From previous entries and my own investigating, I would give American Range a thorough look. The Performer Series is their open burner line.

Thanks. I went to the American website. The spec sheet is interesting, but I have the same questions about reliability and service. Do you--or does anyone else here--have experience with American ranges?

I have a Viking 30 inch all gas range purchased in 2015. It cooks beautifully. No issues. The infrared broiler is amazing for steaks or chops. Burners are sealed. I hope you find this helpful. Good luck in your search.

You may want to google "viking range recall." The recall date was in May, 2015 and here's a link Viking range recall.

While CR is somewhat suspect for ratings on Pro-style ranges, the American Range obtained close to their lowest rating in the last go-around.

Unless there's accurate information about the likelihood of product failure either in installation or use, I think service quality trumps reliability information. Most of the available information on reliability is anecdotal and doesn't represent a reliable sampling of actual owners--recall information at least gives some sample size information. The appliance trade website, "Appliance advisor.com," is also a good (and rather humorously unbiased) source of inside information about the appliance industry.

We live in a relatively rural area and when first checking out appliance sources found out that of course all provided good service and all the manufacturers stood by their brands. A few pointed questions to the retailers; a search of which brands had actual factory trained and locally designated service reps about their experience with the brands (whom I was able to locate and chat with--they'll talk and were very direct) helped steer our decision. We ended up having range and hood drop shipped across the country from the manufacturers and used a retailer halfway across the country. That proved to be the optimal solution for the few service issues we've had (all of which we were able fix ourselves with dealer and manufacturer help). The anecdotal reports of appliance installation and early product failures on this and other sites were enough to motivate a serious search.

cedelchef: Thank you. That's the sort of experience we would all like to have.

teachmkt1: Thanks for your comments. I agree that service quality is very important, but I'd rather not have to test it. As I'm sure you're aware, some things are easier to fix than others. For example, the broiler igniter in my DCS failed more than once and it was a bear to fix. The broiler was sealed behind glass; replacing the igniter was fairly simple but reinstalling the glass required three hands. Unfortunately, most technicians only have two...

I'm assuming that your comments about all suppliers providing good service and all manufacturers standing behind their products are made with considerable tongue in cheek. You didn't mention what kind of range you ended up getting. Would you care to share that?

I don't subscribe to CR so I can't see their actual evaluations, just the summaries. However, Good Housekeeping has reviews of about 50 (I lost count) gas ranges. They don't include an American range but they seem generally to like the Viking models.

Teachmkt1, thank you for the info that recall was for ranges sold through 6/14. Mine was purchased in June, 2015. There is no love of Viking on this forum and this is the first and only Viking appliance I've ever owned. I would purchase again. I have nothing more to go on except prior to this purchase we had a Jenn Air Range that leaked gas when left on for long periods. We had numerous service calls and they could never find anything wrong. I was glad to replace it and I hope to have many years out of the Viking.

I have an American Range, ARROB 636. About 16 months now. Light bulb for oven burned out, otherwise nothing has gone wrong. I chose this model because there are no electronic circuits to fail. There is a fan for convection and the automatic igniter and that's about it for electrical. This is their residential range that is closest to their commercial ranges. Very simple, no displays or broilers behind glass, no capacitive touch controls or program settings. Just six gas burners and a gas oven/broiler. I had it placed on leg dollies so that it can be easily rolled in and out of the location, should I ever need access to the gas pipe.

Thank you, John. philokerlundbekins above recommended that same series from American. I've been to the American website. I'll go back and take a closer look. I certainly agree that simpler is better and more reliable over the long run. I have no idea what the design life of touch screens and solid state controls is; I do know that temperature cycling can be very hard on electronics. Unfortunately for me, there is no dealer for American Range (or Capital or Blue Star) within an hour's drive. The one that is an hour away has already told me that they won't provide service where I live. There is a dealer who carries Wolf ranges nearby and another that sells Viking but I'm not interested in a Wolf and I think the Viking dealer subcontracts service.

Maybe call your local appliance repair and find one who will work on the brand you are interested in. The ARROB 636 is dead simple. If the repairman can get parts, I can't see why he couldn't work on it. You can even download the service instructions.

To follow up John's comment, American's customer service is supreme also. As John also pointed out they are a simple design, so there is not much to fail and I have heard of no real complaints.

For American Range and customer support, the reports here have been decidedly mixed. If you have not already found these previous threads, you may find them helpful in thinking through what you want to do:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2343973/american-range-performer-experiences-of-recent-buyers

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2812881/american-range-buyer-beware

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2304753/american-range-perfomer-is-here

Thank you all for information on American Range. I will look through the threads that jwvideo kindly provided. In an appliance like a range, simplicity is a real advantage. As I mentioned in my initial post, had a DCS with sealed burners and an infrared broiler sealed behind glass. The broiler was a bear to service (when I could find someone to work on it). We started having intermittent problems with one of the burner igniters as we were getting ready to sell the house. It looked like replacing that igniter would have required taking the whole top of the range apart. It appears to me, as John Liu has pointed out, that a range with open burners and a broiler that is not behind glass could be serviced by almost anyone. That assumes that parts are available. I can't believe that a company like American Range or Blue Star makes all of the components that go into their products. The igniters in my DCS range, for example, were made by Electrolux.

I have a four year old Bluestar 36RNB that I use at least three times a day.

First repair needed ever was just a couple weeks ago, an igniter went out on my most used burner. Simple 5 minute replacement using a screwdriver with one of the two spare igniters supplied with the range when new.

Love the range, and honestly they are so simple, I can't think of a repair that would not be doable by oneself, or at least anyone with basic repair skills.

Blue Star supplies spare igniters... that's interesting. I did notice on the website that they sell spares. Thanks.

Jim Fulton: Yes, my comments on reliability from dealers and manufacturers were tongue in cheek. We have the Capital DF/open burners/propane range and Modern-Aire hood, all through Eurostoves and Trevor. I was able to test drive our choices so no buyer's remorse with our decisions (over 3 years into it). All service issues have been handled through Trevor and easily diy as others have commented above.

Thanks, teachmkt1. That's useful information.

We too have a BlueStar and would never go back. I called Blue Star a couple of times and spoke directly to them, asking many questions, and addressed service calls. They have people that cover regions so you could always contact them directly to ask also. But as others have commented I feel like we could tackle most things on our own and that is how we plan to do it if possible. We were also told that any repair person that works on restaurant ranges would have the ability to fix the BS ranges so you could always call a local restaurant and ask them who does their repairs.

A couple of further considerations for "simple."

One is to download and read the user guides for any stove you are considering. For example, we had some discussions here five years ago (in the aftermath of the power outages from superstorm Sandy) where it came up that American Range's guides said you could not manually light the top burners of their residential ranges in a power outage. Don't know if that is still the case, but something to check out before you buy.

The other is to check out what mandy-elaine says about backing up self-reliance with the possibility of back up from local commercial appliance servicers. From the NXR threads, it seems that some companies in some areas of the country will provide residential services but there are some regions where the commercial service companies will not; i.e., they only work on commercial equipment and only do so in commercial facilities like restaurants. If planning on a commercial servicer as a back-up, best to find out in advance.

All manufacturers have production problems every once in a while, and you never know whether you'll be subject to one of those. So, teachmkt1's warning about the Viking recall should be taken with a grain of salt. Don't buy right at the time, when there are known problems, but also don't agonize over the fact that there have been recalls at some point.

Having said that, I worship the day when we decided to retire that Viking that came with our house and replaced it with a Bluestar. They are not even in the same league. Viking is very flashy, but Bluestar cooks so much nicer. I feel, I am no longer battling my stove; in fact, the stove moves completely into the background and it simply seems to do what I want it to do. It's a joy to cook on.

We have now had our range for a couple of years. We bought it right after the v2 series came out, and we were subject to the defective oven doors. Bluestar sent us a replacement free of charge, and I installed it myself. Also, a couple of years into heavily using the oven, the oven ignitor burned out. No surprised there. It's designed to be a consumable product. I found a compatible replacement part on Amazon, had it delivered the next day, and installed it myself within minutes.

There definitely is something to be said about the simplicity of design, the use of standard components, and the ease of maintenance. Even if you don't trust yourself to do it, any local appliance service technician will be able to find their way around a Bluestar and there is a good chance they'll have compatible parts on their truck already.

This was helpful, when we bought a floor model or a Bluestar cook top as a gift for good friends of ours. They had it installed in there mountain cabin, where there isn't any service around at all. Being a floor model, it had a couple of minor issues. I called Bluestar and they sent me the most likely parts. And next time I was at the cabin, I dropped in the parts and tuned the cooktop for optimal performance. It's been working beautifully ever since.

The comments on ease of repair, availability of parts, and DIY service are all very helpful. Thanks. I am not at all shy about mechanical repairs. I'm not inclined to do anything that might lead to a gas leak, though.

@Jim - We've had a Blue Star range for 6 months and love it. One of the biggest selling points for us was the fact that we don't need a Blue Star dealer to do service on the range. Anyone who repairs restaurant equipment can easily repair a Blue Star range should the need for service arise. FWIW, we chose the RNB model and it's still working perfectly after 6 months of use.

My AR range has been reliable which is good since the company refused to assist me when I had issues with their authorized dealer's misbehavior. I think the American Range outfit sucks bigly. :)

Thanks for the comments. They're all helpful.

Fori, what was the problem that AR refused to assist with? (Without identifying the dealer.)

At this point, it's down to the Blue Star RNB or the American Range Performer. I'm leaning toward the American for two reasons. The more important one is that broiler in the American is not sealed behind a glass plate; from what I can gather, the broiler in the Blue Star is. (I had a sealed broiler in my DCS that worked well but replacing the igniter was a real problem. The job required three hands, but most repair techs have only two.) The second reason for preferring the American is price; I can get it for less.

Jim Fulton,

Unless there has been a very recent design change, the Bluestar broiler does not have a glass plate. It is a gas flame emitting, porous ceramic surface that is fully exposed to the oven interior.