All residential gas 'mains' are fed from a higher pressure line at the origin of the main. The pressure is lowered by means of an adjustable regulator. If the pressure in your neighborhood is that low others must be expriencing problems also. Ask the utility why they can't increase pressure at the regulator. (The 'Main' I am speaking of is the pipe that runs down your road and all the service pipes to the homes hook to it.)

It is very unlikely to produce an explosion, but the performance can be very poor with excessive carbon monoxide production form the inadequate gas flow to appliances. The 'trick' to gas is that there is not enough oxygen in the lines for combustion to occur. Pulling to much gas from the line will drop the pressure, but it is nearly impossible to get it below the ambient pressure and have air flow back into the line. The flame usually simply goes out and the gas continues to exit at a low rate. The lines should be sized based on the demand of the appliances connected. You may get away the same way electrical wiring does though. If all the appliances are not on at the same time (load diversity) the maximum demand may never occur.

Well...so much for the easy fix! It could be too much pipe dope, as you suggested, or it could be some other material that somehow is blocking one of the lines. Unless there is a union somewhere in the line, unfortunately it may be necessary to take the line apart piece-by-piece to get to the problem. With so many bends, I doubt there is any way to "snake" the line. This is strange. The plumber should have checked for gas flow if for no other reason than purging the line. I also think he should make this good at no cost to you. Good luck, and please post again when you've get this mystery solved.

I am in the Midwest also and paid a reputable plumber $300 to run the gas line from the furnace up thru the basement ceiling and over to the back of the stove. I believe it was also him who hooked up the range to the gas & everything. I had started out with 2 smoothtop electric ranges, yes, 2 because we had scratching issues with both, so the 3rd time, I said the heck with it, I'm switching to a gas range that I can at least clean without worrying that I'm wrecking the top of it every time. Also, I had not cooked on a gas stove since early marriage 30 years ago, so I had to relearn it a little, but I can tell you both my DH and I both like to cook and we both really like the gas range. Also, here, we were told that a plumber would have to install a gas line. We also just put in a gas fireplace so the gas line was already there for that so we kind of killed 2 birds with one stone. Hope this helps!