broiler I'd only need 600 cfm with a 30" range.

I promise you on a million dollars there is no such system in the Bluestar-- I have one and no one else on here who has one has ever talked about such a thing.

I have cooked steaks under the broiler and there isn't smoke coming out of the oven, but then again I take it out when it's done?

The broiler is a honeycomb ceramic block that does get hotter than hell but to actually have a catalytic reaction taking place requires known chemical inputs, reactions and outputs. The most commonly used catalytic elements are platinum, palladium and a few others and I promise none of those appear much in my range. :-)

-Stooxie

Fan and duct size are important, but more important is what kind of food you're cooking on the stovetop. Bacon, steaks, stir fry - you may want more fan or larger duct diameter like 8 or 10 inches. A lot of cooking doesn't require a fan. I own a Bluestar and don't use an overhead fan at all, but I wouldn't advocate it.

alexr--Please tell me how it works without a fan at all. I am curious because installing anything other than another downdraft range like we we currently have will involve cost and construction for us. How is it in your kitchen using a powerful Bluestar with no venting at all? I see you wouldn't recommend it. Specifically, what is it that is so troublesome?

stooxie--there isn't smoke coming out of the oven when you broil steaks, but there have to be some byproducts. I wonder what happens. And, on a side note, how are those broiled steaks in the Bluestar compared to something cooked on a grill outside? Thanks.

needinfo1, well, "smoke" is relative. If I broil a steak of course there is some smoke but really very little because I am not actually burning anything. I am caramelizing a lot of protein on the meat and evaporating water. There is some fat splatter and anything that hits the burner is instantly vaporized.

So, I guess I am saying that when I boil a steak I just don't find that much smoke being created in general. This is very different from grilling a steak where you have fats and juices falling directly into the grill being burned (mostly incompletely) which does cause a lot of smoke.

To your point, absolutely there are by-products and they vent out the top of the oven, but I don't think that much "smoke", as i the definition.

Perhaps this is sounding complicated but I don't think it is. I guess I am saying that if you're producing lots of smoke under the broiler you are doing something wrong. Of course there will be some but it shouldn't be anything like a grill where it is bellowing out.

Does that help?

As for the flavor differences? Well, they are just different. Sometimes I grill on the grill, sometimes I broil. The grill will impart a char from the direct heat transfer but it's hard to beat the sheer evenness and searing crust you get from a broiler. For me I get the best of both worlds cooking over hardwood. That gives blazing hot heat (wood coals are HOT) and fantastic flavor.

-Stooxie