Bertazzoni Ranges - Questions & Answers. 2019
Comments (15)
davidhunternyc
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
Bertazzoni questions please help
Comments (5)I have a 48" Berta pro (all gas with an electric gridle on the top), but I can try to answer some of your questions based on my experience. 1. Our reliability has been excellent so far. The stove has only been installed since November, but so far no problems at all. I like that there are almost no electronics and any minor adjustments needed have been very easy for DH to do. DH also installed the unit himself and was easily able to adjust the burners to have the maximum and minimum flames exactly where I want them. The large burner does a great job of putting out heat when I need it and boiling my stock pot of water quickly. The smaller/simmer burner also works great since DH adjusted the flame. It has enough power to easily cook my sauces, then turns back to a nice simmer while I am finishing the rest of the meal. The other "medium" burners are great for average sauteing and so forth. When first installed, my ovens were cooking too hot (I monitor them with a cheap oven thermometer that lives inside each). DH easily accessed the adjustment from the front panel and turned them down. Since these minor adjustments have been made, nothing else has been needed. 2. Once up to temp, the oven holds extreamly steady. As mentioned previously, I monitor them with my oven thermometer, and unless I am opening and closing the door repeatedly, the temp is steady as a rock. My large oven takes a little less than 10 minutes to preheat to approx. 375 degrees and the small oven can take up to 20 minutes. I assume this is because the burner in the small oven is also smaller??? 3. No, it is not a pain to light the oven while holding the door open. I don't even realize that I am doing it usually, it has just become second nature. I usually open the door with my left hand just a few inches, so I can peak into the oven, while I push and turn the knob with my right hand. I see and hear the flames ignite and I close the door and adjust the knob to the exact temp I want. This entire process takes less than 20 seconds. Honestly, when I have watched him, DH never opens the door when he lights the oven and we haven't exploded yet! 4. I would absolutely purchase this stove again. We just completed a new build and I really wanted the "look" of a 48" range, but most were way out of my budget. This range feels very solid and does a good job with what I ask out of it for cooking abilities (I am just a regular "mom" cook). We had looked at the range about 9 months prior to actually purchasing it and at that time, the appliance salesperson had quoted us a very good price that was slightly less than AJ Madison's at the time. We waited until we were further along in our build and went back to the same salesperson, but by that point, there had been a price increase. She was great to work with and brought our price back very close to what she originally quoted us, which was almost $1000 less than AJ Madison's at that point. When she did it, she laughed and told us to never show our invoice to anyone because she would get in trouble for selling it to us at such a deep discount. We did also purchase a dishwasher and Vent A Hood insert from her at the same time, which I think helped our negotiating power. 5. I did not purchase any separate island trim. Mine came with a standard backguard that I would estimate to be approximately 3 or 4 inches (I am not home right now, but could measure later if you would like). 6. I would be glad to try to give you any other feedback you would like. Again, I was looking for a balance of form, function and price and the Berta met my requirements the best. That might not be true for others! My only complaint when I first started using the ovens was that I was burning the bottoms of my dishes. I had always cooked with electric, so I think that made a difference in my adjustment period. Once DH turned the oven burners down and I switched some of my darker metal pans out for lighter colored ones, I have had no issues. This is the best picture of my range I have access to at the moment:...See MoreQuestions for Bertazzoni Owners/Users
Comments (5)rococo- It's my pleasure. These boards have been so helpful to me that I always try and come back to provide feedback on items I have purchased and used. Nope... no problems with cleaning the oven door. I use spray cleaner on the front without any issues. For the top, especially after I have cooked Italian (pasta sauces), I use bar keepers friend on a wet sponge. Gets everything thing clean in a jiffy. As you continue to research your purchase, keep in mind that people are more likely to post complaints than compliments. I research everything I buy online, especially by reading reviews... but I also take it all with a grain of salt. I pay attention to service complaints and take opinions into consideration :) Let me know if there is anything else I can help answer about the Berta....See MoreBertazzoni vs Bluestar 36' gas range?
Comments (11)I have the 48" Professional Series Berta. Mine came with a host of problems. The repair guy (who Bertazzoni basically trained while he was at my house) came at least 10 times. It all got fixed in the end but took months to get all the kinks worked out. That said - I really like it but don't know that I would choose it again (Bluestar was other choice)if I knew I was getting the same scenario. My other small complaint is the convection fan does make quite a bit of noise and probably just bothers me because my dining room and kitchen are open to each other......See MoreNew Bertazzoni Induction Range?
Comments (55)I would urge anyone interested in Bertazzoni to exercise CAUTION. I own their beautiful professional range, 90cm oven with induction top. When we first plugged it the fan oven is was so noisy it was virtually unusable, especially in an open kitchen. We got it "repaired" but it didn't change anything and the repairman gave up, saying there was nothing he could do with this machine. Two and a half years after getting it (and using exclusively the traditional oven) the induction packed up! But worst of all is the total lack of response and support from the company. Their distributor in my country seems to have changed or disappeared and Bertazzoni is totally ignoring my calls for help and information as to what to do. I'm left to call independent repairmen and nobody wants to come near it. I now have a 5K door-stopper. My Bertazzoni range is my worst purchase EVER, on EVERY level - build quality, customer service, you name it. That'll teach me buying something because it looks good. Go online (actually, just read this particular thread!), you'll find many, many people complaining how poor quality this brand is, which won't stop Bertazzoni from charging you big bucks and presenting themselves as a luxury brand. They've got a nice little system going, thinking there will always be suckers who will throw caution to the wind because their stuff looks really nice. And there are - I was one of them! I honestly feel I've been scammed. I live in Europe, an hour away from Italy, so I can only imagine that it's even worse if one lives overseas....See Moredavidhunternyc
5 years agodavidhunternyc
5 years agodavidhunternyc
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agodavidhunternyc
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agodavidhunternyc
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHi Frances, yes, we are in the same situation. I love BlueStar but it won’t fit in my kitchen and I have roommates who will spill in those food burners. I can’t imagine the cleanup. I’m still not closer to a decision but I found something else this morning:
davidhunternyc
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoI'm still not quite ready to write a full review of my Bluestar RCS 36" gas range but I will do my best to put my cursory thoughts together for the moment. At this time I would give this range 4 out of 5 stars.
I am completely happy that I passed on the Bertazzoni. Beware of the loud cooling fans on the Bertazzoni and Fisher Paykel. There are computer chips inside of them that heat up and fail. It's the biggest reason why I passed on these two ranges though there were also design decisions that did not make sense. (Who uses a hob rail?)
There are no computer chips inside of the Bluestar. It is analog simplicity at it's finest. I have not put the Bluestar through all of it's paces because of the hot summer and I don't have air conditioning in my pre-war apartment. Once fall approaches I will be using the Bluestar quite a bit more and will have a more thorough opinion.
After the first few weeks with the Bluestar I had quite a scare. I was using a new top recommended oven thermometer from America's Test Kitchen. The oven temp on the thermometer was more than 50º off from what was on the dial. I called Bluestar and they sent a technician to my apartment within a few days. Luke, the tech, was very kind and knowledgeable and he tested the oven temp with a much more accurate and complex digital thermometer. It turned out that the oven temperature was completely accurate and my $20 oven thermometer was inaccurate. He explained to me that this happens frequently with new Bluestar owners. Trust the oven. I was holding on to the oven thermometer like a band-aide and just because it was analog it did not mean that it was accurate. Now that I know that I had a perfectly functioning stove I could move on to cooking without any worries.
Let me tell you, one of the major reasons why I chose to purchase the Bluestar was because of the 1850º infrared ceramic broiler. What I didn't expect was how life changing it would be. I mean, wow, it's a stunning piece of tech. The flame is so hot, it's blue. Because it's an instant heat I do not have to wait for it to warm up before use. Even in the hot summer I could grill a steak in just a few minutes with incredible char without heating up my kitchen. My Thermapen MK4 ensures my meat is cooked perfectly. My favorite recipe so far is chicken tandoori.
One of the reasons why I initially wanted the Bertazzoni and Fisher Paykel was because of their true 24 inch cabinet deep profiles. Both stoves are slim and elegant. Their grates are light, thin, and easy to remove for cleaning. The Bluestar, on the other hand, is a more industrial, restaurant style stove. I was apprehensive about putting it in my small NYC kitchen. It took me awhile to adjust to the larger footprint of the Bluestar but I am now quite happy with it's size but I'm still adjusting to it's more blunt kind of styling.
Now on to why, so far, I am knocking one star off of this stove. My opinion is entirely subjective, so please take my thoughts with a grain of salt. Look at the photo below. You see how deep that front bull-nose is? I just can't quite get used to it. Granted, I have been using a rental grade stove beforehand for 20 years so I am still adjusting. My roommate, however, adjusted almost immediately to the added depth. Because of the deep, flat stainless steel area it is begging to get scratched. Yes, just three months in I do have a small micro-scratch. I brought up my concerns to Luke who came to check on my oven temperature problem. He agreed with me that scratches are going to happen and I just have to let go of this concern. Wait for several years and in the future there are ways to polish out the scratches and he would be happy to help me with how to do so when the time comes.
But still, why does the bullnose have to be so deep? Luke explained to me that the wiring for the stove was all tucked densely behind the bullnose, which I gathered. But what I didn't see was that on the underside overhang of the bullnose there are air vents that help dissipate heat when cooking. These vents omit the need for the cooling fans that are in the Bertazzoni and Fisher Paykel. Hmm, again, brilliant simplicity. My question now is why can't Bluestar design a shallower bullnose while still keeping the space for the wires and the vents? Checking other stoves, like Wolf and Viking, they too have thick bullnoses but none of them are as deep as Bluestar's. I guess it's just the new world order of stove design to have these thick bullnoses. Checking the stoves out at the steakhouse I work at they too have thick bullnoses. I just need to give myself more time to adjust.
Now on to those thick grates. I did not want them. Another reason why I initially chose the Bertazzoni and Fisher Paykel. But what I like about the Bluestar is that there is one grate for each of the 6 burners. Each grate, though heavy duty, is lighter than expected and easy to remove for cleaning. Other stoves have one continuous grate over two burners which makes them quite a bit heavier to remove. As you can see in the photo below I had a powder-coated stainless steel cover made for the middle two grates so I would I have more room for cooking equipment. It is easily removable for those times when I need to use all 6 burners.
And what about those burners? I was amazed with how quickly I could boil a huge pot of water for pasta. I love the fact that all of the burners have high output btu's except for the far left back burner for low simmering. If you have read my other threads some of you may know how anal retentive I am about burners with incredible low simmering capabilities. I still have not tested the low simmering capabilities enough to come to any conclusive opinions but so far I am happy. I am considering getting a diffuser for this stove because the burners are so wide in diameter that the flames burn the sides of narrower objects like my moka pot. I will follow up later on the burner capabilities when the weather cools and I have more time to use them extensively. Let me tell you this though. I am so glad I chose the sealed burner range over the open burner range. Yes, I know that the open burners on Bluestar ranges are legendary. The open burners are superior in performance to the sealed burners but I can't believe how easy to clean the sealed burners are. I barely have to take a wet soapy sponge to the surface to clean up spills. I am not a professional chef. I am an avid home cook and I don't need anything more than what I have. The Bluestar sealed burners are exceeding my expectations.
A couple of more notes. I have not used the convection oven too much. Again, I need to wait for temperatures to cool. Also, this stove does not have a warming drawer. I thought this would be a problem at first since my small kitchen has very little storage. My solution is that I slide my large sheet pans under my stove. I am surprised with the amount of clearance under my stove for storage. A plus is that I can now mop under my stove. Say goodbye to under-stove dust and debris. With a storage or warming drawer on other stoves cleaning under them would not be possible.
Let's just say that I am happy with my Bluestar purchase. I am glad I did not get the Bertazzoni or the Fisher Paykel. An added bonus is that the Bluestar is designed and built in America and, so far, Bluestar support has been excellent. This is a set-it and forget-it kind of stove. Simplicity is what I was after and simplicity is what I got. Thank you, Bluestar.
davidhunternyc
4 years agoDeana
2 years agoWilma
2 years ago
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