The advantages of convection is that it reduces hot and cold spots in the oven and reduces baking times.

No.LG,Bosch,Frigidaire among other offer convection in their gas ovens. Do they work as well?

No, I don't find the lack of self clean in a gas oven a big minus.

Capital Culinarian is a powerful open burner gas range with self clean as an option. The only downside relative to BS is the 30" oven can not take a full size pro baking sheet. The advantages are many including quality.

Between BS and Wolf hands down I take the Bluestar.

If I were you I would take a look at Capital Culinarian(CC).

Check out these videos in link

Here is a link that might be useful: Capital Culinarian Videos

As for what I'd pick . . . no reason to think my values are yours, but I looked at the various options available locally (DC metro area, so that's most things) and went with the BlueStar RNB. I was mostly focused on the top of the range when shopping, but we've been very pleased with the oven performance so far, and love the broiler.

Wolf seems to be a very nicely made range with excellent owner satisfaction reported on various surveys. Certainly there are folks who really know how to cook who are glad to own their Wolf ranges. In the end, I decided that I wanted the true open burners and the . . . let's say "dynamic range" offered by the BS. Just a couple of months of use, but I think it's a great range and I'm very happy with it.

I didn't actually want a self-cleaning oven. I thought it would be a sticking point with my wife but it turned out that she didn't care about it at all. Prior to the BlueStar, we had a Profile gas range with self-clean. In about 12 years of ownership, we used the self-clean function maybe twice. It's not necessarily good for the range to have it do double-duty as an incinerator, and it's not necessary for keeping the oven clean.

Also narrowed it to Wolf and Blue Star gas range. Here is how I made my decision.

Blue Star had had several issues-- hinges, ignitors. But Wolf AG also had an issue with the burners not operating right when the oven was also on. Something about the burners getting starved for air.

I talked to the technical people at Wolf. They were very nice. But they did not indicate that they had found a solution or understood the problem.

I talked at length to many people about Blue Star and also to the people who manufacture and service Blue Star. Except for the hinges the problems were corrected in V1. They still tell you to lubricate the hinges. Also some people don't like how hot the door gets. It does get hot but you're not going to get burned unless you keep a body part on the stove for a prolonged period. Blue Star has been good about sending parts and updates, such as newer grates to people who have issues.

I concluded that things are not perfect with either stove and both companies seem eager to keep customers happy. It was not always this way at Blue Star, but it is now.

The key deciding factor was seeing the ranges live. The Blue Star burners are just, I hate to use the word, awesome. That is a subjective response but so be it. Also, they seem easier to clean-- everything falls through to the drip tray. When you turn down the burner on Blue Star to low, you still get a very low flame all across the star. When you turn the Wolf down the outer ring goes out and you just have a tiny ring in the center.

The Blue Star is probably less insulated than the Wolf. The downside is the front gets hot. The upside is -- the oven interior is really wide from side to side.

I think both stoves are attractive but I personally preferred the big black metal knobs on the Blue Star to the red or black hard plastic knobs on the Wolf. OK now we're getting into looks and personal preference -- I just like the Blue Star looks in my kitchen. I liked being able to choose a color. I like the massive black cast iron grates and bowls. I like the center grate on the 30 inch RNB from a design perspective. A chacun son gout, right? But these things, I confess, matter a great deal to me.

Why not Capital? Way preferred the Blue Star Garland style burners to the doughnut burners on Capital. Preferred Blue Star's truly open design. Th Capital has an extra tray in there to clean. Love that you can put the wok right into the grate on Blue Star, no ring required. On Capital you cannot get a rolling rack if you choose the manual range. I emphatically did not want self clean and I did want rolling racks. That in itself was a deal breaker. But also way preferred the looks and burners of Blue Star. But if you want self clean and you are interested in a rotisserie you might like Capital.

I love my Blue Star so far.

As far as customer service. My range arrived with a small ding on the side -- one the side where no one would see it once installed. But the dealer gave me all new skins for the range. Now this is not a customer install task. But the customer service rep stayed on the phone with us while we removed and logged every screw and took off and replaced every panel. We had to take off the bezels and trim pieces -- it took over an hour to get one side done. We got it all back together and it is fine. So, if something is made well enough and with tight enough tolerances that a couple of amateurs can take it apart and put it back together, it must be made with pretty good tolerances. Anyway, it's fine.

In summary, go check out the ranges and see them live. Please don't buy one based only on what you read here or on the manufacturer's websites. When I went to the dealer to see the Wolf and Blue Star I entered thinking it would probably be Wolf but I exited with my mind changed.

Myself I could not care less about self cleaning, never used the self cleaning feature in any oven I have ever owned.

As far as between Wolf & Blue Star that depends on if you prefer open or closed burners.
The Blue Star seem to have a few more problems with them though.

Myself I chose an NXR 30" because it is every bit as nice as either BS or Wolf, in fact it has the exact same burners as the Wolf.

I got mine for $1799.00 total shipped to the door, I could not justify the difference in price at all.
The NXR is every bit as good as either BS or Wolf.

It also has convection plus a 1650 degree infrared broiler.

I have yet to see anyone that has bought one have a complaint against the stove.
The ONE complaint I have seen was without any question due to the "shipping".

We have had ours since March and absolutely love it, no problems what so ever.

> The ONE complaint I have seen was without any question due to the "shipping".

Your use of CAPS can't hide the what that reviewer on Amazon said. Or your edits to your comments to bolster your claims that "Turns out this unit had a heavy leak in the main gas line within the unit." was a SHIPPING problem.

Clearly you're happy with your NXR range: whenever someone asks for even a microwave recommendation, Nunya is there with "Have you considered an NXR range?"

I hope the all caps focuses attention: it doesn't take too much effort to find the SECOND complaint. And scroll for the THRID. [I apologize for picking up Nunya's CAPS habit]

Here is a link that might be useful: SECOND complaint + THIRD complaint

and again that stove was without any question a SHIPPING problem. Anybody with half a brain can see that from the problems that person had.
You don't have welded on parts falling off and gas lines knocked loose in a stove that was properly shipped. The person never even used the stove once, they were broken in shipping.

Yes I always suggest NXR to people looking for a gas stove, so what?

Most everyone knows about Wolf, GE, BS, etc but few know about NXR so I mention it when someone is looking for a GAS RANGE because it is a fact that they are a very good stove at a very good price point with very few problems associated with them. In fact there aren't any stoves any better for the price.

Get a life. You are nothing but a FA with a serious problem.

and good for you, you managed probably after hours of looking to come up with 2 more complaints which I have never seen and I looked for months when looking at this stove and a few others.
I also might add that one of your 2 complaints even states it was because of SHIPPING, says was damaged when they got it, so as far as I can tell out of 3 complaints 2 are without any question what so ever because of sorry shipping.

Should I start listing the HUNDREDS of complaints I am sure I find on most any other stove?

Meanwhile NXR has 3, 2 of which have nothing to do with stove itself.

After a bit of research, I've decided to go with the BlueStar RNB 30-inch range. The open burners, larger oven, available colors, simmer burner and clean simple design were very positive deciding factors. I thought the Capital Culinarian was aesthetically too busy: didn't like the handle on the drip tray and the overly ornate function knobs. Basically, I just didn't like the way the CC looks. Also, I could be wrong but I got the impression, with so many removable parts, it would be more difficult and a bigger chore to clean.

Thanks all for the input, your information is very helpful and greatly appreciated.

I saw a lot of good reviews about CC in the forum and really want to see it in person. However, CC is not very popular in my area (Northern CA) yet and I am a bit worry about the after sale service. Any suggestion?

> You don't have welded on parts falling off and gas lines knocked loose in a stove that was properly shipped.
You have a demonstrated ability to weave a fictional account so as to portray NXR as flawless. "...dragged it there behind the truck"?

What if the pipe was kinked in China where it was made by a $1/day laborer? Maybe quality control is just something they put on the website for the target audience? What if the internal gas pipe is of such poor quality that it can't handle high gas pressures? Maybe a valve stem was broken & the valve was open though the knob was in the off position. The point is you don't KNOW - you have a theory. It is not rational to put a CLEARLY impacted range into service with explosive gas. Your theory is not sound.

> Anybody with half a brain can see [it was a shipping problem].
You've [essentially] repeated this - try to reign in your grandiosity. I'm not trying to belittle you but I'm confident I'm smarter than you IQ-wise, street-wise & even at non-traditional intelligence like social skills.

> Should I start listing the HUNDREDS of complaints I am sure I find on most any other stove?
So complaints for *other* ranges - the gospel truth. An NXR complaint - clearly EVERYTHING is a SHIPPING problem. "They are clearly mistaken no matter what that is for sure."-S.Allen, May31.

> good for you, you managed probably after hours of looking to come up with 2 more complaints which I have never seen and I looked for months when looking at this stove and a few others.
I have a honed ability to craft&sift through SERPs - it didn't take hours. I'm not that invested.

> Get a life. You are nothing but a FA with a serious problem.
Oh dear - nunya-speak - a what? I do hope this is "masked vulgarity" addressed in the TOS.

As a Bluestar owner I echo sayde's and jddar's comments wholeheartedly. I have not had any issues with my range, it's fantastic. Sayde's comments on going to see them in person are very much on point. Half the people that respond in some of these forums don't own any of the appliances they talk about all day long.

-Stooxie

I also am a happy Bluestar owner. It sounds silly, but it makes cooking fun.

By the way, I got an e-mail from Michael at Bluestar today, and the new hinges are currently being shipped in the V-1 ranges. They are still working on a way to retro-fit them to the doors already out there.