Hello again. I am a member of the Manhattan NKBA as such monogram invited me and about 12 others to their experience center in Louisville last year for a few days. This was not to sell their products but to show us how to use them and also to pick our brains as to what consumers want and what they can do better. One part consisted of us going around a room with 4 pro ranges ( 48" models) and clipboards simply comparing the 4 and features. The Thermador simply had amazing quality and everything felt great and solid. Things like opening the door etc. We also had specs and the burner output on Thermadors star burners is the best in the industry. Knobs feel good, there is great lighting and it is all easy to read. We were told that WOLF has amazing customer service. I am aware of that. Their range was the worst. Compared to the others it actually felt " cheap" borderline rickety and I can not believe I am saying this as I always loved the way it looked.. The GE had a lot of great features. Like racks that can stay inside the oven when self cleaning. I do believe I remember all the others have to be removed as they are plated and can not withstand the very high heat.Clean by hand this means. The oven capacity was also very large. Top is easy to move pots and pans around on as the entire cast iron surface is large and level. You can flip the iron around and have a moulded surfaces for wok pans... The parts are pieced together and can easily fit into a dishwasher. The knobs are easy to turn and read. Soft closing door. Great burner output. Easy to install with feet that have huge wheels under them. Can be leveled easily. The list just went on..... Still our main criticism was that it looked " boring" LOL. Not much personality. It's still pricey and it all checked out but a secret part of me wanted those red knobs... I know it's probably a sick personality flaw of mine... Like lusting after Loubotin shoes. We all know they hurt but want them anyways... After all this I just ordered a 30" dual fuel monogram for my place in New York. I will get it next week. I have an older Viking in Florida and all the lettering on the front has come off simply by cleaning it! I like the Viking but that alone is a shame. No one seems to sells those decals to have them stuck back on!!! I have no idea how I am cooking on that thing. I believe VIKING was sold last year and its been upgraded since then but I have no personal experience with the newer models so far.

bratcat, I would not feel too bad not getting a Wolf DF. Mine has been a major disappointment as it has had the chipping of the blue liner which has been an ongoing problem for Wolf for at least 10 years. It affects all of their ovens with a blue liner including the “M” which was designed to make it easier to repair with a removable bottom. The gas range does not have the blue lining. Mine happened @4.5 years old and was out of warranty. I did not get it fixed because labor starts at $800 and I have read it can run to $2500 to replace the liner. Wolf will not guarantee the new liner more than a year. Many posters here have gone through several ovens. I have a wall oven(Electrolux) so only use the range oven with covered dishes and no convection. The porcelain chips are glass shards. Posters here have been injured with them. There are lawsuits over this. http://www.wolfblueovenchipping.com/case-information/ pennfire, I would not use the self clean and wipe your range out periodically with a damp white paper towel looking for blue shards. If you have the issue, you want to find it out during the warranty. Mine happened after about the third or fourth self clean. I would love to replace mine with another DF range but am just not sold on any of them. Have you looked at any gas ranges besides Wolf? A favorite on this forum is a BlueStar. It is a little more to the commercial side than Wolf and has the star burners. It is the grandchild of the commercial Garland range that Julia Child had in her kitchen. It has been fitted out for residential use. There are two models that have star burners. One has higher BTUs. The star burners would be good for your cast iron and maybe the copper bottomed stainless depending on what it is because you have better dispersal of the heat than a ring burner. The other big difference is there is no cap on the burner which allows the flame to go straight up. The cap causes more flare of the burner on highest heat on Wolf. Wolf is not as bad as some because they have the dual stacked burners. It actually works out well for me because, I use highest heat on bigger skillets. The prostyle burners are generally bigger than regular burners. I have the exact burners that are on the Wolf gas range now. My smaller saucepans are the squat wide type and there is one small pot burner. Heavy aluminum or copper skillets, especially big ones, heat more evenly than cast iron on ring burners. Electric coils if sized to the pan provide even heat so the ring burner might be a little different. I still use my cast iron too but you have to pay attention more Cleaning the BS is a little bit different too in that the burner tray is “open”. If you are coming from electric, gas ovens are a little bit different to use. They tend to brown a little faster and better. You might notice a difference in the way things bake. My sister and I make the same cookies and here’s come out thinner and crispy in a gas oven and mine are thicker and chewier in electric. All of the ingredients are the same. You could probably adjust cooking times and temperatures to get different results but we each like them the way they are. Gas ovens have a lot bigger vents than electric ovens so if you add any steam, it is vented out much faster. A side effect of this vent is that you have more heat and moisture in your kitchen. 36” ovens take awhile to preheat. Mine takes at least 20 min to get to 350°F and the 30” wall oven takes 7 min. The BS is bigger than the Wolf. It holds a full sized baking sheet which I don’t use but I would like to be able to use two half sheets side by side. Look at the rack size and height of the top from the bottom rack to get an idea of the size of the oven.

I agree that all-gas is the way to go for a range. Makes things much easier overall. If you want electric, don't get it just for the fuel source. In practice, the difference is negligible. Get it for unique features that you need. I suggest pairing a all gas range with a combination steam wall oven. As far as the has range is concerned, Wolf is a fine brand. They certainly have great brand recognition, and their gas ranges generally are well liked. But as @wekick pointed out, you get more for your money with a Bluestar, if your goal is finding a powerful workhorse of a range. The burners have a much more even heat distribution, which allows you to use thin carbon steel skillets and woks. Speaking of woks, the built-in wok ring is super convenient and brings the flame closer to the wok. The burners go up to 22kBTU or 25kBTU, which makes a huge difference when stir frying (rather than "stir sauteeing"). The open burners are a breeze to clean. Is often just a quick wipe with a camp cloth. We also have an old Viking in the in-law kitchen, and I have used other closed burners before, and I hate how I can never get them clean without a big effort. Even on the 30" Bluestar model, the oven is big enough to hold a full commercial cookie sheet (this big cavity comes at the cost of longer preheat times though). There is no annoying cooling fan for the (non-existent) electronics. And you get the most amazing infrared broiler. I love how much power is has. Gets used all the time. And because of the simple straight forward design, if you ever need service, any technician will feel at home with this range. In fact, Bluestar uses many industry standard components, so frequently the technician would have the parts on his truck already, even if he doesn't specialize in Bluestar. There is a reason why Houzz loves this brand so much. But as I said, while Wolf is missing some of the power features of Bluestar, it's still a great brand and you won't make a mistake with either one.

Neither. Wolf has had issues for over 10 years with the blue lining on all of their ovens that have it. Sometimes it happens immediately and others like mine happen 4 years into it so out of warranty. To make it worse, they wouldn’t tell me how much to fix it only that it would start @ $800 and the repair would only have a one year warranty. Some here have been through several ovens because when fixed under warranty. They should stand behind their products, especially with a known issue. There have been some lawsuits over this. My oven can only be used with covered dishes and no convection fan. The chipping is tiny glass shards. Viking gets really mixed reviews. It is very hard to find a duel fuel range that gets it right. What size are you looking for? Why do you want an electric oven? Are you looking strictly at prostyle ranges?