BlueStar Owners: What do you like most about your range?
shakleemom
15 years ago
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tyguy
15 years agoshakleemom
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Blue Star Range Owners - How important is convection?
Comments (1)My opinion, it's not that important. Basically it helps to cook things faster, and I use it, but... really I might have saved 3 minutes on a baked home made pizza. It took about 7 minutes last night. Without the convection it would have taken 10 minutes? Waiting for the oven to pre-heat to 500+ degrees took 30 minutes. Maybe more... I rarely use it for cookies or bread. I mean, it's a flip of the coin. The fan cover sticks out into the oven and you shouldn't have a row of cookies right against it- you should give it an inch, just as you would for the sides of the oven. The time savings is greater for roasts etc. But anything baked in a pan, or French oven, it makes almost no difference. Convection is a good idea where the time saving can make a difference. And that may be important to you. Now the broiler is truly the fast way of cooking. Almost instant intense heat. Because the Bluestar oven, broiler and top burners are so much better than the GE and KitchenAid products, I would live without the convection if that were the choice....See MoreHow Do You Keep the Cast Iron on Blue Star Range Clean
Comments (22)The confusion is in the word seasoning in this application. OK it's not a wok or a cast iron pan that needs to be properly seasoned but here's Bluestar's recommendation: This is from the BS web site..."Your ring grates, top grates and burner heads may darken over time with use. This is normal. TIP: To prevent your burners from darkening at an uneven rate, rotate the ring grate and top grates between more and less active burners. BURNER CLEANING Ring Grates and Top Grates TIP: Clean spills as soon as possible to prevent sticking and build up. When burner is cool, remove the ring grate, top grate and center filler grate (30” models only). Wash in hot, soapy water. Rinse well and dry thoroughly to prevent rusting. Handle gently to prevent nicks/chips, which can lead to rusting TIP: If you have a nick or chip you can season the area to prevent rusting. Nicks or chips are not covered under warranty. Put corn oil or other high smoke point oil on a paper towel and rub onto rusted area. Wipe away excess oil and replace the part on the range. Do not submerge the burner grates in water for extended periods of time. Prolonged exposure to moisture may cause rusting. For heavy soiling, use a commercially available oven cleaner. Follow the cleaner manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure the cleaning chemicals do not contact any stainless steel or painted surface on your appliance. Reinstall grates in cooktop and make sure they are seated properly, and do not move unsteadily from side to side". So, BS says it's OK to hand wash or DW and they also use the word "season" so this is maybe why it's a bit confusing to some. It's not seasoning in the traditional sense but oil on these grates will keep them looking good over the life of the grates, IMHO. This isn't that different from keeping your backyard BBQ grates from rusting, same principle.... Here's a tutorial for cleaning, this is just informational.... cleaning your bluestar grates...See MoreI'm curious. What did/do you dislike most about your old kitchen?
Comments (85)Well, we did a mini "refresh" on our kitchen in 1999 to add a dishwasher and standard-sized range, as we had one of those apartment-sized ranges that DH detested. When we did the mini refresh, we also changed countertops, sink & faucet, and we had put in peel and stick vinyl over the hideous gold linoleum when we first moved in. That being said, we still had issues with layout, with the only really useable countertop being the 15" to left of the range and 5" to the right of it. There was a small swath of countertop across from the stove, next to the sink, but because it was right by the back door, it became a catchall. When I took anything out of the oven, it pretty much had to go on the stovetop. Baking cookies just wasn't very fun after a while. I sorta stopped doing it. :^( Then there was the wall between the kitchen and livingroom that made the kitchen seem so dark and cramped. The lack of storage was the biggest issue we had. I still get the heebs when I think of that cabinet where the plastic storage containers lived. I don't know how many times I sat on the floor and cleaned out that blasted cabinet, just to have it heave out plasticware all over me the next time I opened that door. I'm pretty sure that DH would open the door *just enough* to throw an item in there. We had no venting over the range, instead we had a cabinet directly over the range, and it was lower than standard. When we did the remodel, we could see big black burn marks underneath. Lovely. Our garbage was located across the kitchen on the stairwell landing. If I had gunk in my hands, I had the pleasure of carrying it across the floor, leaving a nice little dribble trail. Fun times! The giant fluorescent light box, with that hideous tube light. I tried to "tart it up" at one point, but in the end, it was just a big rectangle with an ugly light, so it had to go. My peel and stick vinyl tiles, so wonderful and bright when we installed them, were pitted and cracking in places. No matter how long I scrubbed on my hands and knees, there were areas where the tile was worn, and the dirt was embedded. Yuck. The kitchen wasn't awful; it just was not a joy to work in. Now I enjoy baking and cooking in there, and putting away the tupperware is not an exercise in frustration! Hooray! Oh, happy day! :^)...See Moreso...why do you hate, loathe, abhor your wolf, blue star or la co
Comments (4)zenfoodist - I hear you...I was a mess about my stove, but honestly I think you are looking at well loved products and short of any really ugly feedback about repairs or service on the stoves, I think you will be in good shape (that is without knowing what your priorities are :) I had decided upfront that I didn't want to spend $5 K on my stove (I have a pretty bad tile and stone addiction that I had to feed and it would really be overkill where I live :) and had read about the stoves that were not as standard issue (electronic controls on the back), but were better priced than the Wolf and Viking. I checked out the American Range, the Capitol and the Bluestar, all in one (long) night. After all that research and obsessing I realized they were all good products with their pros and cons and picked the one I thought I would be the most comfortable with. I wanted something simple that I could just turn on and get flame (but also a convection oven :) I got the 30" RCS - I didn't want to pay the extra $ for the additional BTU for the Nova burner (all my past cooking experience had been on standard issue gas stoves so the RCS power burner blew that out of the water.) ebean is right - it is a 'box of fire' and I know people say that a good cook can use any stove, but I really do prefer cooking on this to my previous low end stoves. I cook, alot, and bake no complaints about the results. I am trying to adjust to the "woosh" - power I am not used to but getting there. Honestly as I try to remember the difference between the three products I can't other than the open versus sealed burners (but I think Capitol was coming out with an open burner.) I really have enjoyed the open burner. For me it is easier to keep clean - or maybe the cast iron looks fine when it is not perfect versus stainless. The best is it just doesn't give me a minute of thought - it just works. But that is only my experience and I have only been using it for 3 months. If you love the wolf or the la c (pretty french thing :) get it, but if you don't love them save yourself a few dollars and go with the blue star. Unless you live in a upscale neighborhood and people expect a wolf. I live in an area that is slowly gentrifying and nobody even knows what the blue star is (and I don't care :) Good luck....See Moretyguy
15 years agobreezy_2
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