36" Gas Cooktop decision, Capital Maestro, DCS or Bluestar?
9 years ago
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Buy 36' Bluestar AG or pay 14% more for a 48' AG DCS?
Comments (16)That's one of the big discussions on many threads here. The open burners are liked by those who appreciate being able to take things apart to thoroughly clean each piece, and spills and crumbs are allowed to fall through rather than sit on the surface right under the grate and burn on. The flame goes straight up, instead of out to the side, so some will argue that it's more efficient, and better on smaller pans,since the flame will come up underneath, rather than up the outsides. The BlueStar has very open (and star-shaped for efficiency) burners and Wolf offers both sealed and their version of the open burner, which is sometimes referred to as 'semi-sealed', or is it 'semi-open,' because there are tighter tolerances than on the BlueStar, so it's kind of in-between...Not everything can fall through and lands in a kind of a bowl right under the burner. With open burners, you can take components over to the sink for scrubbing and soaking. With sealed, you just scrub and wipe in place. I've read that they often stain or collect gunk right around the burner. Others love the sealed, don't want to take their cooktops apart, and say a bit of Barkeeper's Friend deals with anything that's baked on or trying to stain. This is just a quick synopsis of what I remember from the many discussions I've read. I have no experience myself with either one, but will soon. I wish I could try both for awhile to know which I really prefer, but that, of course, is not an option. You can go to the appliance forum page, go to the bottom and do a search for sealed or open burners and probably get links to many, many previous threads to read....See MoreDCS Cooktop? or will Capital make a Cooktop?
Comments (5)Someone else here reported that they spoke to Capital, the CEO I think, and the range tops are available now. You asked about getting a Performance vs the Precision. Performance is less money, but has lower BTUs (750-15000 BTUs vs 19000 BTU "Power-flo burners") and I believe they put a bit sleeker styling on the Precision....New knob style, etc. I'm wondering why you think DCS's cooktop is 'lame' compared to Monogram's... I just looked at Monogram's site and it says the 36" cooktop has one at 15K BTU, two at 12K, and two at 10K. Seems like having one at 17.5K and four at 11K would be about the same, except for the higher fire power on the big burner? (For me the Monogram would be even worse, since I have propane and then their output offering is 1@ 15K and 4@ 9.1K) I'm still shopping for a rangetop myself, so appreciate hearing the thought processes of others when they make their choice. My current top 3 are BlueStar, Wolf, and Capital Precision. Have you checked into BlueStar? Their 36" drop-in cooktops give you 2@ 22K BTUs, 2@ 15K, and one 'simmer' burner, which on the ranges is 9 or 10K BTUs. Here is a link that might be useful: BlueStar drop in cooktop...See More36 gas cooktop - Capital Maestro, DCS, Viking Pro, others?
Comments (1)Check out Bluestar. It's got 22K BTU open burners, which I think will satisfy your need for power! There is a simmer burner too as well as 8.5 K BTU open burners....See More36" range: Capital Precision, culinary, or DCS?
Comments (14)"Those dual stacked burners will give you an average lower temp but not a lower temp under the flame. " Can you explain what this sentence means? The Culinarian will give you a very even 140 or even lower in a few reported cases. Capital gives the high end rating in BTUs but is not forthcoming with the rating in BTUS on the simmer end so that you can compare. The self reported temperature is a meaningless number. The number will vary wildly depending on cookware and what you are cooking. My point is that it has been an issue on this forum. I will leave that to the OP to read and make up their own mind if it is an issue for them. For me it would be. The evenness of heat of any burner is more a function of the pan. Plus,those super-low burners give a clickety-clack from the the burners turning off and re-igniting. " Yes, the only ones that work that way on purpose are the Thermador. You might be thinking of the discussions about the Culinarian doing that when turned low. There might be a few others with those issues. The dual burners have two separate burners for this reason and eliminates any clicking. This thread has more about the clicking and why it occurred. Culinarian Clicking If looking for even super-low simmer better off with double boiler or simmer plate than dedicated simmer burner. It is a matter of personal preference I guess. I love that all my burners go to just warm. I don't have to fool with a double burner or simmer plates. I will often have 3 or 4 burners going at low temp and I don't have to ever worry about burning anything. My double boiler is in the basement and hasn't been used in 5 years. I was cooking something with eggs the other day and couldn't believe I didn't need a double boiler. And no amount of cast iron will make a 15k burner sear like a 23k btu burner. It actually can. If you study the properties of various metals as they relate to cookware, it will help you maximize the usefulness of your range. It is a matter of getting the temperature up to a certain point and having enough mass to hold enough heat to properly brown and cook a steak. In this case it is a matter of the amount of heat collected in the cast iron. Maybe you have seen where they heat rocks to a certain temperature and then cook steaks at the table in restaurants. Sort of the same principle. There is no direct heat under the rock at the moment but it is holding enough heat to cook the steak....See More- 9 years ago
- 9 years ago
- 9 years ago
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