Capital Culinarian manual clean or Bluestar RCS

8 years ago

Hi - We buying a new 36 inch range and its down to the manual clean Capital Culinarian or the Bluestar RCS. The RCS is cheaper, and comes with one rolling rack, but it has less powerful burners and looks more utilitarian. The Culinarian looks much sleeker and has 5 powerful burners, but its also $1500 more and no rolling racks. From all the research I've done (and I've done way too much) the ovens seems pretty comparable in terms of size and performance. I've done way too much research and am running in circles at this point, but have a couple of questions that I thought maybe the good people on Gardenweb could help with:

1) We cook a lot on the rangetop, but nothing too crazy (fish on the stove top and then into the broiler, pan roasted chicken, braises, pasta, etc). My question is, if we go with the RCS are we going to miss the extra power? For reference, right now we we cook pretty well using a 15 year old Amana electric range, so anything will be a step up!

2) From all the research I've done, the ovens seem pretty comparable in terms of size and performance. I read one review about the rack positions on the older model Culinarian not being placed efficiently (too close to the broiler), making the usable space quite less than advertised if you had a roasting pan in there or something. Does anyone have any recent experience with that? Between the Culinarian and the RCS, is one better than the other?

3) We are pretty serious about our pizza. I'm able to make a pretty good pie by cranking our electric oven and using a pizza steel on the top rack. Does anyone have experience/success making pizza with either of these two ranges?

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Culinarian, but that could, and probably will, change about five more times before we actually pull the trigger. Thanks in advance for your help!

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Trevor Lawson (Eurostoves Inc)

8 years ago

I agree with robinlmorris, a more direct comparison would be the Culinarian vs RNB at least.

Answers to questions.

1) If you up grade to a RCS, RNB or the CC from your Amanna you will be thrilled with the power. Don't get wrapped up in the BTU game whats more important is flame direction resulting in even heating of the pan or skillet.

2) CC racks have been relocated so I think that tiny issue is no more. As you state BS or CC ovens are boxes with thermostats not to much between them unless you step up to the Self clean CC or the platinum BS.

3) So far as I know pizza cooking is mostly about constant high temp. both the BS and CC are more than capable pizza producers.

If it comes down to money go RCS. If the CC and RNB are within budget it can come down to

Looks, Warranty, Color Options. Ability to wok cook. Racks. Round burner vs Star Burner. ease of cleaning.

Which ever way you go IMO stepping up from an Amanna to a CC or a BS will be like going from a used fiat 500 to a Rolls Royce.

Comments (7)

Robin Morris
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Why are you comparing the Culinarian to the bluestar RCS and not the more powerful RNB or Platinum? Those models are closer in spec to the Culinarian.... if you do want more powerful burners you should compare with one of those.

I don't have experience yet, but all my research led me to decide on the bluestar platinum (in a pastel blue). I love the idea of the exchangeable reversible griddle/grill... that and the pastel blue stove is going to be a beautiful center piece for our kitchen.... design and function unite for a change.
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maucelil
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the input. I was comparing the two b/c they are the cheapest open burner options from those two manufacturers. We are doing a full house remodel, so I'm always looking to save costs. Every time we have a decision to make, we seem to choose the more expensive option!

If the RCS came with one 18k burner as it used to, our decision would be made. That would offer the perfect level of flexibility. But since they've discontinued that option, and won't sell the upgrade kit to RCS owners, here we are.

Here's an admittedly dumb question. Will the Bluestar rolling racks fit in the Culinarian? If on the off chance they did, then the Culinarian would be perfect.
malabacat
8 years ago
I have a 36" RCS and it is plenty powerful enough! The cooking you do sounds like what we do and you will be turning down the power I promise. I really wanted the RNB but cost made us go with the RCS. I thought it was a mistake and was quite disappointed thinking for $2k it didn't make sense to not go for the extra power (and the few other nicer options on the RNB). I'm not sure what I'd do with more power. Heresy in this day and age of more more more power, but it's true for me and what we cook. Stir frys are great, fish and chicken sear beautifully, and dh and I don't use full heat b/c it's too much. Other than heating up water, and stir frys, we rarely use full heat for very long.

As for the oven, we make homemade pizzas about once a week and they come out beautifully. We cook them at 500F on a pizza stone. The heat is nice and consistent throughout, no hot or cold spots. I've made bread, cookies, baked fish and chicken and lots of other things, all coming out perfectly.

I believe the fit and finish of the CC is nicer than the BS (RCS not RNB). But the newer RCS might be a better finish, I haven't seen the newest version in person.

You will love either range. I am very very happy with the RCS, and many people on here love their CC's and their RCS's and RNB's.
maucelil thanked malabacat
User
8 years ago
Trevor is right on the money here. If your considering the CC the BS RNB is in the same price range. If btu's aren't as important as price then the RCS is a good value for sure. In comparing the CC manual to the BS RCS it isn't a fair comparison. The CC or RNB really are different in the performance with the Hi output burners. By the way, I make pizza all the time in my BS oven with great results...IMHO I'd go with the CC manual clean or the BS RNB models.
maucelil
Original Author
8 years ago
Malabacat - I've read a lot of things about hot oven doors and knobs. With two small children that's less than ideal. I'vealso that they've improved the insulation on the oven door, but wanted to see what your experience was? Thanks so much for your help!
malabacat
8 years ago
My oven door, including the glass gets warm but not overly hot. I can touch both after it's been on for an hour or more and it's fine. What does get hot are the side and top edges of the oven door where the vents are located. Those are extremely hot, but honestly they make up such a small part of the oven door, that I wouldn't worry about it. Most kids are going to touch the front of the oven door, not the sides. I've said this on other threads, but I had a Viking range before this range, and the door and door handle struts got incredibly hot. And I raised two kids with that range (they are teenagers now). No problems. They learned very quickly to stay away from the door and handle when we were cooking. As for the knobs, yes they can get hot b/c of the heat venting from the top of the oven door. What I do, and many others do (I learned about it on GW) is I pull out the drip tray just far enough so it is even with or slightly past the oven door. It blocks the heat but it doesn't interfere with using the oven in any way. I tend to leave it there all the time actually :-)
maucelil thanked malabacat

Capital Culinarian manual clean or Bluestar RCS

Trevor Lawson (Eurostoves Inc)

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Robin Morris

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