After some great suggestions found on this board I am in the process of making a final decision regarding a 30" gas range. I was originally going to go with a Miele single oven and electric or induction cooktop but I like the professional look of the gas ranges too much. With that being said I was looking at either a 30" Wolf or Viking range. Please share any experiences you have with either one of these ranges or any other ranges you think I should be considering. For the owners of either of the above ranges, I've read alot of things on this board and was wondering if I would have a problem with either one of these.

I have a range (NXR 30") that uses the exact same burners as the Wolf. I personally have no problems at all with it, but then again the smallest pot I own is 10", everything else is 11"-14" including the Wok. Plus a large 14X24" Steel Griddle. So I don't have any problem with the larger diameter of the burners and I love having all burners the same where I can have all 4 full blast at 15,000BTU or all 4 at super low simmer and everything in between. As for not being able to "Simmer a pot of sauce" with the Wolf burners that is complete nonsense. I am right now as I type simmering a LARGE pot of Sketti sauce on high simmer. It is in a Swiss Diamond 8 1/2 Qt pot and its at least 2/3rds full. But there is a high simmer and a low simmer. The super low simmer is obviously not for doing a very large pot of sauce, its meant for doing something like keeping mash potatoes warm, or holding an emulsion like hollandaise or a beurre blanc, or melting chocolate and it does so perfectly. That is what is so sweet about these burners is the ability of that super low (melt chocolate on a paper plate low flame)plus the slightly higher simmer that is for large pots of sauce. The high simmer as you can tell works just fine, in fact perfect for simmering a LARGE pot of sauce all day. You can see at least 3 sauce volcanoes coming up in my sauce here, (although a couple are just bubbles that might be hard to make out unless you know where to look) simmers perfectly, any more and it would burn. (Just ran back down to stir it and taste and had 4 bubbling volcanoes going) So obviously Consumer Reports is clueless in that respect. If you have and prefer to use tiny pots then yes you should get something like a Capital Culinarian as those burners would fit you small pot needs better. This is the high simmer with about 5Qts of sketti sauce simmering away just fine right now.

I researched several ranges extensively, and recently bought & installed a new Wolf AG range. I almost bought a Viking since Viking has supposedly addressed all of the problems they've had for years, but the salesman asked that I buy an extended warranty on the Viking while he said I wouldn't really need one for the Wolf. I also called several major appliance repair stores in my state that are factory trained. I'm not sure if they got more calls for Viking repairs because of the ubiquity of the Viking, or whether the Wolf is less repair-prone. The repair guys said that the Wolf is made from better quality stainless steel, double-walled unlike the Viking, and more solidly made from higher quality components than Viking. Like the difference between a GM car and a BMW. BTW, if you're thinking of selling your house soon, every salesman at every store said to get the Viking because that's what high-end buyers want. I'm staying put, and simply put: I love the Wolf!!! I'm a serious cook, so I've used everything that this stove has to offer from convection fan baking, high BTU wok cooking, to the lowest simmer. The Wolf is a tremendous workhorse and delivers on every promise. BTW, my daughter was bummed when she returned to university and had to use her "crummy and slow" range in the house she rents with other students. That only heats to 10,000 BTUs and identical recipes turned out not as well on her range. While the Viking was definitely eye candy and appeared easier to clean, I have not regretted buying the Wolf for one moment. It's been a snap to keep clean. And I've grown to love the signature red knobs.

I am always curious why people feel so strongly about dual fuel. It just feels like something that is more prone to failure. The appeal of the traditional Bluestar is its very straight-forward and rugged design. It's a true workhorse, and personally I wouldn't pick any other brand; but everybody has different preferences. As for fuel source, it doesn't make a big difference in practice. Every oven needs some adjustments to your cooking technique anyway. And it's a much bigger deal adjusting to an oven that doesn't heat evenly (just to give a common example), than adjusting to a different fuel source. We have a Bluestar gas range, and two electric Miele wall ovens (SpeedOven and CSO). And you know what, fuel source never even is a consideration when I have to pick one or the other. Each one of these three ovens has its own strengths, and I love this particular combination, though. If you have the money and space, I can't recommend it highly enough. Technically, an electrically heated oven has the advantage of higher moisture, which can help with things like baking bread. But that's so easy to compensate for; it's why people love making bread in a Dutch oven. What else do you make where you prefer electric over gas? In full fairness, the Bluestar gas range does have a known downside. It takes a long time to preheat. The upside is that it heats very evenly, is very predictable, and has the most amazingly powerful broiler, second only to commercial salamanders.