I initially added this to the wrong thread, but here goes. We have owned and used daily our LaCanche Sully 1800 since 2012. I will admit that I chose it largely for the looks. I have no clue what an oxtail casserole is but you can be assured that I have never cooked one. I am not a chef, an engineer or anything other than a lawyer, mom and current LaCanche owner. We have a family of six and a large extended family. While I still love my range, there are some unexpected cons that I have discovered, though none would prevent me from purchasing this range again.

I recall looking at the Blue Star and while attractive and certainly exceedingly powerful, there was no way I could deal with those open burners on a daily basis (see above, family of six, daily use, etc.). So we quickly moved on and searched for a functional showpiece. The LaCanche was always the dream and once we decided to give up the wall ovens, we had room for the lengthy Sully 1800. Rundown of our options: We have a gas and an electric oven (which are satisfactory in size for ANYTHING we have cooked, including large turkeys, full prime rib, three racks of cookies, normal cookie sheet sizes, etc). On the top we have the Classique organization of burners with our two optionalburners as 2x 15,000 burners and the cast iron simmer plate over an 18,000 burner. The la planche had just come out and there were no induction, flame grill or multi cooker options offered in 2011 when we placed our order. Rather than the la plache, we chose for a cast iron grill plate that covers both of the first two borners and stays out full time - this seemed the moe flexible and practical option. It's very heavy and not something you'd want to be moving on a regular basis. The three middle sections are the burners that we use every day and at the far right, over the warming oven, is the simmering plate (comes with a metal cover) - rarely used.

Cleaning of the cooktop is relatively easy - the brushed metal makes it even easier as small imperfections or smudges are not noticeable. We are messy cooks (boilovers are not uncommon around here!) so we have to clean it daily to get rid of splatters, grease etc. Cleaning of the ovens, not so much. I really try to keep them clean but they just don't have that sparkling inside, especially on the inside of the doors, and you have to be able to live with that. I love the warm look of the aged brass - although it is impossible to tell that the burner cover things were ever brass. Please do not purchase this if you want a shiny polished brass look - one would go mad trying to polish all the brass that sees regular cooking. Just enjoy the lovely patina.

Cooking - I would agree with Arte Culinaire that the problem, if any, is that the burners are too powerful. Even the smallest burners are capable of burning a soup or sauce rather than simmer. I recognize that I probably should be using the simmer plate for this but we never really learned how to utilize this burner. Do not worry about enough power - this thing sounds like a jet engine when it lights up and it heats up fast. Again, I am NOT a chef - but this more than meets our family's needs. Even my kids can and do use it.

Drawers: Think of these as an added bonus or storage for things rarely used. The drawers are heavy and a bit awkward to open. We store baking stones and trivets and extra cookie sheets that we do not need every day. Frankly - I often forget there are even drawers there.

Ovens: I was worried about the size, these are fine. Electric oven - ust fine. Convection and coil work well. Seem to heat up within a reasonable amount of time. Gas oven - I don't get it. I am not enough of a fussy cook to really know what this does, or why anyone would want it. Someone told me once to cook meat in the gas oven so I have, but I really can't taste any difference when I cook a turkey in each. But its a pain in the rear for other reasons - it is VERY difficult to turn on - no one but me can figure out how to do it (and it takes me several tries to get it right). It takes awhile to heat up and THERE IS NO LIGHT INDICATOR TO SHOW WHEN IT IS PREHEATED TO THE APPROPRIATE TEMPERATURE. This is so annoying and frankly just stupid.

Maintenance - Here's the kicker, and again I speak only from my particular experiennce. We had an igniter go out within a couple years so the burners would not light. I believe it was just outside the warranty period but LaCanche covered the parts and labor anyway. Very nice. Then - we had a grease fire in the gas oven (Some grease splashed out while removing a roast) - and some temperature guage or something melted. Long and short, this caused an almost $800 repair. At the same time, we had to repair the hinges on the electric oven door as it no longer stayed shut. These are simple hinges, and yet they were $200 apiece ($400 total). Seems a bit excessive. I have no idea if this is the norm, but this is what we experienced. So of the $1200, I suppose $800 was our "fault" but as I was unable to order a range with two electric ovens, I believe some of the fault lies with LaCanche. I couldn't care less if others deem me less of a "chef" to want 2 electric ovens -I'm just a mom cooking for family and friends and it would be much easier to do so without the extra hassle of the gas oven. And boy would I Iove a self cleaning option, but that does not seem to be in the cards for these types of ranges.

All that said - it is still a gorgeous show piece and the center of our kitchen. Sometimes I forget how pretty it is until others see it for the first time. I chose black and even with all of the other colors I think I would still choose black for longevity. I have had other ranges and after many years of use have not put anywhere near as much money into repairs as I have for this one (nor did they function as well or look so good - so I suppose it's a trade off that I am willing to make.) I would not hesitate to recommend a LaCanche and in fact, we are ambassadors, and have had several people come to our home to look at the range to determine whether or not they want to purchase it as well.

UPDATE: Well played - Arte Culinaire! Claire Pope - if you really want to know what type of company you are buying into with a LaCanche Range, this follow up is a great example. Today (one day after I posted the bove review) I received a complimentary bronze simmering plate in the mail from Arte Culinaire to help with the simmering issues I mentioned above, along with a thank you for acting as an Ambassador. Just WOW! See respones below - they listened to customers and made the igniting of gas ovens more simple and ther are more options regarding ovens and burner types than there were 5 years ago. So for a very traditional looking range - the dedication to customer support and desire to improve an already awesome product is refreshing and innovative! Thank you!