If electric, I hope you mean induction. Not standard radiant? If so, the world is your oyster in a 30” size. Lots of choic s that are a better value. If not, you’re WAY overpaying for junk and obsolete antique technology.

Thanks for the info.

Do you have any specific Viking experience ? The shortlist consists of KitchenAid, Electrolux, Bosch, Viking, Dacor and Wolf for the induction ranges.

I am still indeed contemplating radiant since moving to induction, which having grown up in Europe I am quite familiar with and indeed love, would also require me to change about $1,500 in cookware. So that adds to the cost.

For radiant, the choices are a bit more limited to KitchenAid, Kenmore Pro, Electrolux, Bosch and Viking.

Hence my question about the recent Viking reliability.

Thanks

Viking radiant might as well be a $500 Frigidaire. The technology and experience is the same, and only the packaging and name is different. Antique and obsolete in pretty makeup is still antique and obsolete.

Their induction is surprisingly good. Because it’s not in house technology. They bought parts. You’re paying for the name with any of the high end induction though. Not better usability. Bosch is just as good, and lots cheaper. Choosing a 30”Viking is choosing to overpay for zero functional reason. A 36” in a color? That’s the only reason to go Viking induction.

One of the functional reasons of buying a Viking radiant over the Bosch radiant, antiquated technology or not, is that the Viking has five fully functional burners (one @ 3200, two @ 2000 and two @ 1200), while the Bosch does not.

A local retailer allowed me to do a boil test on the radiant (Frigidaire LGEF3033KBF was in the mix for your reference). The Frigidaire clocked in over 12 minutes. Bosch, Viking, Kenmore clocked in around 9.5. So the Viking is definitely not a $500 Frigidaire. It may be a $2,500 Kenmore or Bosch though ;-)

Otoh, the Bosch has a warming drawer, while the Viking does not.

Quality and reliability are really the determining factor imho and I have not heard anything recently that Viking is continuing to face the same quality challenges they had in the 2010-2013 period.

I am very sure your moules-frites will taste equally good regardless of the range. There is no reason to believe Viking has improved in recent years. According to the business press, Viking is still struggling, despite having been acquired by a successful conglomerate.

Have you ever used radiant heat? I would get gas instead, though of course induction is better. Bear in mind you can get good quality induction cookware that is reasonably priced. No need for Demeyer.

Of the brands you listed, Bosch is my favorite for price to value ration.

So I have not answered your query at all. If nobody comes here with recent experience, you might want to try ChowHound and see if you find some recent experiences with the brand.

Thanks for the suggestion.

We decided against gas given the location of the kitchen and the fact that the kitchen already gets warmer than many other parts of the house. Even with the triple paned low E windows. The joys of being in Texas......

I would indeed love to go induction, but as you observed, there's that additional cost. Bosch is indeed the front runner at this time.

Thanks for the response

PS: nice catch on the moules... now only if one could get Zeelandse moules here in Texas ;-)

No, Zeelandse modules even in SF where I am now and there is a significant Belgian community. Not even any real gaufres liégeoise. And none of the delicious shrimp you use in your heavenly tomates farcie.

There used to be a Belgian restaurant in Snyder Plaza in Dallas many years ago. It is long gone, but back when we lived there and there no Europeans to speak of, it was a God send.

I am sure you will be charmed by good Texas barbecue :-)

Do look on Amazon for highly rated and reasonably priced induction cookware. Cleaning those radiant heat cooktops is quite a chore and they are terribly unresponsive.

Good luck with you project.

IKEA has a whole set of induction ready cookeare for about $130. Great value. And works well. Cookware is a straw man argument.

Radiant puts tons of heat into the room and scorches things because of the giant lag time. I don’t know why you’d even consider it at all. It’s third in line behind gas.

I don't know any info about Viking but I can relay my radiant experience.

I'm in Tx, near the Gulf. My previous radiant cooktop put out a ton of heat. I'd regularly have to lay under the ceiling fan and cool off before eating dinner. I was so hot and sweaty! I have to admit to regulation issues, though. Induction was such a pleasure to use, once I switched over.

Radiant control is a huge step down from gas or induction. Your wonderful cookware won't perform like you're used to. Pasta water will boil over after covering, even when you turn the dang element off. At least, that was my experience and has continued with the rental's coil. That didn't happen to me with induction.

I would be hesitant to sell my good cookware, too. I understand where you're coming from with that but, you can try to sell it and put that money toward a comfortable cooking experience in a hot climate.

If you haven't used radiant it could be advisable to go used. Once you've tried cooking and understand removing stuff baked on glass at 750* you won't be as hesitant to dump that choice forever. And your loss will be minimal.

There haven't been any reasons to choose Viking. Marketing as a high end product hasn't ever matched reality. There are actual quality products with real features to consider.

Is a customer with a hunk of unusable glass and metal in the garage enough to dissuade you? Out of warranty, and they are out of luck. The repairman lived there. Yes, it was the induction model. And yes, they are very happy with their GE Cafe replacement.

Thanks everyone for the input. Perhaps I should have clarified a few things in the original post, so here's some more background

1) I use radiant today. Have been for 40+ years. I grew up in professional kitchens and know the advantages of gas vs radiant vs induction. On the radiant side of the equation: Yes radiant expels heat, but less than gas. Yes there is residual heat, but if one is used to it like I am, it is manageable. Yes any boil overs, splatters, etc... are harder to clean on a radiant stove. Although they're not fun on a gas stove either.

2) So with regards to heat, speed, ability to clean and control, induction is the clear front runner. But cost does remain a factor. Unless someone wants to send me a few $1,000 ;-) If I were indeed to go induction, Bosch, Viking or Dacor are the front runners.

3) Gas is out. There is no gas line to the kitchen, gas expels even more heat than radiant, etc... Thought about it long and hard and not gonna happen.

4) I've cooked on a few Viking gas ranges at other peoples homes and frankly, they cook well, they look the part, etc.... But the reliability is the big debate wherever you look. @The Cook's Kitchen said it well. "A hunk of unusable glass and metal" is not something I want to drop a huge chunk of cash on. For the price of the Viking Electric RVER33015B, I can buy the Bosch Induction HIIP055U. The difference is the additional cost of replacing cookware. And I get my cookware at restaurant supply outlets so there's not a lot of cheaper places for the same quality gear. Which is used daily, often for 10+ people over the weekends, etc... (yes on a radiant stove..... it's possible). So hence my original question:

If the Viking electric is as reputable and high quality as the Bosch, I may drop the added advantages of induction to stick with radiant, which I'm used to anyway, for two main reasons:

1) The Viking has five fully functional burners in the electric model. Which is one more than the Bosch induction, which has four. And the Bosch lay-out is a bit weird because the large induction is towards the back, which means you're constantly reaching over a small pot with a sauce, veggies, etc... to get to the main food item usually in the largest pan, pot or skillet

2) The aforementioned cookware cost stuff. Strawman or not, it's a cost one has to take into account.

In conclusion: it seems there's still quite a few quality issues with the Viking. Although anything out of warranty now was purchased before 2015 at least. So it's still a toss-up as it's hard to find clear and hard metrics on failure rates for appliances sold in the last two-three years.

Guess I'll have to sleep over it a few more weeks. I'm in no rush.

Thanks everyone.

belgiantex,

Which cookware do you own? if you are shopping at Restaurant supply stores, most of that cookware from Vollrath and the like have been induction capable for years. If you want to by Belgian, you can purchase a whole lot of Demeyere for $1500. Induction would be my only choice. I am biased though, I own both Induction and a gas wok burner. I use the induction cooktop almost 90% of the time. I mainly use the Wok burner when I am charring items and I am too lazy to go outside.

Good luck!

@Homepro01

Vollrath indeed for any recent purchases.

But I have quite a bit of cookware that is 20+ year old (and still looks like new) which is Demeyere and moved here with me when I moved from Belgium. It's about 12 pieces (stockpots, sauce pans, saucier, saute, fry pan). None of that is induction ready, so it would require replacement. That's indeed the additional $1,500 price tag I mentioned. Going Vollrath Intrigue would bring it down to about $1,000 or so.

Or I can purchase just core necessities and add on over time of course. Regardless, total cost of ownership still would be higher.

You would be purchasing a much more enjoyable and controllable cooking experience when choosing induction. With much less bypass heat, that reduces AC costs in summer. You need to factor that expense saved into the cost calculations. Quantifying a daily more enjoyable and functional experience is priceless though.

There are induction units out there at all price ranges. The technology is the same, regardless of the housing. My sister’s 1K Frigidaire induction range works incredibly well, and she is delighted. Same with the Kitchenaid chosen by one of my customers in another remodel. And the Cafe owner previously mentioned. She’s ecstatic that cooking is so much easier for her now. She’s started branching out and being more adventurous.

The main usability differences in choices boil down to fine controlability, power amount, and power boost technology. You don’t need to spend Viking money to get a good appliances that you will enjoy. Bosch, Electrolux, GE Cafe, and even that inexpensive Frigidaire will all give you similar results. Take away the labels and compare the real specifications.

@The Cook's Kitchen

100% agreed ! Trust me, I'm more than happy to share this specifications research sheet... it's taken me a bit of googling and reading appliance manuals to get it in this state and level of detail ;-)

You must be an engineer. :)

I cant pull it all up on my phone to read all of the comparisons. Just enough to see that you’re missing the Cafe. Plug that GE Cafe in there, and you might have a winner. :)

One comparison I'm not seeing is a listing of the power level steps. Maybee that's not showing.

@The Cook's Kitchen. I did look at it, but didn't make the short list.

GE Cafe Induction with front controls runs $3,300-ish. And there's quite a bit of complaints around noise, dysfunctional controls panels and oven overheating to the point it melts the strip around the cooktop.

Bosch induction runs $3,800-ish. That'd be my clear winner over the GE Cafe

@Dan1888

Not quite sure what you may be looking for ? I do have the normal Watt power level and "boost" power levels for those that I could find.

@The Cook's Kitchen and everyone else, I have some pleasant, and surprising, updates.

As I mentioned earlier, induction was a little bit of a challenge price-wise due to the requirement to replace my cookware. With the addition of the cost of the range, this put it a little out of budget. As I also mentioned, if I were to go induction, Bosch would be the front runner due to the reputation on reliability. The GE Cafe was not really in the top due to the controls and the full stainless look, which would be a bit weird as all our other appliances are black. I know, I know, even the others I was looking at were mainly stainless. But some more conversations with the boss of the house, read my spouse, brought that topic to the forefront.

So I went back to my favorite appliance distributor this weekend. I sat down with the lady and found out a few surprising items. Which made me stand corrected !

1) Viking has now a phenomenal warranty promise. They have indeed improved quite a bit on quality in the last two years and are promising a 72 hour repair or replace policy. Yes, you read that right. Your appliance will be repaired in 72 hours or replaced. Not a visit in 72 hours. Not a "three times repair and then replace" policy like with many other appliance manufacturers. Repaired in 72 hours or replaced. That's unheard of. It's an attempt to bring people back in the Viking fold. Just so you know if you're shopping for Viking, ask your dealer about this warranty.

2) Here is the kicker. GE released two new model on August 1st. They have released the only full induction ranges in black on the market today. One in the GE profile line and one in the, you guessed it, GE Cafe line. Even more, in the GE Cafe line, the induction range will be available now in black stainless, black slate (or matte black as it will be called), white and stainless. And for those that really want to have fun, you can get the knobs and handles in black-on-black, white, copper or stainless. In a mix and match format. Black knobs on a white range ? No problem. Copper knobs on black ? No problem either. The range isn't even listed if you go to the regular GE website and start looking for it. But the draft is on-line, but without much documentation such as product specs, manuals, etc... The range is available at your distributor, current delivery dates for North Texas are around August 20th. At an MSRP of around $3,800, it's definitely become a top runner.

Here's the direct, still hidden, link to the new GE Cafe induction range. You can scroll to the accessories section to see the possible color combinations of ranges and knobs/handles. It's pretty sweet.

3) The other GE change is in the GE Profile line. The have released a range with the top mounted controls from the GE Monogram induction cooktops. Individual controls for burners, which touch panel controls. At $2,600 it's priced very aggressively. And for the price difference you give up some oven size, a warming drawer and the ability to use the GE temperature probe that allows you to cook sous-vide directly on the induction stove top. Otoh, for $200 you can buy a solid Anova or Joule sous-vide set, so that may not be the biggest selling point. Available in Stainless, Slate black or Stainless black, this stove is priced very aggressively and should be at everyone's top list.

The link to the GE Profile.

With regards to quality, GE likewise has made strides and the distributor has not received proportionally more calls for GE high-end series than other brands. Maybe with the exception of the Bosch, which seems to be the lone top runner with regards to quality and reliability.

So, in short, my apologies to The Cook's Kitchen. It appears she was definitely correct in pointing me back to GE. And if anyone in North Texas wants to know which distributor I've been working with and the name of the awesomely phenomenal sales lady over there, just hit me up. She is extremely knowledgeable and takes the time to discuss every single option. From $9,000 Wolf appliances (yes, I looked at it) to $2,600 GE Profiles.

What a great update. So good to know the info on Viking. I wish them well on their road to recovery.

belgiantex Steps to control the power. Some have 9 choices and some have 17. More choices means more different heat temperatures you can have the pan be.if you were to take an infrared thermometer reading of the inside of the pan while cooking something. Useful for sauces or frying, etc. Simmering at 190 or 195. . . . In the Viking induction range it appears in the manual there are only 6 steps.

Is there a link to the Viking warranty with the 72 hour provision? I'm not seeing it under the warranty info for the induction range for example.

You want the 72 hr policy in writing, from Viking. No way would I assume they'd honor that without it. The lack of power adjustment would rule it out for me. That's one of the, huge, reasons I chose induction. Fine control is especially useful in the low range.

Without that BS in writing, it’s useless sales puffery that will leave you calling and yelling at the salesman as he cashes his commission check and you’re left waiting a week for the repairman.

Except it was a repair and service person who told me. Not a salesperson ;-)

Still ain’t in writing. That’s all that counts. Because that is an enforceable contract. Nothing else.

Fair enough. Not saying I'm about to switch to a Viking just because. But I thought it would be worthwhile mentioning this in a forum where people look for information. As mentioned in my OP:

"t's an attempt to bring people back in the Viking fold. Just so you know if you're shopping for Viking, ask your dealer about this warranty."

Just thought somebody may want to know and ask their dealer. But hey..... you don't have to if you don't believe the BS

Oh and fwiw..... I went induction with the GE Profile in black stainless that I mentioned a few comments up.

As mentioned in the thread, induction was always in the equation for me. I've cooked on it as early as 1995-ish as it's way more common in Europe, but cost was always a bit of a factor. With the aggressive pricing on the GE, that made it a whole lot easier to pull the trigger.

This thread originally was to inquire about any recent Viking quality experiences. While there seem to be rumors about improved quality and enticing warranty promises, while indeed good to get those in writing, the answer to this thread seems to be:

"It remains to be seen"

Skepticism remains, no clear answers, might be getting better, but no one really knows. So proceed at your own risk.

I see you already made up your mind, that’s fantastic! I just wanted to say that we bought a dual fuel 60” viking professional range in 2017 as we got a fantastic deal on a floor model. We are quite pleased with it, and it gets a lot of use as we have a larger than average sized family and I cook a lot in bulk. We had a bit different experience than most... we knew the appliance store we bought our range from was cutting off business ties to Viking (the story we were told was that they had been the exclusive distributor in the area for many years, but the owner got pissed when Viking started selling through other nearby stores so he wanted to sever ties with them... ok... whatever... we were just happy about such a great deal on a range we hadn’t even thought about getting originally because of the outrageous cost) anyways, our range and hood was their last Viking item in the store and we knew we weren’t getting any service stuff done for it through the store, they made that clear. Our range isn’t full of electronics, it’s quite basic in its design, and my engineer hubby felt confident that he could 1) repair things himself if needed, and 2) rely on friends/family we have to help manufacture replacement parts if they stop being sold. So we aren’t a typical customer. LOL! Anyways, we did deal with Viking for a repair right after the range was installed... but it was nothing to do with the functionality of the range. A little metal trim piece on the front of one of the oven doors was loose and sagging a bit. Viking sent out a repair man at no charge... after fiddling with it for a while he determined he couldn’t repair it. Vikings solution was to replace the entire oven door. We didn’t get charged a dime for anything... but the repairs certainly didn’t happen in the quick time frame you mentioned. Granted, this happened over a year ago. The initial visit from the repair man was within a few days. The oven door replacement didn’t happen for several months... but my panties weren’t in a wad simply because I could still fully use my range, the issue was a minor cosmetic one. It did make me wonder if that timeline would leave me very patient if it had meant I couldn’t use part of my range though... I hope this helps anyone reading through this thread for further information on Viking. I really love my range, best I’ve ever had... prior to this, the most uppity brand I’d ever had was kitchen aid (and we always had great experiences with their customer service as well and still have many KA appliances.) but my Viking range is nicer to use than my KA cooktop or double ovens were. I much prefer the Viking infrared broiler, I adore my griddle, the burners are pretty much what I had been used to except there’s more of them with a 60” range, and most of all I love the painted surface compared with everything being stainless steel... it’s much easier to keep looking clean for longer. We have their graphite grey, and it blends in very nicely with our other SS appliances.

I am so glad induction worked out for you. Odd about Americans taking so long to embrace it- considering I am pretty sure they created it so very long ago.

WRT cookware, the Demeyere plancha is worth seeking out.

Fissler is also worth looking at.

Been wanting to switch to induction for years. Price has always been the prohibitive factor here in the US. For comparison, a regular width (here 30", in Europe usually 60 cm or 24") Bosch induction with flex zone, two other induction areas, convection oven, etc retails for about 1,200 EUR or 1,400 USD. The same Bosch induction with the same features here is roughly $3,500.

No wonder induction has been accepted in Europe for so much longer than here.

But I think times are slowly changing.

Reference point to a Bosch induction range in Belgium

I noticed the pricing issue too. Miele is extremely affordable in the UK compared to here. Curious.