Re the aspect of purchasing locally or by internet; my husband and I are still on the fence around Blue Star, principally because of the lack of local availability. We last checked into this 2 years ago, so we need to update our information. (We went with a different stove that time, a much less expensive Bosch. I have to say that cooking on that Bosch was not a great experience.) We have 2 "local" dealers, each 2 hours away. Both are reluctant to service our area and too cheap to pay our local serviceman. Unless the last two years have changed their tune, we can't/won't purchase from them. So, there might not be a local option for many people, because it's not a well-marketed product. Diva

I am also debating between the DCS and the Bluestar. (30" AG for either) I had a DCS in the house I just sold and found that I often used the simmer feature on several burners simultaneously since I find timing to be my biggest challenge in cooking. It looks like the Bluestar only has one burner with the simmer feature. Is it possible to turn the rest of the burners way down low to "hold" a dish or two while I finish up cooking the others? I found the grates on the 30" DCS unwieldy -- impossible to put in my Bosch mid-level DW. That is one of the great appeals of the Bluestar...easier to keep clean. I found the sealed burners on the DCS to be real gook magnets! Love the idea of pulling all the parts and popping them in the DW. I will be getting a fancier Bosch since I want fully integrated panels...maybe it will take the DCS grates?? Last issue is that my DCS (LPG) did not bake evenly. I had to turn things half way through and the muffins in the back of the oven were always trying to be popovers! That was even using the convection feature. This oven was a pre-Fisher-Paykel model and I kind of hope a newer one will deliver a better baking experience. That is, if I don't go for the Bluestar. Any thoughts on my pros and cons? Thx!!

Hi smarge - I was told the same thing by my dealer - order now; they will not deliver until 2008; warranty starts when I take delivery. I drove up to San Francisco (regional Miele distributor -- Sierra Select) to visit the actual Miele Showroom (not a salesman). They told me that the warranty period starts on the purchase date. Then, I went online and read the Miele Warranty Manual on the Miele USA website. Sure enough, it also says the warranty period starts on the purchase date. Therefore, I think I am going to wait, even though I will order 2 Miele dishwashers and a Masterchef double oven. OT: Smarge, you and I seem to be grappling with similar issues right now. I saw on another thread that you are looking to extend your counter into a Bay Window and have a ranch with low eaves (we have 8 ft ceilings; one story; 4:12 roof pitch -- typical ranch house). We just put in the Bay Window and extended the rafter tails so that an extension of the main roof is the roof of the Bay Window. We just installed the window/roof this weekend. Worked out great - looks good from the inside and outside. No camera available to take a picture. Our Bay Window is 81" at rough opening (widest point) and the middle window is 4 feet 5 inches. The window is 4 feet tall and has a 14.5" projection. We're really happy how it is coming together, for what it's worth.

I just wanted to add my similar experience with my Bluestar. After about 5 months of ownership and several uses of the oven, I noticed the discolored door yesterday when my wife was baking cookies. I opened my pullout next to the stove to find the side of the door scorched. This appears to be slightly different from OP's issue. The scorching is next to the louvered toe kick. There's no door seal to blame here. There's a 3/8" air gap between the edge and the toe kick. One of the concerns I saw about the Bluestar when researching was that the door, knobs, and handle get very hot. I do not find that to be the case for me. I find these to be acceptably warm. It was the toe kick that I noticed was insanely hot. I was concerned that maybe an internal heat shield or insulation was missing. After posting to the kitchen forum, I was lead to this thread. I guess it sounds like this is a standard "feature" for the Bluestar. Yes, the stove is not a rocketship. That simplicity was a benefit for us. With that simplicity also comes a lack of engineering. That's not a total knock against Bluestar. It just seems like Bluestar employs more craftsmen/artists who put out a really nice looking product with some killer features than engineers/scientists who run tests and further improve the design. Pulling out the heavy stove to protrude from all cabinetry is a fix, but it's just a bandage. We followed all of the installation instructions to the tee. The stove exterior surfaces should not get that hot. We love the open burners and will have to learn to deal with the quirks of the range at this point.