Big Chill Stove
barbara1963
11 years ago
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11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoa2gemini
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Big Chill Pro Style (manufactured by BlueStar)
Comments (28)Hey, I'll give an update. So now I've had the stove for 3 years and a couple of more observations. First of all I hate cleaning the thing. It isn't that easy to keep it completely spotless the stainless steel lining underneath the burners is very hard to clean without scratching it. They were a couple of burnt on spots that I tried cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend and it still ended up scratching the stainless steel. Also the grates themselves have developed rust spots on them and I don't know if that is normal but it doesn't look great. I have tried not to use any steel wool or harsh abrasives on them just soap and water but that doesn't seem to have mattered. A couple of other observations. First, the burner lighters are a little wonky. Sometimes when I turn the burner on, the solenoid will still continue to click even after the burner is lit and it can go on for 30 seconds or even a minute before it stops. Also when I am using the stove and the oven at the same time the stovetop will suddenly deform with a loud bang and sometimes will throw the ceramic burner cover off of the burner. I guess overall I am happy enough with it I have not placed a service call because none of the issues are worth bothering to call service for. I will say that keeping the top looking like new has been a struggle that I have given up on. If I sell the house people are going to have to understand that the stove has been used I clean it but it's not going to look new anymore. If you are the type of person that needs to keep the stove looking pristine then you might want to consider another option. On the positive side the burners cook well they are powerful and I enjoy boiling large pots of water and doing stir-frys with the power that I have. The convection oven is a dream it cooks all sorts of things really fast. The broiler is very powerful but I find sometimes when I open the door to check on the food if the broiler is on the flame will come shooting out of the oven and it's a little scary. I do not know if other people using the stove have noticed that. Would I recommend this stove to other people? Would I buy it again if I had the chance? I would have to say probably not. I would probably have sprung for the electrical upgrades so that I could have gotten a induction range instead. It looks great and that's why I really bought it so I guess I can't complain too much. It works okay with some of the quirks I mentioned. Buy one because you like the way it looks but if you are looking for a top performing stove and oven you might find others that are better....See Morex-post: Anyone have a BigChill?
Comments (6)Here is a copy of one of my posts on another thread when I was debating my fridge and was looking to see if anyone else had any information: "Decided to call Big Chill during a break here at work - very nice to talk to! Differences between Big Chill & Northstar appear to be: (1) manufacture - Big Chill uses Whirlpool and he advised you can check out any of the 20.9 cf line as they all use the same compressor to get reviews; (2) metal (Big Chill) versus powder-baked fiberglass (Northstar); and (3) price (seems Northstar is out of Canada which results in the higher pricing). Other info on Big Chill: 1 year warranty on parts & labor, 5 year warranty on the compressor. I asked about how long to expect to receive after ordering and he advised about 3 weeks." Hope this helps....See MorePlease Help Me Choose My 36" Gas Range (Big Chill; Smeg; Berlazonni)
Comments (41)We're late to this discussion, but we have just finished a multi-state tour of kitchen showrooms looking at "professional" ranges, cute and otherwise. A deciding factor for us proved to be the oven temperature-setting. Bluestar/Big Chill and many others have very poor controls for oven temp setting. Some are coarse, upside-down, or both. It seems that the cuter the range, the worse this is. Doesn't anyone bake anymore? How did these controls get into these kinds of ranges? Why do cheap gas stoves have better oven temp setting? The answer might be that in a commercial kitchen, various ovens are set to specific temperatures at the start of the day and they stay there. Actual oven thermometers are used to verify temps. Some cute ovens like Bertazzoni have thermometer indicators on their control panels but good luck trying to get consistent settings by just using the oven temp knob when you need to bake a cake at 350F and then roast some vegetables at 400F. We eventually chose a 36" GE Cafe in bronze and white. This series has a fairly precise oven control setting with actual temperature indication. We will order matching extra oven handles and adapt them to a large but fairly standard white side-by-side fridge, Whirlpool or GE. Here is a link to sources of other kitchen hardware that will match that special GE Cafe bronze: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5578436/hardware-to-match-ge-cafe-series-range-in-brushed-bronze...See MoreElmira Stove Works Northstar refrigerator reviews
Comments (3)No suggestions, but I have been frustrated by this same lack of information. I've seen suggestions to find out who makes the guts of their appliances (they don't actually build the stoves/fridges, just build a decorative box around them) and then look up reviews of the base models. But I haven't gotten around to asking the local Elmira Stove Works dealer for the info about the manufacturer....See Morejolb57
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