AR Performer, Capital Culinarian, BlueStar RNB
vegasrenie
7 years ago
I originally posted this on Houzz Design Dilemma, and then I found this forum, which I think is a better resource. Here is what I wrote over there:
I purchased a one-story townhome and have been living in it full time for two months. I knew when I purchased it that I would be updating the kitchen, but the budget won't allow me to do a full renovation. What I plan to do is to paint the dark oak cabinets in BM White Dove, replace the appliances, replace the MW with a real vent hood, install granite countertops and white/off-white subway tile. My dilemma is the range.
I knew when I bought this house that I wouldn't want to settle for something that I'm not all in for (sounds very Vegas, doesn't it?). I know that I want an open burner range and have narrowed it down to three. All have to be 30" because I don't have scads of room and won't be moving cabinets. Those three are American Range Performer, Capital Culinarian, and BlueStar RNB. I can get the three of them within a certain price point - although I'm hoping to be able to splurge for red - and will suit my inner chef just fine.
What I'm looking for is feedback from owners of these three ranges. I've been researching for months (way before I moved in), and have decided that - at least on paper - these three will fit my needs. Here are my concerns: I've been obsessing over cooking shows/competitions and have made several observations. When "real" chefs are involved, the ranges are generally high-end although I can't always figure out the brands. I understand that commercial ranges are different from residential, and believe it or not, I know the reasons why. For instance, I know that "Chopped" uses the Culinarian. Other shows use ranges with star-shaped burners, and the movie "Chef" has a star-shaped open burner in its opening scene. Yes, I'm that obsessed.
I only want to make this purchase once, and I want to love the range once it's in. Even if it has issues out of the gate, I want to feel secure that the manufacturer/distributor will be responsive and stand behind the product. I had the KitchenAid Architect series about a decade ago and KitchenAid was so unresponsive that I'll NEVER purchase another KitchenAid large appliance. (The slide-in gas range would randomly go through the cleaning cycle and became a fire hazard even before the motherboard literally fell out into my hands. No bueno). I've read the older threads on this issue, and want updated 2016/2017 feedback. I have till spring, so I'm in no hurry.
Thanks for any responses. Here's the space where the range will go. I had a party last night, so excuse the mess.
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wekick
7 years agovegasrenie
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Rangetop - wolf, blue star, capital
Comments (3)"iPosted by Vatofl The Wolf definitely has the better look IMO, and the blue star seems to have the better functionality." Functionality is a relative term. These are three very different burner setups that will appeal to different kinds of cooks. open vs sealed burners-view videos on cleaning CC and BS there really high heat on BS and CC great simmer with dual stacked burners on Wolf there are workarounds for lack on all-go with what you use daily I would love to hear from people that own the new sealed burner rangetops from Wolf. I am worried that the Wolf sealed burner will not be an upgrade from my current GE profile cooktop with sealed burners. The flames on the GE seem to always want to overshoot the base of my pots and is just a PITA. Will I have this same problem with the Wolf rangetop? The sealed burners are not new but have been in use for many years. I have had them on my Wolf DF range for 5 years. I regularly make caramel in a 7 inch pan on the regular burners and it is easy to see the pattern of heat and you don't stir it. The sugar begins to color towards the outside but it quickly moves toward the middle. If I need to use a smaller pan I use the smaller burner. What size pans do you use? What kind of cooking do you do? Heat transfers rapidly to the center of a pan and it more difficult to transfer to the outside. This means more if you cook with cast iron or thin pans. If you use pans made of aluminum or copper in sufficient amounts the location of the flame isn't that important because they conduct the heat. I just want to make sure that my new rangetop will be an upgrade over the GE in terms of cooking performance and looks. What is the BTU rating on your current burners? You need to know the low and high end of BTU ratings to make a comparison. Wolf is noted for their service. If you buy the Culinarian, I would get it from Trevor Lawson(Eurostoves) as he seems to take care of his customers and even some that have come on this forum with service issues from Capital and he has helped them. Seeing is believing! The picture is a 10 inch(across the top) skillet on full throttle on the Wolf sealed regular burner. You can see how much flare for yourself....See MoreWolf R364G range vs. Blue Star RNB
Comments (25)I am going to go ahead and chime in here for the OP although I fear may be flamed by Bluestar enthusiasts for what I'm going to say. Bluestar's flame pattern and BTU power on their high-powered burners are exceptional; that is without question. However, unless you are a frequent stir-fryer or need water to come to boil super-fast, I don't think it's fair to imply that a Wolf won't do an excellent (in fact, exceptional) job cooking and should only be chosen for its build quality/looks. I have owned a Wolf AG range for two years; I prepare 2-3 meals a day for our family of five on my range every day and consider myself to be an excellent cook although I'm not a professional chef. I don't remember thinking at any time, "Gosh, this thing doesn't have enough heat/power" but then I'm not a stir-fryer. I know that it performs much better than anything else I've ever cooked on/ owned, sears meat, etc., very quickly, and performs other high-power feats admirably. I never encounter "hot spots" in my pans so I think its flame pattern (double concentric rings) does a nice job of distributing the heat although I do agree the Bluestar's star pattern is probably superior, especially on low heat. I personally like having all my burners the same power even if they're "only" 16K. There are other considerations besides burner shape/power when selecting a range. Some prefer ranges with closed burners from the likes of DCS, Capital, and American for their ease of cleaning. I have a DCS AG range at our beach place and would prefer my Wolf AG's open burners for any task except maybe simmer where I can't see much difference. The fact that the DCS has 17.5K BTU's is insignificant for me as I find myself using the DCS on low/medium low setting most of the time in order to keep the flame under the pan, not coming up around the sides. I'm willing to do a little extra cleaning for the open burner performance and won't buy a closed-burner range again. Another consideration is which part of the country you live in. I'm in the South. When we built our house, I really wanted to go with the Bluestar. However, we didn't have a local showroom although there was one local company that could/would be willing to order it for us. My husband and our builder both questioned the wisdom of buying a lesser-known company's product sight unseen and were concerned about getting service on it if/when we needed it as Bluestar didn't have much of a presence state-wide. I ended up driving to Asheville (5 hours away) to see one on the floor in a new showroom and was turned off by the build quality. However, I was impressed with the star burners. Anyway, the point of this is that I ended up going with Wolf because the local dealer was well-established and I knew I could get good service through them. The stories I've read on this forum seem to bear out the wisdom of the decision I made for our situation. There are lots of threads on this forum where people are having trouble with their Bluestar ranges. Mostly small issues but issues. If I called a service person in Raleigh to come work on my range, I know that he would have worked on before and be familiar with Wolf ranges. I asked my regular service person (who came out to calibrate my oven temp) if he'd ever worked on/seen a Bluestar. He works on most appliance brands but specializes in the higher-end repairs. He said he'd never seen one. I know they are straight-forward machines but I still believe this should be a consideration for some of us. If you live in California or the Northeast, service for Bluestar should be readily availiable by a person experienced in working with Bluestar. However, for someone like me, it would be a concern. Experiences of others on this forum bear out this theory. I know that with Wolf I have a local dealer who can have a local repairman at my house within 24 hours to work on my range and he will have worked on Wolf many times before. I also know Wolf is consistently easy to work with and accommodating if I have any problems. My only problem has been the oven temp being off - this was fixed within the day. Also, after a year and a half, the rubber feet were falling off my grates (I put them through the DW when they get grubby). I called Wolf and they immediately mailed out a new set of grates (the newer model has metal feet) without charge. My experience with Wolf has been top-notch and I'd choose the same range again today. So do I get flamed now? I hope not ;-)...See MoreAR Performer vs. Capital Culinarian
Comments (4)BeMurda, I don't know if there is a safety concern and it's something you'll need to gauge for yourself unfortunately. The range is certified for home use by underwriters laboratories, as are most home equipments, in order to be sold in the USA. Certainly I would be very concerned about potential for leaking gas safety or regulator issues affecting the longetivity of my $5000 appliance, but on the other hand it is at the end of the day a very simple machine, and I am confident it is fixable for that reason. Another way I might look at it though, is to imagine how many of these ranges they sell each year, and look at the volume of recent negative reports. Sure the ones who have a bad experience are particularly vocal about it, but that doesn't mean that the large silent majority is dissatisfied. I shall now go knock on some wood as my one year warranty ends approximately today....See MoreBlue Star - differences in RNB and Platinum lines?
Comments (9)I would try to have separate ovens and range tops for about the same reasons. There are a few differences in the oven between the RNB and platinum. Two things would be important if you are a baker. The platinum uses the Pow-r burner and it is not additional but the only burner. There is no bottom burner. This is an issue for me in baking pies and even cakes as most recipes count on heat from the bottom. There might be some other things that rely on that but those would be the main issue for me. the Platinum has the convection fan on low every time the burner comes on as it must because the heat is in the back of the oven. You can't turn it off. This is drying to what you are baking. This is on top of an already dry environment in a gas oven. As a side note most manufacturers state on their website and in their literature that a gas oven is moist heat because water is liberated as a byproduct of combustion. Gas ovens have more air moving through so the moisture is removed. Electric ovens hold onto the moisture from food or added moisture. If using convection during roasting it will only run high speed when the Pow-r burner is off and low when it is on. Drying is a good thing when you are wanting something to brown because it evaporates superficial moisture allowing the Maillard reaction to take place. It is not such a good thing at the beginning of baking cakes or things that need to rise. As as far as a griddle, it is interesting that some of the features often listed can be a good or bad thing depending on how you use your griddle and burners. I'll use cookncarpenter's bullet points for a framework. There are all kinds of options. "Always on the stove top ready to go" The flip side is that you have less flexibility. This might be less of an issue with a 60" range, more with 36" One positive here for built in would be more stability unless you bought an overlay that is fitted. Some people use the griddle everyday so never would take it off. If you want a 24x24" griddle it would be very heavy but some people just have 2 overlays and use as needed. "No need to remove, store, replace" You can remove and store. "Thermostatically controlled, set desired temp and forget about it" I think it would be easier to reproduce a temperature with a thermostat. One side while talking about temperature would be that you are limited to 15K BTUs on the BS RNB built in. With overlays, you could have 2 15K burners or maybe more lined up front to back so much more power. "Once seasoned, extremely non stick-Cleaning is essentially a scrape, and wipe with paper towel (never soap)--Use for pretty much anything that can be cooked in a skillet or on a grill--Can be used as french top for sauce pans, great at keeping foods/plates warm--Excellent for warming tortillas and or leftovers" These things are pretty much true with all griddles. Chef King is popular and seasons well as does cast iron. Soap is somewhat controversial. :-) Even aluminum will season but it takes longer. Some aluminum griddles come in a nonstick coating. One thing to consider is the metal that makes up the griddle. Griddles are generally made of steel, cast iron and aluminum. Steel and cast iron tend to have zones of heat, lower and higher while thick aluminum tends to heat much more evenly. There is a photo of this in the review of the platinum that is on the front page of the appliance forum. An aluminum griddle can be bigger because of its excellent heat transfer properties. I have one that is 17x23 that can grill a boatload of sandwiches. Aluminum takes less time to heat and is much quicker to respond to adjustments in the flame. Some people like to have both and you can always buy the add on aluminum if you have a built in. It's not near as heavy as the steel. Some have replaced the griddle that comes with the Platinum because the heat is so intense coming out of the hole on top....See Morevegasrenie
7 years agovegasrenie
7 years ago
cookncarpenter
7 years ago
Fori
7 years agovegasrenie
7 years ago
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