I agree 100% about the open burners. Don’t waste your money on sealed burners. we had them for years. after 16 years with a Thermador, we purchased an RNB BlueStar with open burners. Every day I say, “I love this stove!” ! Believe me, unless you do not cook at all, you will never regret open burners.

I asked my my husband about the sheet of aluminum. He said it will work to protect your wall but it will scratch worse than stainless steel. We are actually using the stainless steel backguard and venthood that we purchased for our Thermador years ago..

You wont regret a BlueStar. And as live_wire_oak pointed out, it is much easier and less expensive to maintain.

Thank you for your comments.

The reason I wanted a sealed burner BlueStar is because I watched a YouTube video about cleaning open burner gas ranges and it looked extremely complicated and time consuming, almost to the point of disassembling the top part of the stove (maybe it was an old video and the design has changed). If it's just a matter of removing and cleaning trays without disassembling anything, I think I can handle it.

My local appliance store has two open burner BlueStars on display so I'll go back there and examine the design/trays more closely.

The other reason I didn't want an open burner was the following review of the 30" BlueStar RCS Series Open Burner Range which I found on-line: I copied it verbatim.

"Worst stove ever, 10 months ago

Extremely difficult to clean. You basically have to take the whole thing apart to get into all the crevices to get it clean. Every time I do this, I cut my fingers on the sharp metal pieces with in the stove itself. The glass on the front of the oven is impossible to get to unless you have 5 hours to take off the front and remove a gajillion screws. The electric lighters are extremely finicky and are constantly broken. Using this stove is my worst nightmare and wish I could sell it.

Jenjen · Reviewed on Build.com"

I have a 36" BS RCS open burner. I've had it for over 5 yrs. I love it. Simple to clean, quite powerful, cooks like a dream. It might not heat water to boiling in one minute, but it sears and sautès and simmers wonderfully. I had a 30" open burner Viking prior to this range and loved that too. Open burners are very easy to clean, imo much easier than sealed burners. Definitely go look at the open burner BS ranges on display.

I just got the RNB 30" open burner range in October. We love everything about it. The burners are not finicky at all. You turn the knob and they light. As far as the glass door I don't know what that person is referring to. There is NO reason to take apart the glass. I clean the inside and I clean the outside. That's it. You should never spill or use large amounts of liquid on the open door as it could run into the glass layers. I did that on my Miele and had to pay to have the tech come and take it apart and clean. I just use a moist cloth and wipe. Done.

We do A LOT of stir fry so the open burners are a necessity. We love it and I do boil water in a very very short time.

Under the burners is a very nice set of metal trays that slide out. I remove them rinse off in the sink and replace. I do take the cast metal burners themselves out and use a Awesome grease cutter spray on them in the sink. We have a LOT of splatter due to the stir fry and I don't want build up on the metal but it is a 10 min job at most.

I can't imagine having a better range than this. I love it. c

I'm willing to keep an open mind but I've never had a range with open burners so I guess I'm hesitant of the unknown.

In reading posts on this forum, there are many differences of opinion but I do see that many love the open burners.

If you were cooking at a level that required open burners you would already know that you needed them and would know what to look for. Since you are unsure and don't have any idea what we are asserting as a positive step to take in your cooking I think you should stick with what you are comfortable with NOT what we are all used to and need in order to get the outcome of food prep that we desire . Good Luck.

@User, thank you. That is good advice not just for me but for anyone.

We got our RNB in October. We had sealed burners on all previous ranges but knew from reviews that we wanted open burners. I watched a lot of videos and read as many reviews as I could find. I also used one at the appliance store. The complaint about cleaning the burners is odd to me. They are all cast iron, which is easy to clean. You just wipeup the dirt or push it down to the trays below which clean up beautifully in the dishwasher. I remember spending long periods of time trying to get my stainless steel Thermador to shine. Grease is not a problem because grease seasons cast iron. I also cook with cast iron pans so I am comfortable with it.

The open burners heat up best. Using a wok on our 22,000 BTU burner is amazing. It has never been so easy to stir fry.

I highly recommend asking to use the range at the appliance store. You may find you like it.

Does having a range with open burners affect the resale value of a home? This is not our forever home.

I am wondering if open burners might be a deterrent for buyers who are unfamiliar with them and have only cooked on ranges with sealed burners.

An option would be to put the BlueStar range in storage whenever we decide to sell and purchase a cheaper range to sell the home with.

Just as a follow-up to everyone who was kind enough to reply to my post, I went to my local appliance store today to look at their two BlueStar gas ranges with open burners.

No offense to anyone who has one but I just don't think they are for me. With the type and amount of cooking that I do and for various other reasons, I feel that sealed burners are sufficient for my needs.

I am still considering the 30" BlueStar RCS with sealed burners and I am also interested in the Fisher & Paykel 30" gas range. My local appliance store didn't have any Fisher & Paykel ranges on display so tomorrow I am going to an appliance store a further distance away to look at the Fisher & Paykel gas ranges.

W.r.t. question 1: See https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5967977/bluestar-rnb-backguard-vs-island-trim#n=6

@Architectural Notice so what brand did you end up going with?

Fisher & Paykel 30" Stainless Steel Freestanding Gas Range - OR30SDG4X1