Years ago I cooked on a Wolf open burner (converted to LP) and it was fine. Good even heat distribution. Very much like the old restaurant ranges I was use to. This was back in the mid/late 90s so Wolf has likely changed their design since then. Back then they were still the up and coming brand and their ranges had a bit of a utilitarian restaurant look.

I love the Bluestar. Best cooking machine you can get for the home. The open star burner is wonderful. Comparing the Wolf from the mid '90s and the BS, BS wins hands down. Nothing really wrong with the Wolf (as long as it's an open burner) and if I never tried the BS, I'd probably be happy with it. Now that I have, there's no going back.

With regard to reliability... You'll here horror stories about every brand. Bluestar is no exception. I think BS went through some growning pains about a year or so ago but I think things are getting better. The thing I like about their design is that it's completely accessible. I pop the top and the plumbing, electronics, and burners are all easily reachable. There's no secret panel that you have to use the magic screw driver to open. The reason I say this is that I'm confident if the ignitors or the spark module ever fails (which is the most likely thing to fail since everything else is just plumbing), I'm sure I can buy the parts and replace them myself.

Very helpful - thanks. How new is your BS? Is it an RNB? Also, any other comments from anyone regarding either BS or Wolf?

These were the two ranges I looked at for our home three years. I ended up going with the Wolf because we don't live in an area with a well-established Bluestar dealer. I feared that if something went wrong, I wouldn't be able to get quality service from a repairman well-acquainted with Bluestar. I think the experiences of some on this forum over the past few years bear out my concerns but I also think these are both excellent options, especially if you live in an area where Bluestar is more common. You will find people on this forum and other sites who have had both good and bad experiences with these ranges. I do love my Wolf and would buy it again in a heartbeat. Bluestar's star flame pattern is probably superior but Wolf's burners also do a very good job of spreading the flame evenly. I do think Wolf's fit and finish is better. Wolf service is also hard to beat, especially if you live in an area where Bluestar is more "exotic". Bluestar has more firepower for wok-cooking. However, I have never felt like I didn't have enough firepower cooking on the Wolf. They are both great choices for slightly different reasons. If you love to cook, either range is an excellent choice. Read back through the threads; there are many on this subject.

I have the drop-in cook. It's about 6mo old. No problems so far. The first unit they brought had some issues and they basically rescheduled the install rather than leave a bad unit there. I absolutely agree that Bluestar is not as polished as Wolf or Viking. Much like the Wolf of 10 years ago.

I think you'll find that both of these are pretty well respected even though you'll find some that had a really bad experience with one or the other. With regard to wok cooking which was one of my primary concerns, the Bluestar RNB has a nice removable grate that allows the wok to sit into the bowl. This provides a cooking experience that comes very close to cooking in a restaurant kitchen. Unfortunately for me, the drop-in cooktop has a different grate design that prohibits this. I resolved this by taking a sawzaw to an extra grate and am now loving life. :)

As zoenipp said, you'll be happy with either I'm sure. You've limited the field to two open burner ranges which is a great start.

Good luck.

Heartening to read so much consensus-I have a Wolf and agree completely with the other posters. Looked at the Bluestar but it looked a little more primitive (this was several years ago), and the Wolf Charbroiler was superior. Were we doing it again, the bigger burner for woks might tip the scale, however I've taken to placing our wok right on the inner burner ring and that gives a good wok char. Otherwise I've never regretted not having star burners for other high heat cooking like pan broiling.