I have the 30 inch Blue Star. Am very happy with everything -- burners, broiler oven. I had been a little reluctant to switch from an electric to a gas oven but it is fine. The broiler is wonderful. I do have a Miele Speed Oven which serves as an extra small electric oven, as well as a Breville counter convection oven -- another small electric oven. I use these more often than the big Blue Star oven because most of the time I'm cooking for two. But now that winter is coming I think I will be using the big gas oven more often for stews, short ribs, baking biscotti on large trays. Truth be told I got the range because of the burners and because I felt it looked right for my kitchen. Mine is bottle green. Had a brief flirtation with the Lacanche Rully which also has two full width ovens in a 27 inch wide range. (the top one is a broiler). Very cute but roughly twice the price of the Blue Star, and didn't have those great open burners. The Blue Star is not inexpensive but compared to the other contenders -- Wolf, Viking, even Capital -- it was a good value. So far I really like it.

Anecdotally people say that BS simmers but there is no way to compare in the way you can the top end of heat, BTUs to BTUs because they have never said what the BTU rating is on the low end as other manufacturers have done. They rate in temperature which is pretty meaningless. There are work arounds for that though. The high BTUs,with more flame to the center cannot be worked around other than to use something like a cast iron pan instead of a wok. Only you can decide if it is worth it to give up that function for $2000. You might also buy the package and sell the Miele rangetop and buy the BS. Search Wolf blue chipping on this forum. This has been a long term problem and no fix.

The glowbar igniters are a really old and proven technology. You'll find it in lots of gas appliances (e.g. water heater, furnace, ovens, ...) as they are so safe. Whenever the thermostat calls for heat, it turns on the igniter. As a first approximation, a glowbar igniter is the same thing as an incandescent light bulb without the protective glass shell. It draws a couple of hundred watts and uses that to produce heat. Right next to the glowbar is a temperature activated gas valve. As long as no heat it produced (i.e. glowbar doesn't call for heat or glowbar is defective), no gas flows. This is very safe. But if the valve detects sufficient amounts of heat, it opens and gas flows over the glowbar and ignites. This is damn simple and there is very little that can fail catastrophically. So, it is inherently a safer design than using click igniters. Those are good for the stove top where a person can supervise the burners. But the oven has to work even when it cycles on/off without human intervention. The downside, of course, is that this glowbar behaves just like an incandescent bulb. Some bulbs live for decades, most live for a couple of years, and a small number dies within months. Same is true for glowbars. Nothing much you can do about it. Fortunately, they are cheap and standardized components. Every appliance manufacturer buys from the same factory. And yes, gas ovens always cycle on/off completely. There generally isn't a great way to modulate heat output. This is a noteworthy difference when compared to electric ovens, which frequently can keep constant temperatures much more easily. For many dishes, that doesn't actually matter. But there are some that do in fact cook much better in an electric oven. And I guess the reverse is true too.

@Denise Meyer, I have the 30" gas F&P range. Things I love about it: Powerful, responsive burners. Stainless steel top (I much prefer it to the black enamel) Telescopic oven racks (come standard with the range) Soft close oven door Things I don't love about it: No low simmer burners (1,000 BTU is the lowest) The oven isn't real large but it suits my needs. I don't bake much or cook elaborate dinners where I need a large oven.