NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 8, 2009 Release #09-189 Firm's Recall Hotline: (888) 352-9764 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 GE Media Contact: (888) 240-2749 GE Recalls Ranges Due to Fire and Burn Hazards WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: GE Profile(tm) Freestanding Dual Fuel Ranges Units: About 28,000 Manufacturer: GE Consumer & Industrial, of Louisville, Ky. Hazard: The wiring in the rear of the range can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. Incidents/Injuries: GE is aware of 47 reports of overheated wiring, including 33 reports of wiring that caught fire. Of these, one fire caused structural damage to the home and there have been 14 reports of minor property damage. No injuries have been reported. Description: This recall involves GE Profile 30" Freestanding Duel Fuel ranges. The ranges were sold in white, black, bisque and stainless steel. The following model and serial numbers can be found on the left inside corner of the bottom drawer. Brand / Model Number Begins With / Serial Number Begins With GE Profile / J2B900 / LD, MD, RD, SD, TD, VD, ZD, AF, DF, FF, GF, HF, LF, MF GE Profile / J2B915 / MF, RF, SF, TF, VF, ZF, AG, DG, FG, GG, HG, LG, MG, RG, SG, TG, VG, ZG Sold at: Department and appliance stores nationwide from June 2002 through December 2005 for between $1,300 and $2,000. Manufactured in: Mexico Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the oven and contact GE for a free repair. Consumers can continue to use the cooktop burners. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact GE toll-free at (888) 352-9764 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday ET, or visit the firm's Web site at www.geappliances.com To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09189.html Here is a link that might be useful: CPSC Website

The fist showroom we visited I actually did notice the hole pattern in the brass ring- the second showroom had the same AG range but the hole pattern was not the same and the grate pan was cut even closer than that of the range in the first showroom- when I asked the salesman if this was the new Wolf range he told me it was- as I inspected it closer I noticed that the grates had 4 feet instead of 3 as the one had in the first showroom, the wolf design was not on the side of the handle, and the handle was not oval. Upon insisting this could not be the new model, he admitted to me that this range had been in the showroom for almost a year. Obviously, Wolf has made some changes, the hole pattern in the brass ring- and an ever so slight enlargement of the circumference around the grate tray- as I say in my original post these changes still do not seem too good as far as proper air flow.

I have a range (NXR 30") that uses the exact same burners as the Wolf. I personally have no problems at all with it, but then again the smallest pot I own is 10", everything else is 11"-14" including the Wok. Plus a large 14X24" Steel Griddle. So I don't have any problem with the larger diameter of the burners and I love having all burners the same where I can have all 4 full blast at 15,000BTU or all 4 at super low simmer and everything in between. As for not being able to "Simmer a pot of sauce" with the Wolf burners that is complete nonsense. I am right now as I type simmering a LARGE pot of Sketti sauce on high simmer. It is in a Swiss Diamond 8 1/2 Qt pot and its at least 2/3rds full. But there is a high simmer and a low simmer. The super low simmer is obviously not for doing a very large pot of sauce, its meant for doing something like keeping mash potatoes warm, or holding an emulsion like hollandaise or a beurre blanc, or melting chocolate and it does so perfectly. That is what is so sweet about these burners is the ability of that super low (melt chocolate on a paper plate low flame)plus the slightly higher simmer that is for large pots of sauce. The high simmer as you can tell works just fine, in fact perfect for simmering a LARGE pot of sauce all day. You can see at least 3 sauce volcanoes coming up in my sauce here, (although a couple are just bubbles that might be hard to make out unless you know where to look) simmers perfectly, any more and it would burn. (Just ran back down to stir it and taste and had 4 bubbling volcanoes going) So obviously Consumer Reports is clueless in that respect. If you have and prefer to use tiny pots then yes you should get something like a Capital Culinarian as those burners would fit you small pot needs better. This is the high simmer with about 5Qts of sketti sauce simmering away just fine right now.

We have had the 36" Blue Star range (model RCS36SB) for about 5 years and would not recommend it. The knobs get very warm and we have had problems with the convection fan as well as ignition (gas would build up in the oven while it failed to ignite), both problems required multiple service visits The latest problem, the oven knob broke off and Bluestar said they no longer manufacture the part. Bluestar said they changed from a mechanical thermostat to an electronic thermostat and the ”upgrade” would cost $350 to purchase, not including installation (total cost estimated at least $500). I assume they redeigned the oven knob/thermostat because they had so many problems with the knob, convection and ignition. Even though it was under warranty and the knob broke due to faulty design, the service manager refused to provide a replacement part. I guess you can expect problems to occur with any appliance, but I do not expect them to provide such poor service, especially when they know it broke due to their own design flaw. It takes them days to follow up on service questions. Best to stay away from Blue Star.