Forget about worrying over cubic feet or litres. Look at the actual oven dimensions. How wide, how deep, and how tall. Then look at the pans or baking sheets you're intending to use. Will they fit? if so, then you're in business. What are you planning to cook, anyway, moose?

wa8b, LOL. A couple of Sarah Palin jokes came immediately to mind but I digress...you make a good point. We do a lot of baking around the holidays. Ideally I'd like to be able to fit 4 standard cookie sheets in the oven at the same time...that shouldn't be a problem with an 36" oven, correct?

I too am considering the Albertine. Since this is a newer model not many dealers have one on display. We called the US distributor and found one yesterday to look at.

The biggest difference I could see is the depth of the rack. While the spec sheet says the oven is 15.3" deep the actual rack measured only 12.5" deep. This is about 1.5"-3.5" narrower than the other 36" ranges I measured yesterday (Bertazonni, Thermador, GE Monogram, Wolf).

The oven comes with 2 standard racks, a roasting/broiler rack which has a roasting tray and rack and a cookie sheet tray.

I measured the width of a standard cookie sheet and it's 12" so the 12.5" should probably be fine. I will also have a 30" wall oven so for me not sure the depth will be a problem.

I like the look of the stove but the sides didn't look as beautiful as the front. Again, probably not an issue as you won't see them because the cabinetry will be next to them.

I was totally convinced this was the range I wanted but after seeing yesterday I'm a little less convinced. Still leaning towards it because I don't want a real professional/stainless looking range.

I've attached a link to the specs in case you want more details.

Here is a link that might be useful: La Cornue Cornufe specs

I can't pass up sharing this little comment... I had posted it over on Kitchens last week.

I was walking into an appliance showroom with DH and in the front window there was a large La Cornue. Conversation went like this: Me:"OH!" DH: "Oh what?" Me: "The stove... it's a La Cornue". DH: "Stove? I thought it looked like a casket".

Please don't take offense... I just thought it was humorous. They are beyond gorgeous and out of my budget.

Does anyone know what kind of oven Sarah Palin uses to cook moose?

andybp, thanks for sharing the oven specs. As it turns out, I have gone in another direction entirely with regards to the range. Although my house is over 100 years old and we are keeping the vintage character in the new kitchen, we are also adding industrial type elements for a "vintage with a twist" feel. After discussing this at length on the kitchen forum, I have come to realize that my range , like the rest of my appliances and fixtures, should be pro-style. So I am back to researching the thermadors, wolfs, bluestars. The *only* non-pro style range that I could see maybe working in my kitchen design is the Bertazzoni Heritage, because its metal-trim-with-rivets look is sort of a vintage/industrial combo. But in terms of function, I'm not sure how I feel about it: much lower BTUs( not necessarily an issue) , European style ignition system (pain in the neck?) no temperature gauge and a pretty shallow oven. I'll have to do some more research but I'm pretty sure I'll be going in the pro-style direction.

Well, on the short list there is the American Range, the Bluestar, the Thermador Pro Grand, the Wolf, the (new) Viking, and the Electrolux! Now that I am no longer concerned with oven capacity (any one of these is plenty spacious), I can compare other features, such as BTU's, open burners vs closed, stainless vs. porcelain cooktop, and my new dilemma, which I should do a search on in this forum: all gas or duel fuel? I don't mind either (I've had both) but given a choice, which is generally preferred? I used to hear that dual fuel was best because electric was better for baking and such, but then I read that chefs generally prefer all gas, and with gas ranges offering convection heat, there really is no need for an electric oven. Plus gas fuel produces a more humid heat, which will prevent roasts and such from becoming dry. Again, I'm not sure about the validity of any of this, so need to do some more research. The Bluestar seems like a great option. The price is lower than some of the other pro-ranges and the colors are beautiful. You can also opt for chrome knobs instead of the black ones which I think would make it look more like it belongs in your home as opposed to on your back patio. And you can get brass trim but the upcharge is pricey. Let me know if you have any other good leads!

I too am wondering about gas versus dual fuel. Will also have a wall oven so was thinking could do all gas for range and electric for wall oven.

Just a bit of feedback on Viking and Wolf. I have two sisters and we all love to cook. One of my sisters has a Viking cook top and wall ovens, the other has a Wolf range and a Dacor wall oven.

The one with Viking is very unhappy with both. She bought these after replacing Dacor wall ovens that she had some issues with. The Viking wall ovens were over $7K and have been nothing but a problem. She has been without them since just after Thankgiving and finally had a service call last week which was useless. The service man spent over 3 hours on them and couldn't fix them. Only managed to break her cabinetry. She now wishes she'd never replaced her Dacor ovens. She also has a Viking cook top and is very unsatisfied. It does not simmer well and doesn't always light quickly. Having used these in her home has convinced me that Viking is out of the question however not sure what the "new" Viking is.

Now about the Wolf range. My sister's is dual fuel and quite beautiful however she told me today that if she had to to it all over again she wouldn't buy the Wolf because it takes way too long to boil water. She is very happy with her Dacor wall oven and was surprised to hear that two dealers I spoke with discouraged me from buying Dacor due to maintainence issues.

The more I read about the Blue Star, the more I like it. Only challenge is that I was convinced on the GE Monogram Wall oven and now not so sure it will look good with the Blue Star.

All of the cubic foot ratings for appliances id nonsense. It is simply not telling you usable space and that is what is needed. The largest gas ovens available in ranges reguardless of size can be fond in BlueStar and American. If you look inside DCS and others they have no usable height. The best way to do this is to take a look yourself and not rely on manufacturer propaganda.

Not to hijack the conversation, but I'm also oven shopping, though with very different products, and was concerned with oven capacity. We're looking at 30" convection wall ovens. I brought a half-sheet pan--something we use often--to the showroom with me to compare oven sizes. None of the ovens would take the pan front-to-back, though some came close. But then, neither does my current non-convection oven. All of them would take it sideways. The width of the ovens was virtually identical, the height reasonably close, but the depth did vary a fair amount. The Bosch was clearly the biggest. Whether this will matter much in cooking, though, is probably doubtful. If a sheet pan won't fit side to side in any of them, but other things like casserole dishes will fit in even the shallowest, I may be worrying over nothing.

For us, it turns out to be fairly moot: when the installer came out to measure, it turned out we had a limited range of sizes that would work because of height restrictions in our existing cabinetry. Only the GE, Kitchenaid, and a no-longer-available Jenn-Air would work. We're ordering the Kitchenaid--it seems to have more bells and whistles than the GE, and I'm not sure GE quality is as good as it should be. Also, the salesman we saw at Expo Design had a strong preference for the Kitchenaid and claimed to have it in his own home. On top of all that, it's cheaper.

LOVESUMMER, I AM ALSO LOOKING AT CONVECTION WALL OVENS IM CURIOUS HOW IS THE KA OVEN WORKING OUT DID YOU SELF CLEAN YET? B/C IM HESITANT TO BUY B/C HEARD HORROR STORIES. OTHERWISE SEEMS O.K. MY OTHE CHOICES ARE GE MONOGRAM OR FISHER PAYKEL IF YOU COULD RESPOND HERE OR BY E-MAIL ID APPRECIATE IT. shshy5@aol.com

shoshy5, I just ordered the KA oven, don't have it yet. But in my reading on this forum it seems like they've solved the self clean problems of a previous generation of this appliance. Someone posted a Service Pointer at https://secured.whirlpool.com/Service/SrvTechAdm.nsf/d12cd4888abce86285256a42005ea985/0994bddb7743bcdd8525751a006fb48e/$FILE/4317445.pdf which has model numbers for ovens with self-clean problems. The one I ordered isn't included.

lovesummer have you used your oven , have you self cleaned, are you satisfied ? thanks shani