The griddle on the Platinum is an overlay, whereas the RNB griddle is thermostatically controlled. Most people seem to prefer the RNB griddle. I personally have no opinion, as our 30" RNB doesn't have a griddle.

Do you really need that many ovens? A Miele CSO and Miele SpeedOven should cover 90% of your needs. Do you absolutely need another two huge 30" gas ovens? I'd investigate getting a rangetop instead.

If you absolutely think that the Miele ovens aren't sufficient, then how about getting a 30" range side-by-side with a 30" rangetop. Or make that 36" and 24", if you prefer that combination.

That's a lot of cooking surface. Most households don't need anywhere close to this much. And that explains why you say things such as "we don't have space for wall ovens". Duh, no kidding. You are using up all your space with a giant range and an even bigger hood.

A little less power on the cook top but I do not know if that will make that much of a difference.

Depending on what you're cooking on a daily basis, the RNB with 22k BTU burners should be more than enough vs. the Platinum 25K BTU burners. I have a 48" RNB with 8 burners (so I can't speak to the grill or griddle), we stir fry and make large pots of soup often, and I also do a lot of canning with large pots of boiling water and have never found the RNB burners to be underpowered in the least.

In addition to the 48" RNB range, I have one Electrolux wall oven, for a total of three ovens (two large and one small), which works well for our farm family of five; we often have extended family and friends over and it works for us.

I don't know if Trevor is still a member but he's been a source of great information for years, esp on the Capital Culinarians.

I purchased a BS 60" platinum last year and it has been a great decision. It's the focal point of my kitchen and I've had zero issues. The all-gas ovens bake very well. I smile every time I look at it. The "hot door" issue is long gone. There's a reason Bluestar has a cult following. I couldn't be more happy.

M, Respectfully, you have no idea what floor area or kitchen design I am working with so please save the design criticism. I did not request an analogy of what the average household needs. I stated that there was no room for wall ovens simply to save time on all of the responses that would suggest wall ovens.

Ryburns26, thanks for the info. I am in the same boat. The range will be the focal point for the kitchen but its not a statue, we will use it. I am very concerned about the ovens. All the oven issues I read about seem to be from a few years back. I am hoping to hear from people with newer ranges to see how they are performing. I do realize that there will be a learning curve. I just do not want to handicap the wife from the start. LOL

Beckysharp, the RNB, because of the ovens, is a definite contender. I like the GG combo

on the Platinum. If I go RNB I would buy the GG combo.

We have a 30" Platinum and it's every thing we wanted. We're both retired and DH has taken a renewed interest in cooking and baking since we installed the BlueStar. It's just the two of us so we never even opened the griddle/grill. If the kids come over for brunch we use one of our non-stick griddles. The GG combo is fairly heavy.

DH has been baking bread and pies in the oven and is very pleased with the accuracy of the temperature. We also have a 30" Thermador electric wall oven but tend to use the BlueStar more. He loves the big burner for his wok and the simplicity of the overall design. He did adjust the simmer burner recently and even that was easy.

I can't compare it to the RNB since I've never used one.

so I use a simmer plate when needed.

A simmer plate is a great solution, if the low-end of the power range isn't quite satisfactory. With the Bluestar, you typically have pretty good simmer performance even on the bigger burners. And you also have the option by turning the grates a couple of degrees. That raises them just a little bit, which helps with slow simmering.

Alternatively, I have found that I use my ovens quite effectively, when I need to simmer for extended amounts of time. It's more accurate and has much lower risk of burning the food. The downside is that it takes longer for the oven to reach temperature. So, if I only want to simmer for short amounts of time, the oven isn't worth my while.

I also find I use the sous-vide function on my Miele CSO quite a lot. It can sometimes do the same thing as simmering.

Hi,

I have a 48" RNB and have had it for not quite a year - configuration is 6 burners and the built in grill. I love it!!! I strongly considered the Capital and the Blue Star Platinum. I even went to Eurostoves to see and test them live. Trevor was a great help, though I am not sure if he still hangs around here?

I think whichever you pick, it will be the greatest thing you ever cook on, so keep that as a comfort thought.

As functionality seemed similar, I chose the Blue Star over the Capital on looks - I just liked the BS aesthetics A LOT more than the Capital.

Platinum vs RNB - I was a little scared off by the somewhat unconventional PowR burner. Scared probably overstates it, but I had to use something as a decision point, so the RNB having been more established and saving a few thousand $ tipped things to the RNB for me.

The burners are everything I hoped for though there is definitely a learning curve. Example - first time I was cooking steaks with these burners, I didn't think there was such a thing as too hot for searing (on a residential range at least) so I heated a cast iron pan with the burners on high for a good 20 minutes. I poured a bit of oil in the pan just before putting the steaks on and the oil immediately caught fire in the pan! I had a big lid nearby so quickly covered the pan, but that was a lesson learned.

As for the configuration, I had a hard time deciding between the built in grill or griddle. I ended up going grill figuring that with an overlay, I could always turn burners into a griddle but could not go the other way.

I am still not sure I made the right decision. I am in Chicago and not one of those that will grill outside in the winter so having one indoors is nice. It does seem a bit underpowered, though letting it pre-heat for a good 20 minutes helps considerably. I often use it for things like shrimp skewers or things that could use a quick sear after being braised (like lamb shanks or octopus) but have not used it as much as I thought I would. While I definitely value the grill more than I would a 7th and 8th burner, part of me does wonder if I would be getting more use from a thermostatic griddle, but it is still early so who knows?

Anyway, overall, I absolutely love cooking on my Blue Star. It is easy to keep clean, the cast iron top develops a nice rugged patina over time and I still grin ear to ear every time I use it. It has been mentioned on these forums that some seem to develop a near romantic relationship with their Blue Star and I completely get it. My wife has caught me a few times just staring at its beauty! ;-)

Any other questions you have, let me know.

Like you are planning, we made ours the focal point of our kitchen. Don't forget about your ventilation and make up air system!

Pauls234,

Thank you for the report. The Platinum oven raises a lot of questions. My stove set up is exactly like yours. Arched top and I have full depth sidewalls that go to the floor. Who manufactured the hood? How many CFM's? How has your range hood performed? How high is it above the stove?What did you do for MUA? My hood height issue was a very tough decision.

Some very quick thoughts.

From a griddle or flat-top standpoint Wolf wins over BS. I'm not sure about Capital. Thicker is better so that might be one key. The BS griddle is not as even across its surface nor over time. The BS platinum is not a thermostatic griddle so I'd avoid it.

I believe the Wolf and BS RNB ovens are similar though Wolf has a better broiler. The BS Platinum oven is apparently not as even and it seems there are one or two other issues with it. The Wolf ovens, particularly blue porc have had significant problems.

BS customer service is quite bad and for us the likely deciding factor against BS. Wolf CS is quite good.

I dislike indoor grills. I can usually tell if someone has one that they use the minute I walk in to their home and we're not talking a pleasant odor here.

BS burners win over Wolf.

I've been satisfied with BlueStar customer service so far, and we live in rural Canada a six-hour roundtrip from the nearest big city. The recent recall issue was handled quickly, easily, and professionally.

rgator,

My hood is a 54" Zephyr Monsoon, 1200 CFM. It does a great job, baffles are easy to clean you just pop them in the dishwasher, lighting is nice as is having a remote control. On full blast (it has 6 settings), it is loud, but there is just no getting around that with an internal blower, regardless of brand. If you want a quiet vent system, then you will need to have a remote blower with silencer. I looked into that, but with a bedroom right above the range location, it would have required a chimney build. Maybe I will do that some day.

I tested the hood function with and without make up air (builder's HVAC guy said I didn't even need it and it was a waste of money) and let me tell you that hood functionality is significantly improved with a MUA system. Glad I learned all I did about the subject on this forum because in my experience many HVAC pros don't seem to know much about it in a residential setting, some of the proposed configurations I got from calling around struck me as ineffective, if they even agreed it was needed. I ended up having my own long time HVAC guy do the MUA work, he had never installed it in a residential setting but was willing to spend some time learning about it and fantech offered great tech support. The system I had installed is heated and forced, and it is awesome:

http://www.fantech.net/products/fans--accessories/circular-duct-fans/ecm-fans-for-circular-ducts/mua/muas-1200-makeup-air-system/

All in for parts and labor, the MUA system was around $4500.

Overall, the vent system works incredibly well. I can do the smokiest of cooking, stir fry, lamb loin chops seared in cast iron, etc and never have those next day odors, no oil deposits around. It is really impressive what a well designed system can do.

Hood is about 46" above the cooking surface. The arch structure helps quite a bit with contain and capture of cooking effluent.

Pauls234,,

I have read about the Fantech setup. I am glad it is working out for you. I am researching the ability of our DOAS system supplying the MUA. There are a lot of considerations on where to input the MUA in the house. Where in the house did you supply your MUA?

"I can do the smokiest of cooking, stir fry, lamb loin chops seared in cast iron, etc and never have those next day odors,"

Sounds like a place I'd like to eat. :-)

I'm amazed an HVAC person said that you didn't need MUA for a 1200 CFM hood. I probably shouldn't be though.

Our kitchen is really a large open kitchen/dining room/living room all in one, and there is a walkway into a laundry/mud room just off of it. The MUA is supplied just inside that walkway from living room to mudroom so it effectively blows right into the big open room, on the opposite wall of the range, and is also a mostly out of sight.

The supply from the outside goes through the garage and attic and out the rooftop.

Opaone,

I was surprised as well... but when I called a few other HVAC places, I realized that it was not an uncommon view.

Those that did agree that I needed MUA in some form just thought something like this would work fine:

http://docs.zephyronline.com/docs/specs/mua_spec.pdf

Then again, that is what Zephyr recommends, which is also somewhat troubling. I just can't imagine that a passive system, dumping unconditioned air right into the furnace and then having to make it through the full system would sufficiently make up what was needed. Guess it is just an esoteric topic.

btw, I passed inspection with having no MUA.

On the other hand, we live in very temperate climate and have our windows open almost year round. There is a big tilt'n'turn window directly across the galley from our stove, and it pretty much stays tilted permanently. The 1200 CPM vent hood has absolutely no problem sucking air through the window opening. MUA wouldn't really make much difference in our situation.