My arguments were not against Bluestar. My reaction was to the claims and to the reasoning/marketing/promo when a poster asked for specific points of comparison between 2 ranges. I won't have an opinion until I test it myself, side by side with the others -- and it will happen early in the summer. I do know is that heat distribution has a lot to do with the configuration of the burner, the number of gas jets and their relationship to pan size. No one mentions the distance between the top of the grate and the surface of the burner or any degree of adjustability on those -- all of which could affect heat distribution as well. Clearly the star shape of the BS burners puts a higher percentage of the underside of a pan in contact with heat than, say a burner with a single ring of jets. For me, sealed/open burners is more of a cleaning issue though it certainly affects the height of the burner. But in theory, if a sealed burner were well configured, the heat distribution should be excellent. As good? Let's see. I've seen Trevor's very admirable videos which come with his conclusions. To be fair, they may be perfectly valid and correct. However, it's undeniable that he has a vested interest in those conclusions. I have no problem with that and I totally applaud and admire his willingness to do objective side-by-side testing of the various ranges in his school where several are available and anything needed can be called in. However, what did come out of the discussion was the issue of the oven as a significant component of the range. Otherwise, we're just talking about rangetops. Meanwhile, I love that all the Bluestar and Wolf folks are coming out for their pianos. Passion is a wonderful quality in life. Your infrared photos are super and movajean's photos yesterday were a hoot. Made me think: more please!

chaparral, you will have a hard time making a decision on a Bertazzoni range and an Aga Pro +. Same size oven for the 36" and same burner configuration. The Bertazzoni you like can come in colors, dual fuel, self clean, six burners or five, towel rack option for the front and an all gas version. Very few electronics and even has a blower to keep the few electronic items from becoming hot. I've already told you about the Aga Pro + but here is something that most don't know. If you provide AgaMarvel with your color code they will paint your range that color! It's quite impressive to have that option. When they moved the assembly of the range from Canada to Michigan they gained that ability. The Michigan facility has a state of the art power coating paint booth. They are very proud of this machine and the ease in which they can change paint options without stopping the line. I have used a Aga Pro + and had the opportunity to eat a meal cooked on one! With that being said I have done the same with Bertazzoni. This is going to come down to your personal taste and budget. They are evenly matched with performance and ease in repair.

Okay. You asked for cons. Here are mine: 1. IMO, for a family of 3, a 24" rangetop is very small . I think you need to ask yourself whether the gain in countertop area is actually worth it. As you've already noted, you have problems now in navigating your 30" rangetop which, because of side-mounted controls, is effectively 24" in width. That problem won't improve with the Companion. Another question would be whether you've considered 30" ranges with front-mounted controls? 2. Yes, the Aga's ovens are Euro-small. Depending on your baking/roasting needs, this could be a problem. Maximum size bird you can fit in the Companion's one roasting oven would be a 16 pounder. Baking a lot of cookies? You're looking at lots of rounds of small baking sheets. Something to consider. 3. The Aga's ovens have no glass in their doors, no lights, and no internal thermometer. If you need to check on your foodstuffs while they're baking, you chance temp drops each time you open the door to do so. That said, I do understand your willingness to live with no increase in range area if installation of the 24" Companion will allow you to have more countertop area. If I were dealing with the kind of space issues your struggling with, I think the latter change would be a big plus in my book. Onto the ovens. Personally, I've experienced no problems whatsoever with the size of the Aga ovens. In fact, how they look in size is rather deceptive. In practice, I've been able to shove all manner of roasts, casseroles, etc. into those cavities without fretting. However, keep in mind that I'm a single empty nester with 4 Aga-size ovens! (Also, I'm not much of a baker). So while, generally, I hardly ever need to use more than 2 ovens at a time, I do have the option of using all four when cooking for a crowd. The Companion alone will not give you that option. Something to consider. And, while I don't like opening the oven doors to check on the progress of my food, I haven't yet found that action one to negatively impact my cooking results. As for Aga service, I would not worry about those 2 reviews you found. First of all, user complaints are to be expected when it comes to reviews of mass-produced items -- especially consumer appliances. More importantly, in this instance, neither of those complaints on the AJ Madison site were about the Aga Companion; one was about the 6-4, the other about the Legacy. Also, keep in mind that the essence of both complaints really went to poor service response from Aga. But know this: Aga service in North America used to be handled by a team based in Canada. However, since late 2011/early 2012, all that has changed. Aga service in North America is now handled by a team based in Michigan. From what I've heard from others as well as what I've been able to pick up from my own simple phone conversations with the tech staff, there's been a marked improvement in Aga technical services since they made the move across the Canadian-US border. Again, given the generally good rep that the Aga Companion has, I would worry about service issues only if you find a heap of bad reviews about the Aga Companion that are dated from very late 2011 forward. Finally, when it comes to looks, I hear you. My choice of the Aga 6-4 was one that was primarily based on looks. First I wanted a quality range that would meet my performance requirements, but secondly, I wanted a quality range that would best fit in with the look of my new and final kitchen. While there were several quality brands with similar cooking specs available to me at the time of purchase (arguably some even "better" and cheaper than the Aga 6-4), none of those ranges in a comparable performance class beat the 6-4 on the looks I wanted. That's why I chose it and I still don't regret having done so. All this is also why I continue to recommend Aga ranges to a certain small group of TKOs who, like you, gravitate towards a particular kitchen design that is not necessarily for the "mainstream." :-) Again, best of luck in choosing whatever you feels works best for you and your kitchen!

Not sure where Gizmonike had theirs done, but we are getting our counters done at a local stainless place. Place is just a regular sheet metal type shop. We found them by talking to a used resturant supply place. We were in the supply place looking at shelves and mentioned looking for a back splash to fit and maybe some counter tops. Chap told us about the stainless place they use and so down we went. Found later that if we'd have looked in our phone book that the shop was listed under many of the kitchen categories as making cabinets, counters, vent hoods, etc. Might be worth a look in your phone book. Maybe just under stainless or metals if there is no mention under cabinets or the like. When we went in our place it was just an office with a counter, but there was a woman in front of us picking up a vent extension for her vent hood and there were albums of pictures of various things made by the shop. Quite impressive what they can make. Wish we'd have found them before we purchased our vent hood as we might have had them make us one to fit and then just put in a remote blower. Not sure if our pricing is good or not, but worked out cheaper than the other options we were looking at for two counters and a back splash. Cost for us for a 38 x 26 counter top, a 9 x 26 counter top and a 37 x 36 back splash with finished edges and custom made to fit around things we have on the wall and the cabinets, is going to be around $480. All from commercial grade stainless, counters with welded and polished seams etc. Hope that helps. Cheers