Range Top Questions ~Monogram~ Thermador ~ Wolf + Too many BTUs?

12 years ago

Hi All,

So we're getting a new bigger kitchen and I could use some feedback on range tops (all 36", 6 burner, sealed range tops).

I'm leaning toward, either GE Monogram or Thermador. They both have 18,000BTU burners.

Questions:

1)If I put a small sauce/rice pan over the large 18k BTU burner, wouldn't the flame over shoot the bottom of the pot? Isn't this bad for cooking?

2)Does anyone like thermador? All i read are bad reviews.

3)Any Feedback on the Monogram? It has a 2 year warranty which is nice and I am under the impression its made by DCS.

4) Wolf makes the best looking range by far, why on earth are they only 15k btu?!

They are all about the same cost, so in my mind its nice to have the option to have a decent sear and wok cooking temp. I don't want to get 18k BTUs when i currently only use smaller pots and pan and it doesn't make sense (I do have a growing family to consider).

thank you all for reading this! Any feedback would be great!

Featured Answer

antss

12 years ago

dee- 15k btu's with a cast iron pan heated for a 5-10 min. will sear the he** out of anything. Sure the 18k will boil water faster than the 15k everything else being equal, but if one is really concerned about quickly boiling a huge pot of water then induction is hands down the winner, not even close. P.S. don't confuse sauteing with searing. 15,ooo btu is plenty for sauteing as the piece size should be fairly small and uniform.

jmith- you are simply misinformed, or are just biased regarding simmer plates. They are not necessary with some cooktops/burner designs. Your not caring for simmer burners is one thing - but that's not the same thing them not working or being a gimmick. I'll match the end results with several tops against you and any cooktop + simmer plate of your choosing. You pick the item to be simmered too. There's no substitute for skill. The reason many frenchies don't have a simmer burner is because of the style of cooking. The myriad of sauces that sit all night on their "french tops" is just more convenient especially in their smaller kitchens.

But, this is not really a discussion of commercial equipment vs. commercial "looking" domestic units. This discussion is not about "open burner" configurations either. Tony specifically asked about sealed burner rangetops.

Tony - Wolf is not really any more or less profitable than the other high line marques. They are touted often because they offer a good product, are reliable -so offer the least risk for dealer and customer, have good support networks, and have market cache.

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Comments (17)

deeageaux
12 years ago
1) Yes, all standard sealed burners "overshoot" the bottom of the pan. Yes,that is bad for cooking. No such thing as "too many BTUs" only incorrecty aimed BTUs. At least for ranges authorized for residential use.

2)I think the bad Thermador reviews are for the ovens. I think the sealed star burners would be better than the standard ones. I have never used these burners. And open burners are the best. I have used these.

3)Monogram ranges/rangetops used to be made by DCS. Now GE makes them.

4)A) Is a matter of opinion and B) Only Wolf can answer that.
antss
12 years ago
BTUs and flame pattern/ size have little to do with each other. It has more to do with the burner size and shape.

Tdor uses a star shape to bring flames to the center, wolf has multiple rings in their large burners as do others.

You should also keep in mind that some of these BTU ratings are suspect as manufactures often play games as there is no regulatory body.

15,000 btu is plenty for 99.9 % of home cooks, is 3000 more btu's better ? Sure, if you are boiling water in a large pot,or woking. Not so relevant if you are making a sunny side up egg.

Here's a test : how often do you have your current burner on full power/ xtra high? if it's 50% of the time or more , you might benefit from the xtra btu's. If you're like most, you use med. to med/high or simmer the most.

18,000 sure does look impressive on that sales literature and sounds big if one is comparing johnsons, I mean ranges at the club.
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weissman
12 years ago
With a small pot, the flames will overshoot the bottom IF you turn it up too high. I have an 8 year old DCS range that has all large burners (the new ones have a mix) and I learned pretty quickly that there's no reason to crank the burners up high for small pots. In fact, I generally only crank the burners to maximum with a large pot to boil water or with my woks and in those cases the flames don't overshoot. When I use my tea kettle to boil water I keep the flame much lower, it doesn't overshoot, and the water still boils fairly quickly.
deeageaux
12 years ago
On a small pot if you keep the sealed burner low the flames will not overshoot but the heat will.

15k BTU is not plenty if you want to actually sear or saute and not simply pretend to sear or saute when you are actually para-boiling.

Most home cooks sear or suate more than .1% of the time.

Not to mention faster boiling times for pasta and quicker recover times after dumping cold food.
bonesoda
12 years ago
Just my 0.02 as i am in the market for a new rangetop as well.
For me having all the burners be same btu was important.
Having a grill was not a huge issue.

In terms of smaller pots and simmering you should really be using a simmer plate on any gas range if the pan is For quality and what's reliable on here i find everyone loves bluestar and capital rangetops.

I have seen the capital and it is very well built and seems durable.

I have seen the bluestar and it is also very well built and seems durable.

I think one should look into one of those brands as well.

If you are serious about cooking and not getting the rangetop for resale or flash factor i would not bother with wolf and i would not bother with sealed burners.

As for how many btu's are needed as people said above you would sear use high heat
weissman
12 years ago
Actually Monogram, Wolf and DCS burners have dual burner rings which provides an incredibly low simmer WITHOUT the need for a simmer plate on any sized pot.
bonesoda
12 years ago
i have used wolf simmer and i was not happy at all. Plus their open burners are not open but semi open.

Also simmer plate is a must no matter what for sauces.

I don't care for "simmer" burner or "simmer feature" on ovens as its just a gimmick and no matter what it will never be as even and efficient as a simmer plate.

There is a reason why french ranges don't have simmer burners.
weissman
12 years ago
jmith - I will respectively disagree with you. The simmer on all the burners on my DCS range is absolutely incredible - I can melt butter and forget about it without it burning, I can simmer sauces without any problem and I have accidently left things for hours without them burning. I have never used a simmer plate with these burners and will never need to. The simmer on the Wolf dual fuel (sealed burners) are similar to the DCS but I have not tried the Wolf all gas burners which I agree are different.
attofarad
12 years ago
> Also simmer plate is a must no matter what for sauces.

One of the reasons I'm going to induction.

I have a friend with the Thermador gas rangetop, and he is quite pleased with it.
TonySak
Original Author
12 years ago
Wow thanks for all the quick responses!

I'm not a cook and my current kitchen came with the house and is 40years old (no vent). I think once I get it complete, I'll be cooking quite a bit and would like to have some decent sears and wok action.

If it was just me I would get an open burner but my the sealed burners look nicer ect. All the sales guys I talk to push me toward wolf, i'm sure due to profit margins.

Does anyone have any experience with the monogram or the thermador 6 burner rage tops or ranges, in terms of reliability? These things are $3k a whack, the last thing I want is a unit that requires a lot of costly repairs.
TonySak
Original Author
12 years ago
Also there is a youtube clip of the monogram range and the guy but a $5 bill on the burner with it on simmer and it didn't burn. I'm really just looking for the best range top in terms of performance, reliability and cost.
bonesoda
12 years ago
weissman, not a problem... everyone has a different style, approach and routine.

For me i like all my burners to be same btu and i don't care for simmer as i can slap on a simmerplate and get even temp no matter what and i can use 4"-8" pans on it easily.

I like my burners to be full range and cover as much surface area as possible for other applications.

so for me sealed is not acceptable and neither are multiple btu burners.

If you or anyone else has used commercial 30+k btu burners you know all the consumer level gas ranges are just all gimmickry, atleast for what and how i use my ranges.
bonesoda
12 years ago
I have already derailed this thread and my appologies to the OP for that.

antss.

My point was when buying a range/rangetop or cooktop whatever that is gas a simmer burner is not a deal breaker. If one had all same btus on all burners a simmer plate can come in when/if the range does not accommodate small pots or does not have a simmer burner. To me having a simmer is a gimmick and to me is not a necessary option to have. True; blustar, capital, wolf have simmer burners... i have only used the wolf one and i did not care for it.

So yes i am biased and yes i am inexperienced with capital blustar or other manufacturers that have simmer burner (besides wolf).

I personally would want all gas all btus same for all burners and simmer burner is not a necessity for me.
weissman
12 years ago
jmith - just to be clear, Monogram, DCS, and Wolf dual fuel do not have a simmer burner - all of the burners are capable of a very low simmer - they use a dual stacked burner design - two burner rings one on top of the other - as you turn the burner down, the upper ring cuts out and all the flame comes from the lower simmer ring and it is a very low simmer - the simmer ring is as wide as the other ring, not an inner ring like on the Wolf all gas that you're familiar with. My DCS essentially has all the burners the same size (4 16K burners and 1 17.5K burner) and all the burners have the low simmer so I don't have to move pots around or insert a simmer plate under a pot - I just turn the burner down. Just wanted to clarify this as you seem to not be familiar with this burner design. And, by the way, I have cooked on a commercial Garland range but I'm quite satisfied with my DCS at home and don't consider it gimmicky in any way.
bonesoda
12 years ago
weissman,

your dcs sounds like something i would buy because of all burners same btu.

The capital has the "simmer" i am now more curious to see how that works out for me.

Ironically i am looking at the capital which was designed by the same guy who more than likely did your dcs.
scott_home
12 years ago
We use a wok to cook every meal (Asian cooking). 15 btu on a sealed burner is ok but not great. The problem is the cold spot in the center of the burner. The bigger the sealed ring, the bigger the cold spot unless additional flame comes out in the middle. That is why an open burner is better.

I am looking for a gas cooktop myself and would love to have a BlueStar (open burner and even flame distribution in the whole ring, not just the perimeter, 22k btu). But my wife wants a sealed burner because of easy cleaning. So we will buy a sealed burner cooktop instead.

To sum it up, you should look at the burner shape or flame distribution besides the btu.

Range Top Questions ~Monogram~ Thermador ~ Wolf + Too many BTUs?

antss

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