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Wolf vs. Viking (36', all gas range)

13 years ago

I'm looking to purchase a new 36", all gas, professional range. I'm considering Wolf or Viking, but any suggestions or info will be appreciated.

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Comments (14)

coolpapa
13 years ago
I chose a wolf rangetop and double fisher paykel wall ovens. Except for cleaning issues with that awful black enamel on the range top the combination works very well. the kitchen is 24 feet long and 5 feet wide with installed drawers etc.
dadofmeeko
13 years ago
If you are looking for a 36" all gas range you should check out Capital. You will get same quality as wolf or viking for at least a couple thousand less. I bought one about 6 mo ago and absolutely love it. You can find many threads on this forum about capital and most is good stuff. A few of the criticisms I have really not found to be a big deal.
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I'm not sure what you mean by "will all gas make cooking difficult". Is that something one of the sales people told you? There are things that bake better in an electric oven and things that bake better in a gas oven. Mostly meats and roasts do better in a gas oven due to higher moisture while pastry and such are easier with electric. Frankly, it's all personal preference. My wife does the baking in our house and she hated our last oven mainly because it was electric. She had always used gas until then and was more comfortable with it. She still baked some wonderful stuff but she was just frustrated by having to adjust her baking style to the oven. IMHO, given the quality of most gas ovens today, you will probably not have issues of temperature control and excessive cycling with either gas or electric. The main reason sales people tend to push dual fuel is that there is a premium in price and there has been lots of marketing around the "advantages" of dual fuel. I would suggest that you don't discount all gas unless you are dead set on getting an electric oven. Some brands, other than Wolf and Viking, to look at are Capital and Bluestar. Both offer a fully open burner range that will perform better than either Wolf or Viking IMHO. If you really want an electric oven, you should consider a range top with open burners and a separate wall oven. Now if you're really set on Wolf or Viking, I personally prefer Wolf over Viking after cooking on both. Finally, if you do look into other brands, do a search on "Culinarian" which is the new Capital open burner range. For Bluestar, just search "bluestar" and you'll get more threads then you know what to do with. For Bluestar, there have been complaints about the oven door sticking so read up on that and make up your own decision on whether their "V1" range has it fixed. Good Luck.
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Have you looked at Capital? The engineers behind the highly rated DCS of yesteryear left DCS and started Capital. I do believe DCS is now owned by Fisher Paykel. Have you read the reviews on the Appliance forum? I love my Capital 36" range. They have changed the grates (there was an issue with possible tipping pots). Their customer service is great. I called and told them that my oven racks weren't rolling like they did in the showroom, and they sent me a new rack. It glides so smoothly. Plus this range (if you get the self clean) comes with a rotisserie. If you have room for the 36", I think you should go for it. It is so nice having multiple large pots and pans on the range without hanging off the side. Even if you don't use all the burners at once, just the extra room is great. But remember, bigger range, bigger ventilation system needed. You need to add that into your budget. Here is a link that might be useful: Capital's Website
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Cpartist makes a good point, I think, about any Wolf appliance looking more modern than a house otherwise restored/renovated to a century old appearance. One question, though. When you spoke of "the more modern looking induction cook top," did you mean "stovetop" (i.e, you are looking at one of the 36" Wolf induction ranges) or did you mean you are considering a separate 36" induction cooktop with a separate wall oven or ovens? If your carriage house kitchen has the space for a separate cooktop and oven(s), then it seems to me that the induction would be less jarringly obvious than the big DF or induction range would be. As an aside, if you have not already done so, you might want to look into the ongoing issue with the flaking cobalt blue oven linings that sometimes happens with Wolf's electric ovens including those in the dual fuel and induction ranges. Might or might not deter you, but worth looking into if you were not already aware of that ongoing controversy.
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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.
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plllog
13 years ago
If the question is specifically between the Wolf and the Viking, I'd choose the Wolf. I love Wolf burners, and Viking has had some problems with their ranges, though I think they've been working to improve that. The all gas Wolf has a good reputation. The old ones were fantastic and I have no reason to think that the new ones are any less so. (There have been some issues with the dual fuels.)
faith2009
13 years ago
Between the 2 I would have gone with Wolfe because of the comments on this forum on how good the grill is and fewer complaints then the Viking but....
money was a consideration. Wolfe was $1,000.00 more and since I live in Calif hard to justify the cost for the grill and I need all new appliances. If I just had the cooktop I would have gone Wolfe or if I had the money. So I ordered Viking. Haven't recieved yet so am only hopeful it will be trouble free.
johnnytugs1
13 years ago
I have a 48" American range and wifey and i love it. i've had it 2 years i think, maybe 1.5 years and it cost 5k then. but it works great and looks better in my opinion. i got mine from Dvorsons rest. equipment in cali. good people there.
ck out the thread on american range owners if your interested.
Good luck in your quest : )
john
917-842-1809

Here is a link that might be useful: american range owners #4
steph1
13 years ago
better yet....go for the 36" NXR, with free shipping and zero tax. You can buy 2 or 3 NXRs of these for the price of 1 Wolf.

Or instead of buying 2 or 3, just buy 1 NXR and put the money saved in your bank account for retirement or the kids/grandkids college fund.
friedajune
13 years ago
The thing that differentiates the Wolf and Viking from the other suggested ranges here like NXR and American is that the All-Gas Wolf and Viking offer open burners, an advantage for cooking (see my links below). However, if you are not a serious cook, or don't care for open burners, then I'd have to agree with Steph1 that the NXR (made in China) from a money standpoint seems an amazing value; people on this forum who have them have posted they like them, though no one knows how NXR's will be on the longterm. Also, if the OP is planning to sell his/her home soon, realtors like to say the kitchen has a Viking or Wolf appliance.

Between the OP's choices of Viking and Wolf, I'd go with the Wolf only because we have seen so many threads here about problems with the Vikings and poor customer service, and so many threads here about how Wolf customer service stands behind its product when there are problems.

Thread about open vs. closed burners

Eurostoves video about open burners (CLICK on video entitled "Open Burner Vs Sealed Burner (2)"
jejvtr
13 years ago
Mace
We have 36" Viking AG open burners range 3.5 yrs LOVE It - Viking gets a bad rap, many of the comments on here (from what I researched),were 2nd hand type. I ended up going to a Viking dealership to ck out Viking vs the competitors irl -

best of luck to you
shoregirl_veggie
13 years ago
Hi,
We had a 30" Viking all gas and just installed a 36" Viking all gas after our remodel. We love it.
In the 8 years or so that we owned the 30", we had one minor issue with the oven ignition. A repairman came out and easily fixed it.
We have the open burner design on both. I struggled a lot with that decision on the new range, wondering if I should switch to a closed burner. But, in the end, I figured I liked and knew what I had, so why change? I'm glad I stuck with the open burners.
We had a 30" Viking hood with the old range and got the 42" hood with the new. (We also switched to an external fan/motor. We love the hood.) If you can, I'd recommend getting the 42" hood for the 36" range, whether you select Viking or Wolf.
You should be aware that the black enamel does show everything. So, you'll need to clean often, which means removing the heavy grates, using a microfiber cloth to avoid streaks, etc. But, I'm very used to this and don't have any problems doing this at all.
I wouldn't hesitate recommending Viking.
mace8259
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the responses. Also, akchicago, your info on open vs. sealed burners gave me something to think about.
alwaysfixin
13 years ago
Mace8259 - if you are still deciding between Wolf and Viking, there is a new development since your OP from December. See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Viking & LG
mtbgirl
13 years ago
I researched several ranges extensively, and recently bought & installed a new Wolf AG range. I almost bought a Viking since Viking has supposedly addressed all of the problems they've had for years, but the salesman asked that I buy an extended warranty on the Viking while he said I wouldn't really need one for the Wolf. I also called several major appliance repair stores in my state that are factory trained. I'm not sure if they got more calls for Viking repairs because of the ubiquity of the Viking, or whether the Wolf is less repair-prone. The repair guys said that the Wolf is made from better quality stainless steel, double-walled unlike the Viking, and more solidly made from higher quality components than Viking. Like the difference between a GM car and a BMW. BTW, if you're thinking of selling your house soon, every salesman at every store said to get the Viking because that's what high-end buyers want. I'm staying put, and simply put: I love the Wolf!!! I'm a serious cook, so I've used everything that this stove has to offer from convection fan baking, high BTU wok cooking, to the lowest simmer. The Wolf is a tremendous workhorse and delivers on every promise. BTW, my daughter was bummed when she returned to university and had to use her "crummy and slow" range in the house she rents with other students. That only heats to 10,000 BTUs and identical recipes turned out not as well on her range. While the Viking was definitely eye candy and appeared easier to clean, I have not regretted buying the Wolf for one moment. It's been a snap to keep clean. And I've grown to love the signature red knobs.
59 Dodge
13 years ago
"Like the difference between a GM car and a BMW." Yep there is a difference. For those with memories, recall BMW's valve problems---they blamed it on the Gasoline Yet the GM cars ran fine on it. Also recall the problems where water ran down the front door and into electrical connectors and hence on rainy days the car was "Crankie" to say the least.
For whatever reason there seems to be some kinda "Mystique" here that something that is built in Germany or made by a German company is far superior to that which is made in the US.
It just ain't so. I have had two Benzes (SL's) Each of those cars cost me more in one year than the 93 Cadillac Allante I bought to replace them has cost me in 10 Years.
More proof needed? I have a Swedish Friend that buys a year or two old Benz every couple of years. He says He doesn't keep them past 70,000 miles or the repair expenses really start escalating--He should know, He's had a bunch of them now. I know there are Benzes that have many miles and relatively trouble free, but there are many GM products the same way. In fact my 64 Dodge ran 315,000 miles before I had to rebuilt the motor and a 66 Dodge ran 206,000 miles with no engine or tranny work and we sold that.
German Products, like Scandanavian, Korean, Japaneese, etc etc they all have their good and bad and to Generalize, "It's German It's Great" just doesn't tell the Facts!!!

Gary
miriamann
13 years ago
not even thinking Wolf or Viking...but at this price point I am trying to decide which one is better?

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