I just put a deposit down on a 36" Pro Berta. I'm waiting to find out if I'm eligible for the free hood (I'm getting a really good deal on the range). Does anyone out there have any experience with the Berta and/or the hood? I'm a little leery of such a great offer. Why offer a free $1200 hood when they could offer a free telescoping oven rack or griddle for much less?
Also, has anyone installed a 36"-6 burner range in a tiny kitchen? My kitchen is roughly 8X8' and I need 6 burners 1-2 times a week. Plus, the Berta is affordable and gorgeous!
Thanks for posting this designnov!

>>I'm getting a really good deal on the range

Do tell. Is this a special case, like a floor model?

For a time a few years back, there were quite a few Bertazzoni owners. I'd too love to read about the experience now that the stoves have been being used for a time. I hope someone answers.

Corgibob - Just wondering why you chose the pro over the Master series?

I too hope someone answers...I would love to put down a deposit, but am still a little leary.

I just found out I'm not eligible for the free hood, which is fine. It wouldn't have looked or fit right in my kitchen anyway and I'd lose precious storage space. I was thinking of selling it to cover the cost of a different hood.

Anyway, mine is a floor model which I'm getting for $2300. I think that's pretty good! It's the 36", 6 burner, gas, stainless, freestanding range. I really wanted the white, but it's hardly worth almost twice the price for a special order. Also, the dealer told me I could even try it out for a couple of weeks and they'd take it back if we didn't like it. That wouldn't apply to a special order. I was also torn between the Master and Pro styles, but when this deal popped up, my decisions were made!

I am amazed no long-term owners have posted here yet. Where are you all? Gazing at your Bertas instead of your computers?

No, just too busy to spend time posting the same thing over and over again for two years. I've gone into chapter and verse about the Berta. If you've read those threads and have additional questions, I'm be happy to answer.

we have had our berta (36" 6 burner range) for almost 4 years with no issues at all, she is still just as gorgeous as when we got and we have had no service issues

Thank you, rococogurl! I just read your posts (older and most recent) and it's great to see that everything is as I am hoping for. I can't wait for my new Berta!

New question:how many cfms is your hood? I need a clock/timer and since the range has none, I'm considering the new Broan QP3. It only goes up to 450 cfm but will be vented outside less than 10' from the range. According to Broan's "formula" (add total btu's and divide by 10 for required cfms), I'd only need 360 if all burners were going at max. However, if the oven is also on, that raises it to approx. 520. This isn't likely to occur very often so I think I'll be okay. I noticed in your post that you and other posters had no issues with with the vented heat. Is this because you have a 600 cfm hood, or simply b/c it's not the problem some make it out to be?

P.S. The Broan QP3 also has a very large capture area. http://www.broan.com/display/router.asp?ProductID=100754
Experienced Berta owners, what do you think?

Hee hee. I'm in a NYC with no hood, just a window. One reason I went with the Berta vs a range with all 15K or + burners.

However, in our house I have a 36" Viking electric smoothie with a 600 cfm blower in the hood. Not a bit too small IMO and it helps clear anything from the wall oven as well.

If I bought a hood for the Berta, though, based on my experience with the smoothie I'd go with 600 as a base and the same dimension as the range. That front 15K burner is very powerful and don't forget the oven vents near the top of the door -- the vent hood should help with that, too. Others may have different views but that's what I'd do.
There are a whole lot of nice looking, very efficient hoods out there.

I had the opportunity to cook on a Bertazzoni this past weekend (I waxed poetic in a differnt Berta thread) but wanted to come in here and state my green-eyed envy of those of you who have the joy of cooking on this stove on a regular basis.

OMG - this is THE range.

Oh, wow! I don't know how I missed this promotion on the Bertazzoni website, but spotted this thread. Just wanted to say a huge thank you to designnov for this thread. I'd put down a deposit on a 30" Berta Pro yesterday morning, and sent email to the dealer in the middle of the night asking if their distributor was offering the promotion. Just heard back- the distributor thought the promotion started Mar 1, not Feb 1, so now they're working out how to get me my hood. I'm very excited.

Actually, the hood promotion on Bertazzoni's website stated February 1, 2011, but the paperwork the dealers had stated the promotion starts on March 1st.

I will be ordering my 30" Berta Pro along with the hood later this month.

I have my new Bertazzoni!!!! My husband and I absolutely LOVE IT! It is better than we could have hoped for and a dream to use. We've only used it for a week but have cooked a minimum of 3 meals each day. There have been no problems whatsoever. The fan is as quiet as can be. The oven front stays cool and the temperature is spot on according to my thermometer. I haven't tried the convection or broiler yet. Lighting the burners is slightly different than our old, cheap model, but even my 11-year-old son got the hang of it after only a few tries. I love the power, look, and feel of it. So far, clean up has not been an issue. We just wipe it down with a microfiber cloth after dinner. I bought a spray SS cleaner (Weiman's??) that I used once and it seems to work nicely for shining it up. We are one happy family! By the way, it's the SS Pro 36", 6 burner model.

We equally love our new hood, the Broan QP3 Series. It's a perfect companion since it senses when to vent more or less depending on the heat/steam generated. I always have it on low and, so far it has moved to medium mostly and to high once (my husband was making fried chicken, 2 steamers were going, AND the oven was on). The 4 halogen "theater lights" are the perfect, dramatic complement to show off the Bertazzoni, too. Lots of "oohs" and "aahs" not only from us but our friends and neighbors!

Corgibob, thats great! I havent made my decision yet, only because our project has been slightly delayed. I am still leaning toward the Berta - just still a little leary about servicability. Did you research this aspect before purchase? I live in NJ, so hopefully it wont be a problem.

bump - any longterm owners beside hollishenry and rococogurl?
So torn between this and the cafe.

We are planning on ordering a 6 burner SS Professional as well in the next few weeks and the free hood was the push we needed. It's been great to see all the positive comments on the Berta.

Horrible performer, terrible support. I am wildly disappointed..Do not buy a Bertazzoni Range. I can't list all the problems I've had.. Ruined dinners and angry phone calls to unresponsive support. Stay away.

Re: Bump. Yup, sorry I can't speak as a long-termer but I promise to give an update every 6 months.

As far as support, so far, so good here. I called Bertazzoni's Customer Care # on their website 3 times (general info) and they were quite helpful. Also, my floor model arrived with a cracked leg. The legs were removed for delivery, but somehow one was damaged. As a temporary fix, the delivery guys super-glued it. I called our retailer (Thursday) and Tuesday the new leg inserts arrived! The retailer sent one of their guys out to install it that day. (I felt so stupid when I discovered that 3 additional leg inserts were rolling around inside the back of the oven <: the oven is so large that none of us saw those in there>Granted, I haven't had any "real" problems, so I can't say how much support I'd get. Kyle, so sorry to hear about all your troubles! How long have you had yours and what were some of the issues?

Corgibob, is the venting of the oven at your waist a problem? Ive heard that some consider it to be.

I too am very interested to hear more about what is wrong with the range, and what Bertazzoni has told you. Can you get local service for it?

Hi,
We've had our 36 inch Berta for nearly 3 years. The only real problem we've had was with the thermostat and it was an installation problem. The oven would go way above the set temperature, and food would burn.

We called the manufacturer, and they told us what to do. My husband had to turn a screw on the thermostat, but I'm not sure of the details. It was supposed to have been done at installation, but our builder installed it, and had never dealt with the brand before.

Another small problem is that the fan blows hot air out into the kitchen from the top of the oven door. Very nice in the winter; not so nice in the summer.

We love the oven and the cooktop, but wish it didn't put so much hot air in the room!

Pennylaney

Hello designnov,
I haven't found the air venting to be a problem yet. We've used the oven about 7 times and the air never feels hot, or even warm. It's sort of room-temperature (and quiet, very ambient). That was even the case when I had the broiler on and with convection. Tomorrow night I'll be roasting for about 3.5 hours at 300 degrees. I'll let you know if that makes a difference. I'm beginning to think the air venting varies with the range and/or installer. Mine is absolutely fine, so far. We just connected the gas and started cooking! We didn't need to make any LP conversions or anything like that. Could the venting temp be a problem with thermostat adjustments or gas conversion? (I know nothing about such things.)
Penneylaney, many thanks for offering the view of 3 years' experience! I hope you find a solution to the hot air situation.
I emailed Bertazzoni last night with questions about dehydration and defrosting at the suggestion of a customer care rep. This morning I woke up to two replies! Basically, you use the the fan and light only without temp. Items defrost a bit more quickly than if left at room temp since the fan is forcing air all around. I'm not so sure how well it will work but I intend to start out with non-meat items first and go from there. I've read it's a good, gentle method for fish. Keep foods wrapped to avoid drying out (unless you want to dehydrate).

Corgibob- that is great to hear...I'd love to know how the roasting goes. My current old kenmore vents hot air from the back of the oven right onto my face. I figure venting out the door can't be much worse. Glad to know that you arent having a problem with it.
Would have liked to hear more from Kyle Staver...oh well.

Just roasted in my oven for 4 hours! I had 4 dishes in there at once--love the wider oven! There was a bit of spattering, so it's officially "broken in".

An interesting development. I went into the kitchen after about 20 minutes and the air was warm--not hot, but not room temp, either. I realized my hood wasn't on. The salespeople at the appliance store said a good habit to get into is to turn the hood on (low) right before cooking. I forgot this time and maybe that was the difference. I turned it on low, left the kitchen for about 5 minutes and really noticed the difference when I came back in. It was that fast.

Designnov, I don't have the most powerful, high-end hood, but it's pretty fancy! If you turn it on low, it's sensor will detect if it needs to go to a higher level and do so automatically. I don't believe my Berta ever gets HOT, or even warm, but I DO believe my hood (Broan, QP3 Series http://www.broan.com/display/router.asp?ProductID=100765) keeps things nice in my tiny (8 x 10) kitchen. The cfms have been sufficient even with all 6 burners going. It has only kicked up to Boost mode once. I paid about $360.