I love the storage drawer on my Lacanche and the 18K btu burner in the middle ( 5 burners) is plenty high for me. The thing I don't like is the awful simmer. I believe a good simmer is as important as high heat. I have to use two diffusers, which works well, but is a disappointment on such an expensive range. The simmer capability of the Wolf AG at the beach house is fabulous, but no storage drawer and the burners would probably be too wimpy for you.

I went with Bluestar. No lack of storage here--and I don't have to bend over.

I understand the impulse of going from a sub par appliance to wanting the tippy top. You really should give Lacanche a chance though. Their burners are configurable and I have never heard anyone on the boards here complain about a lack of fire power on them. Just read up a bit and see if the handsome French range doesn't seduce you just a bit.

I have a LC in a house now, but I have not fully moved in. I have played with it a few times and love it though (which is high praise as my other house has Gagg induction and I swore I would never tolerate anything but induction after enjoying the ease of cleaning and amazing responsiveness of the induction hobs.)

Your kitchen is like a breath of fresh air dyhgarden- it's always so nice to see it.

I didn't miss the storage as much as I disliked how low the oven door opened to the floor.

Dyhgarden - did you put in a cabinet or drawer somewhere to specifically hold larger pans or do you just use smaller pans and cookie sheets so storage isn't an issue? I had a 36" range in England and the drawer underneath really was useful for stashing big sheet pans that otherwise aren't really kitchen cabinet friendly.

Although I suppose I wouldn't likely use them day to day, so I could possibly store them elsewhere in the house. I hate to do that but there just isn't room for a massive kitchen or adding on to the house.

sherri1058 - that is something I'm considering as an issue also.

If we get a new range it's going to partly be a gift from my mom so I think I feel extra pressure to make sure it's something worth the expense and that I'll want to hang on to for a while.

Bonjour cheri127 !! Glad to hear you are well equipped for power in the kitchen.... it's true that one of the most popular forms of feedback we receive is that the Ranges are quite powerful (hence why great chefs love Lacanche especially). That said, we certainly want you to be able to simmer though, and would love to help if possible. There are lots of tricks, and the portable simmer plate, for one, is ideal for soft, slow heat dispersement. Let me know if you'd like any help and I'll be happy to share some info. Happy autumn, happy cooking !!

Blair

Art Culinaire | Lacanche US

Blair@frenchranges.com

Bonjour dyhgarden ! Thank you for the sweet words about our darling Ranges. Next time you're in the market for a Range, know that we would never leave you high and dry without support, and all Ranges in the US purchased through Art Culinaire come with a 3 year warrantee on parts, labor and service. Good to know for the next kitchen reno ;) Thermadore's are incredible, and you are in fabulous hands in the meantime.

Merci beaucoup !

PirateFoxy -- I have a slender cabinet with vertical dividers for my full size sheet pans, cooling racks, etc.

Here are a few shots of how I maximize storage, then one shot of the range. Because of the square design, I use super susan's (without poles) in three corners -- small appliances, pots/pans, and pantry goods.

PirateFox, do you have storage over your fridge? I put tray dividers there which held cookie sheets, etc.

I want to find out what the actual exact BTUs of the current burners I have are, to figure out how much extra I actually NEED. It's easy to be tempted by the super powerful options but maybe something that just isn't awful would be enough. :) Although I'm also intrigued by the cleaning on an open burner - I don't like cleaning around sealed burners, it's just one of those things I find generally annoying.

Our fridge is a full-fridge Miele so it goes nearly right to the ceiling, no room for storage above it. Eventually I do hope to replace the cabinets and when I do that we might add a built-in microwave and that would give a space for that sort of storage above. (The ceiling in our kitchen is also a bit low compared to the rest of the house - it was the porch at some point and got closed in for the kitchen. So that loses a little space also.)

I LOVE the Super Susan. Not sure we have a place to put that but that's so much nicer than with a pole in the middle.

One thing I am thinking for more storage - not for pots and pans but for smaller pantry stuff - is to have shallow storage with a sliding door set INTO the wall to make use of the space near the backdoor that is too narrow for proper cabinets. But that's for when we redo the cabinets and right now we're just replacing the range. (Luckily the old cabinets were set up for a wider range than the normal 30" so I can go to 36" no problem.)

I don't have either (sealed vs open burners), but from what I've read, those who are particular about their cooking appliance looking exactly like they purchased it get sealed burners and clean them every cooking session. Those who don't mind a bit of wabe-sabi like the open burners because there is a lot less work in cleaning them since you just pull out the drip pan occasionally. Open burners also make for easier access to do DIY repairs.

Dyhgarden, does a full-sized sheet pan fit in the ProHarmony oven? I am considering the all gas version and am curious.

Marielena -- A two-thirds (some call it three-quarters) pan, sized 21x15 will fit in the standard depth like mine. Thermador makes a commercial depth dual fuel now.

The racks are 26" wide, but the depth for a full-size pan is 18", so that's too deep.

A full size sheet fits in the 30" Bluestar wall oven.