Need to replace 30' Bluestar - HELP!

12 years ago

My 30" Bluestar RNB range delivered August 2007 finally bit the dust by blowing flames out the closed oven door last Friday about ten minutes into a 400 degrees preheat (there was nothing in the oven). After four wonderful years of cooking (when it worked) combined with four years of sheer misery (when it did not) I am now in the market for a replacement of approximate specs but I'm terrified.

Given that I don't want any sort of breakable electronic or computer control panel, any other sort of electronic controls, for the oven for example (other than igniters which I know perfectly well are going to be in a constant state of breakage) or dual anything my choices are rather limited.

I have seen the Berta and the Wolf. I'm not sure I'm ready to sink $4,500 into a range at this point (the insurance isn't going to cover quite that much) but the service complaints about the Berta, while not as numerous do rival the complaints about Bluestar service which was downright appalling.

What I don't know is what breaks and how often.

For a benchmark here is my history with Bluestar:

Seized up oven door three months after purchase that took 6 weeks to replace.

Beginning just over two years after receiving the range the electric OVEN igniter and safety valve (not the burners, those went fast and stayed broken) broke rendering the oven unusable until Bluestar could get parts shipped to the nearest service facility in Connecticut and continued to break every six months. This resulted in double service calls and fees the first two times until I finally just started self diagnosing the problem.

This happened three times. It wasn't until the third time that my husband managed to get someone from Bluestar to acknowledge that there might be something defective about the igniter and sent replacement parts without charge and paid for the service call.

Nine months after the third replacement flames came shooting out of the closed oven door nearly burning my house down. My ten year old daughter put her hand through the flames that were coming up over the front of the oven door and turned the gas off which is probably why I still have a house.

So I'm traumatized and looking for as much information, good and bad as I can get. I'm not looking for perfect by any means but I want to hear it all.

I would like a safe household appliance that will not cost me more to keep than the purchase price and I would hate to have to go back to the bad old days of the $500 - $800 replace every three years electric or even gas range that performs, well, like a $500 - $800 replace every three yearsÃ¯Â¿Â½K Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½

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Comments (7)

weissman
12 years ago
The Capital Culinarian is the favored choice these days. Lots of info about it on this forum.

I can personally recommend the DCS range - I've had it for nearly 10 years and am very pleased. Except for a few minor service calls during the warranty period, no service needed since then and have not had to replace the ignitors. The current DCS range is slightly different than mine - a few smaller burners and is now made by Fisher Paykel. There are some recent owners of this range who also seem pleased. The big difference between the DCS and Bluestar or CC is that it has dual-stacked sealed burners. I've been quite pleased by them - they get sufficienty hot for me to stir fry and I find them easy to clean - but what I really like is that each burners has a separate simmer burner which simmers incredibly low. I find I use the burners on lower settings far more often than I crank them up.
Caddidaddy55
12 years ago
I have and recommend the Capital Culinarian. The manual clean has no electronics at all except the igniters (4 a seperate one for each burner so if one one goes out the other 3 will light. And you can still use a match) the 2 glow plugs for the oven and the broiler, a switch for the oven light and another for the convection. The only real change from the older Capital precision line are the new open 23,000 BTU burners. The kind you are already used to cooking on. If you brouse this and other forums you will find very few complaints about either line from Capital. The manual clean 30" model can be had for under that $4500 mark. Fit and finish is comparable to Wolf.
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stooxie
12 years ago
Looks like you hit all the goodness Bluestar had to offer back then. The newer ones (V1 revision, etc) have shown to be a pretty different animal. For simplicity the Bluestar is still the best bet but I can understand if you've decided to move on. A bunch of folks here have V1 Bluestars and have been very happy with them.

-Stooxie
Nunyabiz1
12 years ago
From the sounds of it the " Capital Culinarian" would be a good option if the insurance will cover that much.
If it turns out that you can only spend $2500 or less then I would recommend the 30" NXR, for the most part it is a Wolf knock off but sells for less than 1/2 the price.
Has the exact same burners and probably about the same infrared broiler, is all 304 stainless even on the back, very heavy duty oven racks and nice stove top grates.
We bought ours from a place in Florida for $1799.00 delivered to the door.

Have had it for 7 months now with no issues at all, everything works great.
eandhl
12 years ago
Another happy DCS owner. It is one range that isn't as popular as some but has over the years had minimal complaints. I am saying this after really wanting a Wolf but at the time we were ready to buy they were having a major problem that hadn't been resolved. Without doubt it is resolved now and until that time they were very highly rated. Just bad timing for me, but happy with the DCS.
beth4
12 years ago
I'm so sorry you've had such difficulties with your BS range! I can imagine how frustrating this is after you did your research and made the selection you thought was best for your home.

I can't tell from your post whether you are actively considering Wolf or not. For the past 6 years I've had the 30-inch Wolf DF range. I would buy it again in a nanno second....I've not had a single problem with it, the electric convection oven produces fabulous baked goods (from home made pizza and artisan breads to pies, cakes and cookies) and roasts, and the 4 surface burners more than meet my requirements for the way I cook - No WOK cooking, but I do sautee a lot, cook a lot of delicate sauces, and love to simmer soups and stews all day on the back burner.

If you'd like more info, I'd be glad to tell you more. Good luck in your next search!
barista9
12 years ago
Your story about the oven is why I could not get my wife to accept having an AG in our home. Luckily the local DCS distributor is trying to move last year's model and so got a pretty good rebate on the DCS DF.

You might want to check for last year's DCS line yourself for a cheaper alternative.

Need to replace 30' Bluestar - HELP!

Comments (7)

weissman

Caddidaddy55

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