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Opinions on Wolf Rangetops - Both 36 or 48"

9 years ago

My wife and I have started planning the kitchen of a home to be built in 2015 in NW Michigan. I'm thinking a rangetop and wall ovens might be a good combination for us and have been looking at the Wolf gas (LP) rangetop, in both 36 and 48" widths. I've never needed more than 4 burners, so a 6 burner set-up seems more than needed, but do I need a dedicated griddle (48") or just pull a griddle out of a drawer and lay it aross two burners (36"). The bigger rangetop requires a bigger hood, so that's a consideration as well. I don't do a lot of high temperature cooking, so high output burners aren't critical, so the Wolf looks good for my needs. All input appreciated!

Kent in Michigan

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Comments (4)

wekick
9 years ago
Some people really like the built in griddle and others are happy to use an overlay. If you use it everyday or just like that it is stationary you might want built in. Some built in griddles might be thicker but I am not sure with Wolf. If it is thicker it will take longer to heat up and change temperatures but would be more stable and lose less heat when you add food.
This was a thread earlier about overlays. I like the flexibility of an overlay and that you can change from aluminum to steel if you want to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Griddle for Wolf range.
geekgirl512
9 years ago
We just finished our kitchen reno and have the Wolf 48" with 4 gas burners and double griddle. We were originally going with the 5-burner gas cooktop but after attending a Wolf demo dinner, we decided to move up to the rangetop+griddle. In the two weeks we've been in the kitchen, we've used the griddle to make weekend breakfasts (french toast, hash browns), and burgers. It's been great, through it does take a while to cool down. We like that each half of the double griddle has its own thermostat so we can just turn on one side if we aren't cooking a huge meal.

We did a lot of research and reading reviews from people who had the griddle vs. the overlay and in the end, decided the griddle was our preference. I think you have to look at the types of things you cook when deciding if it's the right configuration for you.

Also, we put in the E-series single onvection oven and the combi-steam oven. I will write a separate post about the steam oven but I absolutely love it and have used that more than the rangetop so far.
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Are you looking at sealed burners or open burners? We have the 48" Wolf, open-burner, 8-burner configuration...Only about 3 or 4 weeks of using it now, but after about a day of getting used to it, all of us here love it. I couldn't find anything close to it in features/performance/power/reputation/history, especially since we have propane, except BlueStar. I thought the Wolf would be easier to keep clean, since the porcelain enamel surface is fairly easy to wipe out, but comparing that to the cast iron grates, I can see where they would be more forgiving, developing a patina and a seasoning over time...meaning I can now understand why people might like the BlueStar's cast iron surfaces better. I have things that are caught by the drip pans and try to burn or stick that might just fall through to the tray underneath in the BlueStar. I don't regret my choice, but now see both sides of the BlueStar vs Wolf discussions, and would consider them pretty equal. I do like that every burner on the Wolf has the same power so I am free to use them all to the best advantage in each situation. All the options out there are expensive and I wanted value over a lower initial price. I didn't want to regret my decision and from what I learned about its consistent performance and the way the company stands behind their products, I thought Wolf was my best bet.
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6 burners means you can comfortable put three big pots (or two pots and a saute or fry pan) on the range without shuffling. That to me is a huge advantage. With a 4-burner, you're limited to two big pots and the others generally need to be 8" or smaller. Personally, I'd get a beautiful cast-iron griddle and use that over "dedicating" 1/3 of my range to a griddle. Taking myself out of San Francisco where I can grill outdoors most any evening, I'd be tempted by a "real" grill that actually could sear. I have read that the Wolf is better than most, but have not tried it. It will require a much bigger hood (flow-wise, and possibly physical size). Then again, I see pictures of people firing up their outdoor charcoal grills in the snow, so I may be more with cat_mom on that. (Disclaimer -- I am a Kamado user that should be taking out stock in Lazzari charcoal.)
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I've mentioned this before, but hot cooking can generate meter per second rising and expanding cooking plumes. Generally, these will have larger sectional area than the pop-up slot area facing the plume. Yet, somehow, the slot velocity is expected to be high enough that the vector combination of vent air and plume effluent at the plume and over the entire plume area will be directed toward the slot. However, the slot acting as a mini hood has, like all hoods, to follow the behavior documented in the 2003 ASHRAE Handbook: HVAC Applications. There, Figure 6 page 30.4 shows that the air velocity has dropped to 10% of its slot opening value at 1.6 times the narrow dimension of the slot. Yet most of the plume is multiple slot dimensions away. One imagines that the slot velocity would have to be 30 m/s of so to be fully effective. (Let's assume induction cooking so we don't have to deal with flame extinction.) A 3-inch by 48-inch slot (1 sq. ft. area) would have to move air at 6000 CFM to accomplish this. Given the pressure loss of the slot, I can imagine the large and noisy blower this would require. In case this makes one wonder how regular hoods can work, please note that regular kitchen hoods do not pull effluent away from their direction of flow, but depend on the flow to bring the plumes to the hoods for capture.
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What about a 36" cooktop and double wall ovens? What is more important - the amount of burners or the oven sizes? A 48" has a small oven and a reg 30" one - while the 36" range and a wall oven give you 2 larger ovens. How's you back? A wall oven will be more convenient. Then of course there is the quality of all the appliances you are looking at - get the best your pocketbook can handle - whichever configuration is best for you. Good lucK!
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u084708
Original Author
9 years ago
Geekgirl512 - Many thanks for the informative post. I think you're correct that 4 burners would be adequate, so if we go with the 48" Wolf, the choice is 24" griddle or griddle + grill? I think the former, as I prefer to grill outside, even when it's cold in Michigan, as you keep the mess, smell, etc. outdoors.

Your information on the Wolf ovens is great - many thanks for adding that. I've been working with a 30" range plus small convection oven for so long that a 48" rangetop + two wall ovens should seem like heaven. I do a lot of baking, so I think I could utilize the space.

Thanks again.
cookncarpenter
9 years ago
foxmoor, I have a 36" (Bluestar) with built in griddle and it gets daily use. In 40+ years of cooking, I've never needed more than 4 burners, I rarely even use more than two or three. If I had room for a 48" (which I would love) I would get a 24" griddle, since I also do grilling outside year round. If I couldn't grill year round, then I'd opt for 4 burners, a griddle, and a grill...

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