thanks for this review and especially after 16 months of use. My RNB has been ordered and I am looking forward to receiving it in the next few weeks!

I hope you're as happy with your RNB as we have been with ours. Enjoy!!

Which stainless steel cleaner do you use? We tried Weiman stainless steel spray on our Bluestar Platinum and found that it left streaks and a residue that I had to wipe off with soapy water. It may have been the aerosol since many other posters like Weiman wipes but I'm looking for something else now.

maire

We typically use Weiman spray. It streaks at first but a bit more rubbing/polishing removes the streaks and produces an even appearance. If you find something that works better or easier, please let me know. Sam's Club sells Spray a Way brand. You might give that a try. It's available at Sam's Club and also through Amazon.

Thanks Packer - I may try the Weiman wipes next time.

Deciding between the BlueStar and a Thermador. The BlueStar intrigues me because of the broiler as I love to cook steaks to get a great sear. Any opinions on that?

Todd: I use those 22k burners to heat up a cast iron skillet to near red-hot. I've never found a better way to sear and cook a steak. The broiler will also put an impressive sear on a steak too. It gets very hot.

Todd, the broiler on my 30 inch RNB is extremely powerful - if you use the top rack, which is not recommended, it will probably sear in under 1 minute. The one downside is that the broiler is not the full length or depth of the oven, so you have to place the item carefully if you, like me , ignore directions and use the top rack.

When you order your Bluestar, they should give you a card to send in to get a broiler pan. That's just the right size (BS electric wall oven). I use it several times a week.

@PB (sorry, I'm not allowed to use dirty words :-), how did you discover the leaky valve? Smell gas? Constant gas smell or only when the oven was turned on? Were you still able to use the range or did you have the main gas to it shut off?

How have you found the evenness of the oven? Same temp throughout? Also, any idea what the temp range is from set point? It should be within +/- 25° from set point but there've been reports of up to a 100° total swing.

Thanks for the great review.

Skol!

Opaone: Skol indeed.... LOL

We discovered the gas leak one day when we walked into the back hall from the garage and detected a faint smell of natural gas. The smell grew stronger as we approached the kitchen, and we found a much stronger smell when we opened the oven door. We shut off the gas at the range immediately and called our gas company to notify them. They stopped out to verify that the gas was indeed off at the range and that all was safe. They then left us with documentation to that effect, which enabled us to put in a warranty claim with Bluestar. The range remained out of service until the leak was repaired a week or two later. Thankfully we also have a small Wolf countertop oven and a countertop induction burner that we could use in the meantime. It's worth mentioning that our range weighs in at a bit over 600lbs so it was a two person job to pull it out to access the gas shut-off. When they delivered the range, I insisted on attaching felt pads to the bottom of the stove legs so they didn't gouge the kitchen floor if we had to pull it out. Turns out that was a pretty good idea.

We have found the evenness of our oven to be very good. The only minor issue we've found is that pizza crusts do cook slightly faster at the back of the oven next to the convection fan if the fan is running. If the fan isn't running, then it hasn't been an issue. Over the holidays, we baked multiple pans of thin sugar cookies as well as a separate batch of multiple pans of spritz cookies using both oven racks simultaneously. Every cookie was baked the same as the others - consistency was perfect. So we feel that it bakes very evenly as long as the oven has been properly preheated. As I mentioned in my review, it's critical to allow plenty of time for the oven cavity to preheat. Just because the oven indicator light turns off during preheating doesn't mean that the oven walls are done absorbing heat. Proper preheating of any oven just takes time and there are no shortcuts that I know of.

Our installer tested the temp range extensively and we also tested the dial calibration extensively during their visit. After the initial preheat, the temp swing was 25-40 degrees during cycling, which I was very happy with. And as I had mentioned in my review, the dial calibration was spot-on too. I made sure that we checked calibration starting at 200 and worked our way up in 50 degree increments from there, ending at 450 degrees. We were grateful that the installer was kind enough to spend a bit more time to allow us to do that. Now we don't have to wonder whether the oven temp is accurate.

I'm happy that you enjoyed the review.

Our plumber also installed a gas shut off to our Blue Star behind the range where the gas line comes in. Since we were doing an extensive remodel I asked our contractor to install a gas shut off under my kitchen sink - so that I could access it myself if need be.

You probably can't do much about it at this point, but in general, it's not a great idea to hide the gas shut-off switch in a place that you can't easily reach without having to move the stove. In fact, I am surprised the building inspector let you get away with that.

As general advice for anybody else in this situation, when you remodel the house, locate the cut off switch either underneath the stove where you can reach for it, or locate it in a place that you can access from once of the adjacent cabinets. Ask your plumber for what is permitted by local code, and what is practical given your choice of cabinets and the location of the gas pipe.

Packer Backer,

Glad you mentioned the felt pads, I was thinking I would like to have those ready when my BS gets delivered. What exactly does the range slide on? Rollers of some type? Any special felt pads that you used to handle the weight?

Thx

@pauls: The range rests on standard commercial stove legs with steel feet. Those steel feet would badly damage the maple floor in the kitchen if the stove was ever pulled across the floor. I had an assortment of felt pads for furniture which had one peel-off adhesive side. The assortment contained the perfect sized pads and it took just a minute or two to stick them on. I think the ones I used were about the diameter of a quarter or 50-cent piece.

got it, thanks!

If you don't want to add permanent felt pads, another way to slide a range into place without scratching the floor is to use a large towel or moving blanket. Tilt up one side of the range and slide the blanket under the two feet on that side with the extra material bunched toward the other two legs. Tip up the other side and slide the bunched blanket under those two feet. Now you can slide the range easily around on the floor. Once the range is in the final position, do the opposite tilting sequence to remove the blanket.

Installers, who do this for a living, often have large plastic sheets to do the same thing or, sometimes, air sleds (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyxSHvREyrY).

We are replacing a Thermador with a BS Platinum. Part after part on the Thermador failed and replacement parts are not available. I’m talking broiler, oven igniter, oven fan. Major. Thermador has not been good to deal with, not since day one. The BS looks all business.

Why the platinum instead of RNB?

For those with a shelf, do you find that the items on it get dirty and or greasy? Thanks

Hi.... Yes, I do need to wipe down the items stored on the shelf (seasoning shakers, etc). I usually do that when I run dishwater each evening.

You do NOT want to place any seasonings or oils above a hot range. The heat and humidity will destroy them.

I'd have to agree with @opaone. This does not seem a very useful spot for spices, condiments or ingredients. First of all, I have way too many different ones, so the place would get too crowded. And secondly, I wouldn't want to reach over all my hot burners to reach for things like salt.

I can see some point in temporarily storing partially-finished foods in this location. Prevents smells from entering the kitchen, if you have made particularly smelly dishes. And maybe keeps the item a little bit warmer than on the counter top.

But if you have sufficient amounts of open work areas close to the stove, I don't think the shelf offers many benefit overall. And yes, it's just another spot that gets dirty and is awkward to wipe down.

In a very small kitchen, where every square inch counts, it could be a trade off that works out though.

Thanks for the replies about the shelf. I appreciate it.

For those with griddles, would you do it again would you rather have 6 burners? How often do you use the griddle vs. a frying for breakfast etc.? I like the griddle idea but my wife is not so sure (we have 3 teenage kids). She thinks cleanup will be more difficult compared to a pan and she might miss the extra burners.

Anyway, I was looking for pros/cons for real world users. Thanks for helping me with this decision.

Yes to a griddle: https://bamasotan.us/griddle-faq/

Personally, I find that extra oven space is more important than extra burners. It took a while to learn this skill, but I now use my ovens much more frequently and it saves a lot of work. I rarely if ever run out of burners, and we only have four of them. I do use all three ovens for big meals, though. So, that's my answer for whether you need a six burner range.

As for the griddle, I'm torn. I sometimes cook in a kitchen that has an overlay griddle. It's really fun to use, but cleanup is a little more work. Also, a 12" griddle is really small and doesn't do as much as you need.

On the other hand, we have GrillGrates™ for our outdoor gas BBQ, and let me tell you, it's amazing. Best money I have spent in a while. They flip over and become a giant flat top, and that's so nice to work on. Also, cleanup is much easier than for an indoor kitchen.

I know I didn't really answer your question. But maybe this is some food for thought on what you can do to optimize your kitchen for your needs.

This has been a great thread albeit it is from awhile back. We haven't yet placed our RNB order as still really torn between 30" and 36". We have a very small kitchen and although I would love the bigger oven, the 36" range with 42" desired venting could overpower (as in size not actual power) the kitchen. Still undecided!

There is absolutely no need for a bigger oven than the 30" RNB. It's humongous. It easily holds a full size sheet pan.

So, if that's the only thing holding you back, get the 30" and use the extra space for something else. We have a 30" and love it. Never even come close to hitting its limits.

But I do appreciate that I have extra wall ovens. These are small ovens (24"), but they can really help for complex meals. If you don't have the space for them, but occasionally cook more elaborately, then maybe consider a sous vide set up or a countertop oven with the extra space that you