They both make a 'range top' and a 'cook top' style. The Bluestar burners have better coverage of the pan bottom, and (I think) is the easier to keep looking nice.

This concerns rangetop comparison...Not sure whether you really are comparing rangetops with the knobs on the front face or drop-in cooktops with the knobs on the top surface. I think you really need to study them in person to see which you think would be easier for YOU to keep clean, and which appeals to you more. You will get opposing views here, none are wrong, and both brands have very positive reports. Both have excellent reputations for performance quality and customer service. I didn't want boil overs and other spills clear down into the BS. I felt it looked like a small child could fall through the gaps. (That is a huge exaggeration, I know.) Anyway, I just am not one to like taking everything clear apart to get it clean, and thought the Wolf rangetop was going to suit my style of dealing with things better. I also preferred every burner to be the same power, so I could organize my pans the way that was most convenient for me, based on size and the contents' need for attention, rather than choosing pan location by burner power. I didn't feel I'd need more power than the 16K BTUs offered by the Wolf, and liked the simmer, again on each burner.

Thanks Rhome410. I guess I should have been more precise - it's the drop-in with the knobs on the top. After having had an electric coil top for 17 years, anything will be an improvement!

I have the BS rangetop, if I was going for the drop-in I'd compare how you get into it to clean stuff that drops through.

That said, I LOVE my BS. I love how fast I can boil water, I love having the high heat and the ability to cook on a real wok, and still get gentle heat when I want it.

Interestingly, I came to the exact same idea (12" induction and 30" Bluestar cooktop) about a week ago. We're still in the crazy dream stage of the kitchen and haven't even talked to designers yet.

I'm curious how you were thinking of arranging things. I didn't know if it'd be good to have them up against one another. I thought of the induction top, a 12" counter of some kind, and then the Bluestar, all under a 60" hood. If they were against each other I'd go with a 48" hood.

Hi Chairthrower - great dreamers think alike! Our GC (who is also doing the KD) is coming back next week with a couple of layouts for us to take a look at - so the question of layout will be determined once we see exactly how much space we have to work with.

I was thinking side by side, under a 48" hood, because even though we're expanding by pushing out an exterior wall, the existing kitchen (and house overall) is not very big.

Regardless, I'm very excited about the idea of having both gas and induction. As I've never had either, I think it will give us great flexibility (and as has been noted elsewhere on this forum) the option of cooking without overheating the kitchen. Once the designs come back and we figure out what we're doing, I'll report back in. (have decided definitively on the BS, BTW).

Does anyone sell a portable single-burner induction unit? If so, does it simply plug into 120V? I can see having one of those in addition to our 36" Wolf rangetop, primarily for big water boiling tasks. I hope using it near (but not under) our 42" hood will allow for sufficient ventilation.

I was thinking it would be really nice to have a space under the hood for small appliances to vent. I'd love to do coffee roasting, and having it under the hood is probably a necessity.

I too am worried about 5 feet of space for the cooking though. Even if we expanded as much as we could, it might be tight. But for me this is all about the cooking (stir frying, pastas, sauces) and the cooktop will be the focal point.

That is exactly what we are doing. We went with the 48" Wolf Grill/Griddle/4 burner and are putting a single induction unit in the island for water or just to heat something up quick - we went with a commercial induction unit that cost +/- $400 But the added cost of pots (because you have to have special to use) Put us closer to $650 for all. But I think it will definaltey be used and a cool feature to the islans. When not being used it will just look like a black 12" x 12" plate.

I was unaware that Blue Star made a drop in so I went out and looked at it and it is one of the nicest drop-ins I have seen. It has most of the same features of the "rangetop" style including the 22k burners. The 30 inch has 2-22K, 1-15 and a simmer burner while the Wolf has 1 15K, 1-12K and 2- 9.2K burners. That means to me that the Blue Star has much more power at about 65K BTU capacity compared to Wolf at 45K BTU; that's pretty huge. And the Blue Star looks really nice. Have you considered the 36 inch in either the drop in or range top style? You get a lot more versatility IMO with those, especially when you convert to the "range top" style by putting the knobs in front and opening up space for additional burners. In our last house, I had a 36 inch Wolf range that basically has the range top on top of it. I had the six burner model and routinely ran out of room. I now have a 60 inch Blue Star RNB with 8 burners and a grill. During the holidays (we just moved in in December) I put the BS through the paces. Never ran out of room but it was FULLY involved a lot of the time.

I also went through the deliberations of going with a 48 inch BS unit combining induction with the range top or full range. In the end, I did not want to deal with specific pots for induction as opposed to some of my favorites (that I already own a lot of) that won't work on induction. So I just settled on the BS with the killer 22K burners (and they are KILLER!). Also, a year ago when I was making my decisions, induction was just comeing back into vogue only now it looks like it is here to stay.

Chipshot,
Circulon sells a portable induction unit circulon induction It lists for $249. I saw today that Fagor makes one that Sur La Table sells for $199.95. Fagor induction I bought the Circulon because we are trying to decide whether or not to get an induction cooktop. So far, we like it, but it does hum. The noise bothers my DH enough that we will buy an induction cooktop only if we can listen to it and feel it is not noisy.

Obviously great minds think alike. We are getting ready to build and as much as I want induction IÂm not sure I donÂt want gas too. So we are going to get most likely the Wolf 30 range top and their 2 burner induction. IÂve even had thoughts of putting their steamer in. Any input on the Wolf steamer? We really appreciate all of the input. There are far too many decisions in building. ItÂs just exhaustingÂ..

I just dug up this thread after posting my own a couple days ago (called Gas AND Induction?). I too am looking at the 30 or 36-inch BS and the 12" Diva induction. Not sure yet whether we want the drop-in cooktop or the range cooktop. Some folks think the drop-in doesn't take a wok in the well, but requires a wok ring. Anybody know? The benefit of putting the wok directly into the well was a huge attraction for me.

I just cooked on a Bluestar last night, using a wok in a Thai cooking class. Yep, the wok goes right in there. Stand back, you are working with heat!

I am building a new home and have 48" of range space currently allotted. I had not heard about the gas/induction option. Are there any ranges that incorporate both? My dream stove has 5 gas burners, one induction burner, and an ACCURATE and even oven!

My opinion on the grill: don't barbecue indoors! Even with the super=charged range hoods, we had to open all of the doors and we were freezing! It does work, but your house will be smoky no matter what.

I also want a griddle that I can set on the range, not one of those stainless steel jobs that are integral. They don't look very good, aren't non-stick, and I don't use them that often. I'm not running a restaurant; I just want the heat and accuracy that ranges like Bluestar give.

I'm of two minds about it. I don't think it's as pretty as Dacor (my current range), but the heat is definitely more even.

Also, Bluestar has not solved the "which burner am I turning on?" problem. But to be fair, who has?

Add another like-minded person to this bunch. Last night, before reading this or any similar post, I remarked to DH that maybe I should swap the planned 36" AG BS range for a 30" range and a two-burner induction hob. Not sure what that does in terms of space and configuration -- that is, what challenges it introduces -- but I thought it would be great to have the induction to use in the summer especially, and for boiling big pots of water for pasta quickly. Also just intrigued by the technology. And it looks cool.

That said, it can't and won't ever take the place of gas for me -- I need to see and control the flame. I also grill eggplant directly over the open flame.

We too are looking at integrating a 30" gas and 2-hob induction unit. Haven't decided on a brand, but we're most interested in BS and DCS for gas, and Wolf or ??? for induction. Someone on this forum suggested that we might do better power-wise by choosing the units separately than going with one the integrated modules (e.g., Wolf).

Lots of action since I posted! An update - we have definitely decided on the BS 36" cooktop, and a 12" 2 hob induction unit for the island.

jcla - check the thread below for a discussion on whether the drop-in BS takes a wok, or requires a wok ring. From the sounds on this post, it seems so. The thread is "Cooktop vs. Drop In Cooktop" (in case the link doesn't work). It's why I've decided on the cooktop, plus I'm gaining an extra burner. Along with Wolf, other induction units to consider would be Cooktek (lots of fans on this site) and Diva.

tvbaby - was it a cooktop/range or the drop-in?

Saty tuned for a post on the proposed kicthen layout!

Elizabeth

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooktop vs Drop in Cooktop

I was on Wolf's web site, and they seem to have "modules." it looks like if you just want a cooktop, you could combine a gas module with an induction module and even a grill. That might be worth looking into.

I cooked up a storm on my Dacor today, and I must say that the oven baked a flourless chocolate cake, peanute butter cookies, roasted asparagus, dinner rolls, and roasted new potatoes perfectly. The temperature was accurate throughout. You have to be careful with the big oven, though--if you turn up the temp, the infrared broiler goes on and may burn what you have in there. (I lost two crescent rolls, but ce la vie.)

I cannot make up my mind to save my life. I made a list of pros and cons:

Dacor

Pros:
6 burners not 8
larger grates = larger working area
better looking, nicer finish
dual fuelÂelectric oven
self-cleaning
shelf on backsplash
clock, timer, etc.
known quantity

Cons:
pricey
little oven is flaky
not so much power

BlueStar

Pros:

more heat
more even heat
costs less
less likely to break down
all parts of rangetop removable, dishwasher safe
comes in colors!

Cons:

looks cheaper
no dual fuel
rangetop is "gappier", tolerances too great
ugly backsplash
no self-clean
why no window in little oven? Looks weird
exterior of ovens get hot; knobs get hot? (This problem may have been fixed.)

tvbaby - you've identified some of the reasons why I'm going with a cooktop, and doing separate wall ovens. I'm keen on a gas cooking surface, but want a self-cleaning convection oven. Re the backsplash: sure, it's not attractive, but seems fuctional for high heat cooking. What would you plan to put behind your Dacor? Could that be an option for a BS?

For what it's worth, we're going with Turbo Chef wall ovens.

Well, the Dacor has a very nice 9" riser. I don't know whether you could purchase that separately and use it with a BlueStar. It certainly would buff up the look of the range.

So does anyone on this thread have experience with the heat-up time of the Bluestar Oven? I've heard 30-45 minutes, and in some cases an hour!

The Dacor heats up super-fast because the infra-red broiler turns on to help.

I can't believe I'm going to buy another Dacor--I will always covet the 22K btue of Bluestar, but I just can't give up baking, on top of all the other sacrifices!

tvbaby - there was someone a while back who had a defective Bluestar whose oven took way to long to preheat and never really got to temperature - I think that's what you may be remembering

OK, maybe the only solution is to go and bake in the showroom. I've tried the burners and grill, but haven't baked yet.

Another thing my husband point out is that the front of the BS is not beveled, so if you bump into the corners as they project out, it's going to hurt.

That looks good. It might work in my kitchen. But I have to put a full range in, so it will project out no matter what. The Dacor is beveled on the front of the range and on the handles of the oven.

Anway, I need an oven that heats up fast, so that will be the real test. If anyone can test their oven and tell me how long it takes to it hit 400F, I'd be very grateful.

Oven preheat times are more related to size. Depending on the mfg's bell is usually quite different than using a reliable oven thermometer to test the temp. It usually takes 5-15 min longer for the oven temps to actually stabilize at the temp you're aiming for. And 36" oven takes proportionately longer to heat than a 27" or 30" size; a large percentage of BS owners have the 36" and 48" ranges.

Just an update: I baked two pizzas and a gingerbread cake in the Bluestar. I overcooked the pizzas with the convection, but it was my fault. They cooked pretty evenly and quickly. The gingerbread cooked at 350F was perfect.

I cooked in the larger ovens, and it took a about 18 minutes to hit 400, 13 minutes to hit 350. The temp did not seem to vary that much.

The outside of the oven doors and the kick plate got VERY hot--probably too hot for a family with very small children. I expect this would heat your kitchen up pretty quickly when you bake. This is because the BS is not insulated for self-clean. Still, I found this level of heat transfer unacceptable. The Dacor barely gets warm on the outside.

So I'm still on the fence. It's a touch choice.

I am considering buying the 30 inch natural gas drop-in cooktop from Blue Star. Our current budget allows for Formica like surface (since we are not doing a full kitchen remodel just replacing cooktop. We will be turning our existing bar/cooktop area to a flat kitchen peninsula. Do I have to worry about the Formica and and the 22k BTU? Do I have to go with a stone surface?

We are replacing our current set up because it is a fire hazard as the bar was not built correctly and the only two burners have made burn marks. I do not want to encounter yet another problem.

I am also concerned with the stories about customer service and ignition problems. It also seems that less and less people are carrying Blue Star.

I want a solid unit that will be easy too fix that has high quality burners. We cook lots of pasta (fast boiling water is important) and I have a high quality saute pan that I am looking forward to putting to use.