Well, can answer some of your questions from our experiences. We have a DCS AG 36 with 6 burners. Have had all 6 on full blast and the oven on no problem.

To your questions. We love ours. We've had ours since Dec 3rd so not that long, but we cook quite a bit so it is most certainly not one of those ranges that are purchase just to show and never used. We use it daily. Our oven cavity is quite large being the 36 so it does take a bit to heat up to true temp. We go by a thermometer and not the ready light. From what I've read though, pretty much all 36's are this way. We just prep while it is warming and by the time we are done it is ready to go. Burners work really well. Most of our pans take only low to med low for setting so that flame is not going up the side of the pan. With the DCS this is plenty of heat! Our large stock pans that used to take ages to come up to temp now can be turned to High/med high and come up to temp quickly! Used to turning all the burners on full blast with our old range so was a bit of a learning curve with the DCS. Don't have to do it with this one as provides plenty of power even in lower ranges. Pans come to a boil quickly and recover quickly once things added. Thought we wanted a black top range when looking. Decided on the DCS and love the stainless finish. The finish is different than the exterior of the range and we've found it super easy to keep that and the grates clean with just a wipe with a damp sponge and a dry with a towel. Oh, just had a thought, but did see some Youtube videos on DCS ranges. Found them while trying to decide on what range to buy. Do a search on Youtube and have a look. Know there is some on cooking and the burners etc. Worth a watch.

Can't answer too much on the convection as still working with it. Our old range was not convection. We've used it a few times. First time was for shortbread on essentially a full sheet pan so it covered the whole rack front to back and side to side. Forgot to reduce the temp by 25 degrees and did notice that the area right in front of the fan seemed to be getting browner faster than the rest of the sheet. Could be somewhat due to temp.
We have cooked pizza on a stone on the bottom rack. These worked really well with the dough and toppings evenly done and really nice.
Not sure on the true convection part so can't say as I don't remember from the specs. Would think a call to DCS would confirm for sure.

The convection fan on ours is not loud. With ours we can hardly tell it is on.

We've not found the oven door to get hot and don't remember the top getting hot with the oven on, but not really checked as we are often cooking on and in both. Ours has a lip that looks like a pull out tray or something (isn't one it is just decorative on ours as sealed burners all around and no need for a tray) just above the oven door and below the knobs. When checking for what might get hot (we have a small nosey pet) I did find that this lip was warm, but not uncomfortable to the touch. Probably part of the air circulation system to keep everything cool. Ours also has a large slot vent at the rear as well. Would be tough to touch the lip really as leaning on it a bit the oven door handle would stop you and on the knob side there is no reason to reach there. You sort of have to reach in to on purpose touch it if that makes sense. I would not think it would be an issue, but if concerned see if your dealer can hook one up to a supply for you to test it.

We've found the dual burners on all spots to be really nice. Don't have to shuffle pans to get one on the only simmer burner on the range. Just leave the pan where it is and turn the dial to simmer. We actually use this feature quite a bit. Works well! We've found that with just the low setting there is still quite a bit of heat (enough to keep a covered oxtail stew bubbling away) and so you have to watch it and stir here and there or you will have things overdone. Turn it to the simmer burner which ignites the lower ring and we've left mushrooms in butter sitting on simmer for 20 minutes while finishing other items no problem. Great!

Ours is a manual clean so can't comment there. No Capital for us to look at so no help there.

Anyway, hope what I've posted helps. I wish the search feature was running 100 percent as I and some others have posted in detail on some of the operation part of the range. "In a nut shelled" it for you above.

Cheers

I'll second what pggirl said. I've had a 30" self-cleaning AG DCS for over 5 years and I'm still pleased with it.

The only areas I've noticed getting hot is the back vent and the very top of the toe-kick but you have to stick you finger way in.

True gas convection is marketing hype - there's no third element like in a true convection electric range. The range is gas convection with a fan and it works very well - great for roasts and poultry. I have baked multiple racks of cookies just fine. I'm not an avid baker but cookies, muffins, popovers, souffles and cakes seem to come out fine. For souffles and popovers I don't use convection. By the way, I don't turn the oven down 25 degrees on convection - I just watch for doneness - things generally take less time.

Self-clean works ok. There's a small area at the front bottom of the oven that doesn't get hot enough to self-clean - have to clean that part manually but not a big deal.

Convection fan isn't particularly noisy but my range does have a cooling fan that is a bit noisier.

The burners are fantastic - simmer is amazing - I've left things on by accident and nothing has burned on.

Can't compare to Capital but I'd certainly check it out.

Thank you for the detailed responses, it sounds like its really a great range.

Can you also tell me what ventilation setup do you have for it? I was told that any appropriate rangehood we get with it would need 6" ducts minimum if we ever want to use all five burners on high setting at the same time. We currently have 5" ducts, can change to 6" but, I am wondering if it is necessary if mostly the "low" and "medium/high" settings are used.

Another, probably silly question, if the simmer is that good, would it work like a "warming drawer" when it is needed to keep something warm for a couple hours?

Also, can I see a photo of your range installed in your kitchen if you have one uploaded?

thanks again
annab

5" duct?!? - I'm not sure you can find any hood that will work with a 5" duct and very few that work with 6". I have a 6" duct and got a DCS Eurohood 600 CFM - the hood works okay but it's only 19" deep and stuff does escape from the front of the hood. If you're going to replace the duct which you may well need to do - get at least 8" duct or even 10" - that will greatly increase your choice of hood. You'll want a hood at least 24" deep and ideally 27" deep. Some people will tell you the hood should be 3" wider than the range on each side but in my experience the depth of the capture area is more important than the width.

Here's our DCS 36" all gas 6 burner range. We have it flanked with a Gaggenau induction cooktop and a Gaggenau teppanyaki.

Ok, I'll chime in from the Capital point of view - I have a 48" Precision with griddle - I've had it for about 6 months and I love it. It has a rotisserie and self clean. I've not used the self clean feature (or the rotisserie, I'm sorry to say) - I tend to wipe up as I go so I don't have to use the feature unless absolutely necessary. (My last range, the only time I used the self clean was when I sold it!) But I like knowing it's there.

I didn't really look at DCS, although it's true that the people at Capital started DCS. The ranges certainly look similar as you can see.

Convection fan is not loud at all. Our kitchen is open to the family room, and when the fan is on you can easily have a conversation and hear the TV (Without the kids complaining!)The oven door does not get hot when in use. It is a little warm, but not at all uncomfortable - I have 2 young kids and a dog and I've not even worried about it.

The simmer is very good. That was my main issue when buying the range. I wanted the flame lower but a service guy was out today (no problem with the range as it turns out, but the gas from the range was combining with paint fumes and thought there was something wrong) - the service tech looked at the range and said the simmers were terrific as they were. Apparently if you set them lower than specified there cab be an issue of "clicking".

Good luck with your choice. I dont think you can go wrong either way.

Ours is the same range as gizmonike, but not near as nice an install. Still a work in process as we still need to do some sort of back splash behind the counters and move the phone. May do tile as we've done the rest of the remodel of our tiny kitchen all diy on a very limited budget, probably shows ;-)

Range hood wise we are supposed to have something like 900+ cfm according to the formulas. We ended up finding a KitchenAid (did I spell that right?) on clearance at Lowes. We liked the fact that it was 24" deep, had good lights, a nice well under it to capture smoke and steam so it can be sucked out and baffle filters. We ducted it straight up and out of the roof using a 7" duct which the instructions said was okay. Could not use larger due to obstructions. We've found it to work just fine even though it is only 600cfm. Even with steaks searing and smoking like crazy and while doing wok cooking we've not had a problem. You can see the smoke, steam etc. getting sucked into the vent even from the front burners. Most of the time we just run the vent on low or medium and it works fine. Only time we put it on high is with the afore mentioned searing or wok use.

Click the link to see it and please excuse our home done efforts. Wish I could figure out how to post the pictures in the text, but the link seems to work fine.
Cheers

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1382254}}

Great photos! Thank you very much for sharing.

Weissman, we are currently planning for a wood hood with an insert. I am not sure, I haven't fully researched this one yet, but is it possible that with the same 6" duct, the wood hood would allow for more depth than a metal hood? Again, I have to check it out. We currently have a 19" deep wood hood and I would like something a little bigger but we have an old house and there is little room between the floors so the duct is hidden in a soffit which starts in a hallway behind the kitchen and then runs above a bathtub in a bathroom. I think we may be limited in what we can do there.

I've had the 30" AG for about a year and a half now, no problems and a real pleasure to use. The oven temp was off at first, but it was a simple adjustment to recalibrate. I haven't used convection all that much, but the fan is quiet. The cooktop is the real star I suppose. The range had just been redesigned when I bought it, with rolling-racks for the oven (great!) and with two smaller burners on top. There was a bit of groaning about the latter "downgrade" at the time, but I've found the smaller burners very useful.

The back of the cooktop and the toekick do get hot as others have said, but on my range, after an hour or so of oven use, everything from the top of the door up is warm/hot to the touch. You can touch it, but you wouldn't want to keep your hand there. The door itself is not hot, but the fake drip tray trim, the panel behind the knobs, the knobs themselves, and the bullnose/shelf above get pretty toasty.

Again, back when I bought the range there was a lot of heated (pun intended) discussion about this. I figure many ranges exhibit this heat transfer to some degree - my dad's Frigidare range is too hot to touch just above the oven door - and it's been a non-issue for me. I did mention it to DCS tech support when they helped me calibrate the oven, and they sent me a new set of knobs to try. They are identical in looks, but lighter in weight and don't transfer as much heat. If you are concerned about this I would encourage you to find a showroom with a working range to try out. It's also possible the self-cleaning model may have more insulation and transfer less heat, but I couldn't say with any authority. I can say that that alone wouldn't be enough for me pony up an extra $1k.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Frankoma, a bit off topic, but how did you recalibrate the oven to correct temp? Ours is a bit off and we've just been putting it up a little bit. The instruction book says non-adjustable so if there actually is a way I'd sure like to know.
Nice looking set-up by the way.
Cheers

pggirl - I don't see (or just can't find) anything in my book about the oven being non-adjustable, so you may want to call DCS to check on this for your range. It does talk about adjusting the air shutter on the oven burner, but no mention of this procedure for recalibrating the oven. DCS tech support were very friendly and helpful for me. Also, are you still under warranty? They will send out a technician to do this for you. I was under warranty at the time but they didn't realize it until they'd spilled the beans about the fix! Easier than a service call I thought, but you could have this and the air shutter checked at the same time. Here's what they told me to do:

Remove the oven knob. Inside the stem is a screw; using a tiny screwdriver, turn the screw 1/16"
clockwise = -25 degrees
counterclockwise = +25 degrees

The screw is covered with putty and was a challenge to remove, and the DCS guy said not to worry about replacing it. After a little trial and error you should be able to get your oven temp to where you want it. I guess this adjustment is common to other ranges as well, at least I've seen it mentioned around here before.

The screw is covered with putty and was a challenge to remove, and the DCS guy said not to worry about replacing it.

What I meant to say is the PUTTY was hard to remove; don't take the screw out!

I echo all the above comments, with the exception of the problems we have had with the broiler. You can search on my name for that thread, but I expect it to be rectified this week as we just heard from the service team that our replacement broiler unit and regulator have arrived.

Below is a link to the only picture I have of the unit, excuse my happy mug in the picture, but it was the day of the install and I was putting a rack of lamb in the oven for our first DCS meal! Our Vent-a-Hood is sitting in the living room waiting to be installed, can't wait to get the old Broan 250 cfm hood out of there!

Here is a link that might be useful: DCS Image

Does anyone know what the min. distance between the top of the range and the bottom of the hood should be?

Capt.Dan, how many cfm's does your vent-a-hood have?

I'm currnetly deciding between the DCS & BlueStar (30 inch). Today I finally had the opportunity to see the BlueStar up close and perosnal--loved it. This is going to be a tough decision, I really like both ranges and each have great features and received good reviews. Any input would be greatly appreciated :)

Sparty -- We purchased the model SLH-230 which is rated for 600 CFM, but Vent-a-Hood says it's a 900 CFM equivalent -- whatever that means. Our range spec'd 600 or more, so this VAH model should do the trick. We also had some difficulty finding a high power hood that fit under cabinet and was only 6" tall. Plenty out there in that configuration, but this was the only one we found that had adequate power.

http://www.ventahood.com/hoodmodels.jsp?id=2

Does anyone know what the min. distance between the top of the range and the bottom of the hood should be?

DCS says a min of 30" to a max of 36" above the cooking surface, but if the hood contains combustible materials like a wood cover then a min of 36". Better check local code if you want a wood cover, I seem to recall a BS owner that had trouble with that.

Frankoma - Yes, ours is brand new. Just a matter of dealing with a service call to see about adjustment when if it is as simple as adjusting a screw to dial it in then not bothered getting someone out as that is easy enough. Apart from that I can tweak it how I want it and spend the effort to get it bang on. Thanks for the info.

Spartywarren - according to the DCS book online the minimum from the range top to combustable material is 36 inches (so if you are going to have a cabinet above for instance). This is the measurement directly over the range itself.

Under vent they recommend that the vent is 24" deep x the unit size (30, 36, etc.). Says to consult your local building codes for vent requirements as far as ducting.

For best smoke ellimination the lower edge of the hood should be installed a minimum of 30 inches to a max of 36 inches from the range surface. They say though, that if the hood contains any combustable materials like a wood covering then it must be at the 36" minimum from the range surface.

This is all from the install manual stuff. If you go online to the DCS site and go to the Customer Service tab there is a drop down menu that lists manuals etc. Really useful info to find out electrical and gas hook up information also.

Hope that helps!

Off to adjust the range now.

Cheers

Ha, looks like Frankoma beat me to it! Good on ya!
Cheers

I have a question about the wood-covered hood.

"if the hood contains any combustable materials like a wood covering then it must be at the 36" minimum from the range surface"

Would this work with our 8' ceiling (actually 7'11" in some places)? Our current hood is a wood hood with an insert. The distance between the counter level (also the same as the top of the current range) and the bottom edge of the wood hood is 23". The insert cover (filter?) is 5.5" up inside the wood cover.

Does it mean our hood is currently 28.5" from the range surface and it needs to go up to 36"?

This leaves only about 23" to 24" from the hood to the ceiling. Is it enough?

Or, does it mean that the wood covering has to be 36" away from the range surface? I am hoping it is not the case because that would probably look really out of proportion with an 8' ceiling.

Yes, it means the wood has to be 36" from the range surface - that's a fire precaution. You can probably put a cabinet or some kind of decorative trim above your hood.

how do you level the range using the front legs