A Rolls-Royce of ranges (Bluestar Article)
deeageaux
10 years ago
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rococogurl
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agodeeageaux
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Bluestar's ''Inspired by Marcus' Range OMG
Comments (56)I just saw one of these with the copper front at Abt Appliances, an enormous retailer just outside of Chicago. I really wanted to like this range, but I regretfully have to agree with the comments above by Chris Holmes/Cqb556. The range did not feel solid, and up close, did not have the luxurious appearance I had expected for that price. Abt also had an RCS on the floor, in the more standard stainless steel/cast iron, and it was interesting to compare the two ranges. The RCS was the winner, looked great. Meanwhile, the "Inspired by Marcus" range's french doors are rickety. Also, the racks did not pull out smoothly. The thing is, there was a Bluestar rep there (very knowledgable guy), but he spent a few minutes trying to close the french doors, and spluttered about the racks that wouldn't pull out properly (can you say, "awkwaaard"). Opening the doors was not easy either. The copper finish from afar was pretty, but close up, looked thin, like it was barely painted on, and didn't have the rich color I associate with copper. A big disappointment. The funny part was that when the rep moved over to the basic RCS, his face lit up - you could tell he really loved that machine. My advice is that if you want a Bluestar, buy an RCS or RNB, perhaps get one of the hundreds of paint colors available if you don't want the stainless front. Save your thousands that you'd spend on the Inspired by Marcus range. Just MHO....See MoreHelp - Cooktop vs. Range vs. Downdraft vs. No Vent!
Comments (8)Your analogy seems to fit my vibe about the BlueStar (Top Gear fan?) - powerful enough and OMG fun, but a little rough around the edges, vs. solid, polished and expensive (Mercedes/Viking, maybe?). My Jenn-Air is more like my old beat up VW Rabbit -- which was also prone to spontaneously bursting into flame. It got me from point A to point B . . . eventually. But I hated it. Which now has me thinking of the last just-good-enough compromise, practical car we bought. Which I still hate to drive. It's not a bad car, it's just not *my* car. (Of course now I'm getting too far into the metaphor -- I just traded my beloved VW Passat in for a Mazda CX9, 'cause I needed the AWD and more seats -- it's not as nice of a car, it's not as powerful, but it has most of what the 'ssat did plus the things I needed at a good price, without sacrificing *all* the fun. And it won't cost $$$ every time something breaks, which was increasingly common. What does that say about my stove preferences? It's not that I couldn't afford a Mercedes, I just don't see the point.) I do find the BlueStar *really* attractive -- DH and I dig the cast iron, the open burners (because I spill stuff everywhere when I cook), the low simmer, etc. -- and the thought of having a range with an oven I could actually bake in makes me positively giddy -- even if I do have to build a new island. DH got a nice grill last year that gets wicked hot; we're now prone to all-season use -- in *Seattle* -- because the only other choice is to do without little things like "searing" and "roasting" and "broiling". But maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that the extra money is really worth the ride ;-) (BTW, does that make Lacanche the Rolls? So gorgeous, but wah!)...See MoreQuestion for Bluestar owners
Comments (27)@sarahdodge, you will be fine with a Bluestar! We have a cadre of folks on here who tend to think in terms of perfection when it comes to venting. I am regularly scolded for taking them with a grain of respectfully-smoked salt. There are people who would, if judging from their fervid posts on the subject, never cook a damned thing if it required them to take a molecule of their own cooking up the nose. Here on GW-appliances, the perfect can often impale the good. It is easy to forget that not everyone lives in new construction or a rambling farmhouse out in the woods. Lots of people live in high rises and condos and domes and rowhouses and other structures where cooking effluvia must retreat from below, or through a window, or nowhere in particular. Now, perfection demands an overhead hood with lots of capture volume and a nice pressure drop to urge every greasy wisp up the pipe and out the wall where Dasher and Comet await. You, on the other hand, can't put in a hood. So DON'T! Use your downdraft. It won't be ideal, but it will get some of the stuff. Open a window if need be. You will have to clean only the slightest bit more than the next person with the Vent-A-Hood every spring, and remember, YOU control the whole thing anyway. In other words, if you are putting out too much smoke for your house, shut the burner off! A couple things people don't seem to consider is that you can actually get some stuff done on the Bluestar with LESS smoke than you will with a lesser range. You can sear stuff a lot quicker, get a wok hotter faster, and generally scoot along at a rapid pace when it comes to the super high-output burners on the Bluestar. When you have a lower output burner, the food has to sit on the fire longer and all the time it is sitting there steaming, you are putting out cooking schmutz into the air. But here's the thing: most of us love cooking odors. We ALL (meaning us old dudes, you probably don't qualify, but work with me here) grew up smelling them, since no one had hoods back in the day. Anyway, ideally, one would try to have a nice fat hood. If you can't shoehorn one into your house, do not sweat it. Get the Bluestar and cook away. You control the burners on the thing, you can shut them off if things get a bit too aromatic for you, and you will manage to get some of the stuff with a downdraft. I will leave you with this: one of our superstar members at GW, rococogurl, a very sensible person with quite the flair for design (and photography and prose and God knows what else) had nothing more than a window to vent her Bertazzoni in her NYC flat. Wanna bet she didn't turn out some snazzy dishes with that range? There is no need to hobble yourself with an inferior range simply because you cannot have the optimum vent. Do the best you can and press and let the naysayers howl!...See MoreBluestar RNB griddle material?
Comments (28)Opone, I didn’t say better. “Better” is such a relative term. It all depends on what is important and how you will use it. I much prefer an add on griddle, although not one like the Platinum. If even temperatures across the surface are your goal, I would be looking for something aluminum. See the article on cookware for engineers. Of the built in griddles, Thermador has a cast aluminum plate and a six pass element. The plate is covered with a nonstick material but does allow for easy replacement. It is ridiculously expensive though. I love my overlays because they have about 50% greater area on a two burner size than a built in. I can use bare aluminum or nonstick aluminum or steel. I mostly use it when I am cooking large amounts of something. I can pick the griddle up and put it in the oven if I want to. Temperature changes are much quicker with aluminum. http://royalindustriesinc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_22_48&products_id=82 Some people like the Chef King which is steel. It seasons a little easier than the aluminum. Some people like zones of heat for holding areas. Other advantages to an overlay are- There is a lot more available heat. Some people use it to stir fry or just want higher heat. The heat from 15-25K BTUs in 2 burners is a lot more than the usual 15-18K on most 2 burner built in griddles. You are able to use all of your burners as burners if you want to. You can control each burner separately. You can clean it in the sink. They are very inexpensive to buy or in the case nonstick, replace. If you are looking for “even temperature over time”, the built in griddles all fluctuate by coming on and off. An add on griddle has constant heat once it is adjusted. I don’t know that this makes much difference in actual cooking. The thermostat does allow you to set the same temperature repeatedly. “the open burners on the RNB are better than those on the Wolf.” Open or sealed burner trays aren’t really performance issues, just cleaning preferences. It is other aspects of the burner that determine the performance. The differences are that BS star burner keeps the flame more to the middle by not having a burner cap, allowing the flame to go in more of a straight up direction. The star design with the ports along the side keep the flame in the foot print of the burner a little more. This is good if you stir fry or need high heat in the middle. The star disperses the heat a little better if you use cookware like cast iron or steel that doesn’t conduct heat very well. If you have copper or aluminum, the cookware evens the heat out. I have Wolf burners and they work well for me because I use big pans. I’m using highest heat on the widest pans so I like the flare as you turn the heat up. Some gas burners get super wide though so you have to see how they are. Wolf keeps the flare from getting too wide with the dual stacked burners. I have been stir frying more lately and it has been pretty good for that but I move my wok around a lot. Wolf has the reputation for great service but that has not been my experience and they continue, over the last 10 years to knowingly sell ovens with the blue interior that chips. BS has been good and bad....See Morecindallas
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agodeeageaux
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoapplnut
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