Caldera vs DCS 30in Gas Cooktop

13 years ago

Hi Everyone. I'm about to pull the trigger on all my appliances for the kitchen remodel and wonder if anyone has advice on cooktop selection. I have been planning on purchasing the Caldera CASSK305S because the price is just unbelievable and it's pretty powerful. I've also considered the DCS CDU304N which seems like it would have pretty good performance.

I've seen some posts here about Caldera and DCS and don't see any huge issues or warnings about either.

Anyone have thoughts, opinions, etc =)

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Comments (9)

dodge59
13 years ago
I bought an electric Caldera Cooktop, In less than 2 years it was "Toast" and could not get parts or support to fix it!

It "appears" Caldera Corp is no longer in business, Try clicking on their Website www.calderacorp.com
It says "This Domain is for sale"

Here is a link on some discussion about the company & products (Click the "here is a link that may be useful")

Gary

Here is a link that might be useful: Caldera Corp Chat
BostonJohnSD
Original Author
13 years ago
My understanding is that Caldera is owned by Eurochef now. It appears their website is alive and well: http://calderaappliances.com/

I'm looking at a gas cooktop with manual control knobs (not the touch panel) so hopefully reliability is a bit better.
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My grate broke or exploided last night. This could have been catastrophic. My entire family (15) were standing in and around the kitchen. I had just had this unit installed 2 weeks ago. I had to call the company just after installation because the center grate would bend during cooking. They told me they had design problems on the older units and would send me another grate. I said I just had this installed how could it be an older unit. They responded that it could have been sitting in a wharehouse and the new units have new grates. Well that would meen that there is no telling how old this unit is. I am very upset. My family could have been seriouly burned by the hot oil if I had been using a smaller pot or a fire could have been started. If they knew they had design problems they should have had a recall on the units! Today I recieved the new grate, it looks used and is a totally different design. I just bought this model, it has only been 2 weeks and someone could have been hurt really badly. This isn't fair considering that they knew that there were existing problems. My knobs were also wrong when they installed the unit, so I had to get new knobs. You will not be able to get them on and off to clean! They installers had to use pliers and major force to get the incorrect knobs off and I thought when they were putting on the new ones they were going to snap that black panel where the knobs sit. Other than feeling like the company knowingly put my family in a dangerious position and stated that they knew that there were design problems the cook top actually cooks good, but if they were willing to let the flawed units stay out there, that scared me! You can't buy new skin if you are burned. No amount of money or excuses can fix that, so why not just get all the older units with the older grates off the market? the number for Al is disconnected!
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I use a wok on our Blue Star all the time -- both for Asian and Western food. The built-in wok ring is amazingly convenient. And it brings the wok so close to the burner, it really heats up super quickly. It never takes more than 20 seconds for the oil to start smoking. This is with the regular 22kBTU burners. We have had our Blue Star for a couple of years now, and I really love the experience of cooking on it. And it is such a basic design without any complicated electronics, that it isn't particularly prone to breaking, and if it does break anybody can fix it. There were only a tiny number of service issues that I ever needed done. When I first bought it, I didn't like the default burner configuration. My dealer said they could either special order the configuration I wanted, or they could replace the burners in the field. The latter option would not only cost less but also take a lot less time, as they had all the parts in stock. I decided for that, and replacing burners and orificies only took a few minutes. A couple of years later, I called Blue Star to inquire about an unrelated question and mentioned that my oven door was starting to be harder to operate, even after lubricating the hinges. They volunteered that this was a known defect and offered to send a free replacement door. I popped out the old door and installed the new one. Took about 60 seconds of work. More recently, the oven igniter finally burned out. Given how much I bake, I am amazed how long it lasted. It took me about 30min to replace the igniter myself. I am sure I could have called any random technician to do the job, but it didn't seem worth the trouble. Replacement was so easy to do. Finally, a friend of mine told me that their Blue Star range top didn't work reliably; a couple of burners would click and/or light even though they seemed to click. They had the same problem that you have, where they live too far out in the middle of nowhere, so they have trouble scheduling service calls. The next time I visited, I took a look. A few screws needed tightening in order to give a good electrical connection. I was able to fix it for them, but any service technician could have done so too -- it didn't really require knowing anything that was specific to Blue Star.
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breezygirl
13 years ago
Trailrunner, over in the Kitchen forum, has a Caldera. She cooks extensively and has a son or two who are chefs. She, and they, love the Caldera. I think she posts here on occasion, but you could post your question in Kitchens just to catch her attention if need be.

I was planning on getting the 36" DCS cooktop until I fell in love with the Capital Culinarian rangetop.
wallycat
13 years ago
I sent Eurochef an email about the Caldera and have still not received a reply. It's only been about 4 days, so am hopeful.
I am debating the 30" Caldera or the GE monogram rangetop...the price of the caldera keeps me from pulling the trigger on the GE.
dodge59
13 years ago
I would sure find out who is making the Caldera now, and what the spare part supplies are, and who can service it.
There are a bunch of those gas cooktops for sale and like you said , at a very low price.

If you have to wait 4 days for a reply when you are buying one (and they are getting your money)---what do you think will happen should it need warranty service---40 days for a reply???

Even though I had a warranty, it was useless, was EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to get a call returned (Old Caldera Corp), and when I finally did reach them they sent me a control board (I had to pay for it) and also install it.
That of course did not fix the problem as I'm pretty sure the problem was in the touch pad.

Sure hope your luck is better than mine, but unless you get answers to "Who is making it now" are there spare parts, and who can install them, I think your shopping trip is gonna be "An Exercise in Futility"!!!

Gary
wallycat
13 years ago
Thanks for your feedback.
I am hoping they were just busy or missed it, but it certainly is a point to note the lack of response.

Maybe caldera is no longer mfg. and they have run out of stock so do not feel the need to respond. Sigh.
Fori
13 years ago
Gas and electric cooktops do have different reliability problems. With a simple gas cooktop, repairs aren't quite as reliant on factory parts. But still...be sure it's a standard size cutout. :)

I seriously considered Caldera when I was looking at gas. The specs are great and they are really good looking cooktops.
eandhl
13 years ago
I am not sure if the burners are the same on a DCS cooktop vs the the DCS range - If they are the dual stacked simmer on all burners is great!
User
12 years ago
Just saw this. I have the 36" caldera gas. It has been 6 yrs of hard use and never a thing to go wrong. There are really no parts to be replaced on a simple gas cooktop that anyone couldn't supply. I of course got mine while the company was still in business. I hope you find the cooktop that you need and get as great quality as I have. c

Caldera vs DCS 30in Gas Cooktop

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Caldera vs DCS 30in Gas Cooktop

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