Bluestar and AG Wolf - will the hot doors scald the wee ones??

14 years ago

Ah, yet another Bluestar and/vs. Wolf question!

I have two wee ones, the kind of kitchen that is hard to keep them out of, and I cook a lot...

I was very excited to get a Bluestar, mostly b/d that star shaped burner, plus the crazy high and crazy low flames sounded awesome. (I really dislike my Thermador mostly b/c the big round flame runs up the sides of my pots or takes forever to heat a pot if I turn it down enough to get the flame under a small or even medium pot.) But then I read here that the Bluestar doors get to 142 degrees hot at just 350 inside! I use the oven at 425, even 500, pretty regularly... Someone here said at 500 her Bluestar door gets to 200 degrees. DOes anyone who got a Bluestar in the last year know if this is still true? Does it get hot enough to actually burn/blister/scald, or just hot to the touch? I heard they changed the design last year to help alleviate the problem... A BS rep said it gets hot to the touch, but not scalding... but 200, or even 142 sounds like scalding to me!

And so I decided I'd go with a Wolf AG instead... but then I read someone here say that that door gets blazing hot, too! Is that so??

Thanks so much for your help...

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Comments (6)

parrym
14 years ago
I measured the top of the kick plate / bottom of door at approx 200 with a thermopen after an hour at 500+. The glass part of the door was ~ 170 or so. It is hot, and certainly would hurt if you held your hand there too long, but not to the point of blisters, etc.

I have 3 boys (6, 2 & 1 at the time I got the oven) who love to 'help' in the kitchen, especially on pizza night (when it's at 500deg), but I make sure that they understand the oven is hot when it is on (similar to our gas fireplaces).

It's been over a year since I got the stove and we haven't had any issues. I had similar concerns at first, but I think we all have pretty good built in reflexes to not touch hot things. Even if they were to bump the door or accidentally touch it, no lasting damage would be done, and they would learn an important lesson quickly.

I would not let this issue dissuade you from the crazy flames of Bluestar. The burners are just that good.
histokitch
14 years ago
My wolf ag does not get blazing hot. It was just installed last week, so maybe they've addressed the issue. 2 hours at 500 and the door was fine. The drip tray was hot, but not too hot to touch. Probably hot enough to teach a lesson not to touch again, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I have not worried about my 3 around it.
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carriage
Original Author
14 years ago
Hmmm. Thanks so much. Now I'll have to reconsider the Bluestar!!
Anyone else?
bibliomom
14 years ago
Well, I don't have the BlueStar *yet*, but I am hoping to get one in the very near future.

At those worst-case scenario temperatures, I'd think most neurotypical kids would yank their hands back pretty quickly with minimal damage. The only exception I can think of is a cruiser who worked their way along the cabinets and accidentally moved to the oven door for support - there's potential there for a serious burn while they're trying to figure out what to do. (OTOH, I grabbed a blowtorch by the nozzle when I was a toddler and I survived.) For most kids, I think it's a great chance to teach "hot - no touching!" without a trip to the hospital.

My only *real* concern would be if you had a kid/friend/neighbor with Sensory Processing Disorder or Autism or some other neurological problem which might prevent them from feeling the heat properly. This is, in fact, the case with my daughter and the reason I've really been thinking this out. If she stood there with her face pressed against a 200 degree door, she really could hurt herself.

Will this keep me from getting a BlueStar? Nah. Not at this point, anyway. Lucky for me, my Bug is seven now, smart as a tack and quite handy with the ray-gun style instant thermometer. So I plan on making her a chart of "safe to touch" temperatures and having extensive safety lessons. She needs to learn what "too hot" and "too cold" are, whether she can physically feel it or not.

Learning to cook is important. Learning to be safe is important. And I think the risks the hot oven door *may* represent are an acceptable trade off for the benefits in my family's case.

Just my perspective, though - only you know your kids and your cooking style and can decide what's right for you ;-)

Good luck!
carriage
Original Author
14 years ago
bibliomom, you make a really good argument!

my five year old I'm not worried about. i have a ten month old, though, and she does exactly as you describe in terms of cruising while holding on to the cabinets, then getting to the stove. i know this phase won't last that long, but i feel like i can't remember how long it will be before i can safely expect she'll learn not to touch it! probably it is way sooner than i worry... maybe i'll just go for it.

thanks!
John Liu
14 years ago
If your cruiser gets to a hot surface, oven for instance, she will recoil from the heat, and either reverse course or fall on her bottom, and cry. Lesson learned and no harm. The cruising phase doesn't last long anyway.

Bluestar and AG Wolf - will the hot doors scald the wee ones??

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parrym

histokitch

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Bluestar and AG Wolf - will the hot doors scald the wee ones??

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parrym

histokitch

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bibliomom

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