Hated my BlueStar RCS range for 2 years, had it tuned, now I love it!

7 years ago

Hi - Just wanted to share a success story and to thank everyone that posted about their Blue Star ranges. I bought one 2 years ago on the strong advice of a salesman. They were running a special and he was genuinely over the moon about it. I was originally shopping for a Kitchen Aid gas pro gas model, but the Blue Star was $1300 cheaper (hard to believe, but true). It's an RCS304bv1 and it looked so shiny and solid on the showroom floor. Like it would last forever.

We had it delivered. They don't do "white glove" delivery on an RCS, but I didn't know that. Actually, I didn't know anything about calibrating or tuning a gas range in general. The flame was not blue - it was yellow and leaping high. And there was no "low". I went back to the store and the salesman said that there was a big learning curve to a pro stove and to be patient and I'd get the hang of it. Which was terrible advice. I tried to cook on it for 2 years with no success.

After 2 years, I'd had it. I'd saved up for a new range. The Miele induction with Magic Chef was looking good to me! I was ready to dump this stove on Craigs list to whoever was capable of cooking on such an advanced pro range. I clearly was not. I went to the store, armed with questions on the Miele and generally grumbly about the Blue Star. Different salesperson this time. He said the magic words "Have you had it tuned?". Um...what?

So, we made an appointment for that. It was covered by the appliance warranty from the store, not Blue Star directly. But the tech they were sending was "the best at Blue Star ranges". I had to wait 3 weeks for him because he was on vacation. So I spent that time reading GardenWeb posts and saw that tuning a gas range was a real thing. Thank you all!

On the appointment day, two techs showed up. One guy that was youngish and one that looked like he'd spent a hundred years working on gas ranges. The older guy flipped on the burners and told me that they looked fine to him and that's how a gas range worked. The flame was leaping yellow and probably could singe your eyebrows off. So, basically, I got the "Little lady" talk about how these machines were built.

Meanwhile, the younger guy took everything off the top of the range, adjusted some things, and the flame went to blue. Then he took the knobs off and showed me how to adjust the gas for the lowest low. The screws were jammed in there on the knobs, but he got them working. The older tech was astounded, but tried to save face and be the expert, offering the advice to not turn them very low, just in case the flame might go out. I'm pretty sure he's never cooked before.

Anyway, things have been awesome ever since! I'm completely blown away about how much I now love this range. I can simmer, I can melt butter without it frying and smoking, and I can still crank it up to high. The oven temps are rock solid as well (according to Chef Alarm).

Oh, and when I went back to the appliance store to tell them how happy I was with things, the salesman showed me a few open-box items that had come in. One of them had the Magic Chef program I'd been looking at. Win! And..well...now I have some new toys to play with in addition to having a working range. :-)

Just wanted to share this because the differences in the techs was so striking. If the younger tech hadn't have been there, I'd probably have given up on the Blue Star in frustration.

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