You sound a lot like me. I recently went from a standard 30" gas range to a 48"...love. I had a cooktop and wall ovens 15 years ago...not my thing. While my range manual says max triple ring out put is 15,500 BTU, it is SO much more powerful than my previous one. The triple ring is amazing, it can go all the way down to 1260 BTU for simmering. My neighbor loves her Thermador, other one loves her Wolf, and Bluestar gets great reviews here. So, I don't think that you are going to make a "wrong choice"...but I can tell you that jumping to a 48" range is pure luxury :) Also, I would never give up the griddle now.

Thank you for your comment, it's helping to ease a bit of my worry. If you don't mind me asking, which range did you end up purchasing?

Mine is a Hallman (same as Ilve) but it is dual fuel which is why I didn't even mention the brand. Good luck, and happy cooking...soon!

Those are beautiful ranges! I'm glad I've spoken to you, I think I may add those to my list ;-)

What type of cooking do you do? do you stir fry? What do you have now and how do you do with that?

What type of cookware do you have. How many do you cook for?

One thing I have heard is that Thermador only stocks replacement parts for 5 years. That in itself is enough to deter me. I do not have a 48 inch, but I do cook on my brothers Wolf pretty often, and like it a lot. One thing you may want to consider is service in your area. I would lean towards Wolf for that reason.

Wekick- I dabble in a bit of everything, but I tend to lean towards more towards dishes with sauces, cream sauces, pastas, etc. however, the range I have now is a 30 in Frigidaire that I think we spent $ 550 dollars on when we needed to quickly replace the range that came with our house. It’s about 10 years old and I have no idea what BTU’s it has, but I use the higher one more and the other 2 middles secondary- It takes a longgggggg time for water to boil, I know that much :-)
For pans, it is a mix of Calphelon and a set of copper bottomed Belgique pots and pans, both heavy bottomed. I wouldn’t mind investing in better pans, though.
There are four if us, myself, hubby and 2 boys, ages 6 & 9, but we see family and friends a lot, and we entertain a lot. We tend to be the gathering spot.

Design Girl- That is interesting about Thermador- I will have to look into that, because that could be a problem. 5 years doesn’t seem long enough! Thanks for the input on the Wolf. What is it about it that you find it does well, if you don’t mind me asking?

Don’t forget the 54” pro style ventilation and make up system that is needed with these ranges. That virtually doubles your costs. Or halves your range budget.

Celadon- yes, I am aware of the need for the extra ventilation requirements, but haven’t received information yet on the cost for that part. However, we are assuming it to be fairly significant.

I am going to put a bit of a damper on your dream.First I run a catering biz from my home sometimes doing food for 300 I have a 36" 6 burner all gas range but I do have double wall ovens. I have a griddle it cost $25 and spans 2 burners and works really well . My hood cost $1400 on sale it is a Vent-a-hood 1200 CFM The noise going from that to a hood over a 48” range is horrible and most people never think about the cost and the noise of the venting system needed. My range is a Bertazzoni in 13 years not one issue and believe me it is used . I have a wok burner which I also used to boil water quicker , I have simmer burner but for really delicate sauces I use a portable induction burner it just works better for me. A gas range all gas should require very little repair for a very long time. I love pizza , bread done in a gas oven for sure. Mine is convection as are my wall ovens .The venting will for sure cost as much as the range .I also am a kitchen designer and when my clients want a 48” range I take them to a commercial kitchen and let them here the fans running with only the fans for the range . Even most commercial kitchens do not have 48” ranges .

Hi Patricia- thank you very much for the information. I have heard that before about the hoods. I am curious, what in particular about the venting is so costly? We are directly venting outside (range will go against an outside wall.)
Also, thank you for referencing your bertazonni- all input on brands is extremely helpful!

Lucky998877-Thank you for that. I am sticking with a 48 for the same reasons as you, as well as the fact that I want the large and small oven, not just one huge oven as the 36 would provide-that doesn't meet my daily needs in general. Those prices are more of what I was thinking, and I think that I'm looking at the same hood as you (it's a zephyr 48 in) I've worked in a commercial kitchen before, I remember the noise as well. I do live in a colder climate, so the MUA will be necessary, and I'm fine with that. We have a large, loud, easily excitable family anyways, so I'm used to noise ;-) Fortunately, the appliance store that I'm most likely going to work with has their hoods on display, and many are functioning, so I can get a general idea of what the sound will be.

Lisa, me too...4 kids under 15...we have lots of fun noise. The small oven is wonderful, and heats up so quickly.

If you live in a cold climate, you might want to look into a heater in the make up air. You may be able to get a heat exchanger where the air going out preheats the air coming in, but it’s not enough to make the air warm if you live in an area with snow all winter.

Thank you SashaDog, I will make note of that. We still need to talk to a contractor about that, and I'm sure they will be able to guide me in that department. For now, I'm really trying to just figure out the range situation. From what I'm hearing, I think that Bluestar can be out, I'm feeling that the BTU's are just overkill for my needs. I'll start to focus my research on Thermador, Wolf and possibly some other brands that still offer the 48 inch all gas Range with at least one or two power burners.

You mentioned a concern about replacement parts availability for Thermadors. I'd like to share that a friend of mine has a vintage Wolf gas range (20+ years), and recently needed a part for the internal gas valves. A quick search of the internet showed several vendors with the parts in stock. Something to be said about Wolf repairability. PS: I chose Wolf dual fuel for my new home, and I love the performance as well as the classic look. Good luck!

Stone-ridge, Thank you!!! This is very helpful. They are beautiful, and just seem so solid.

I don't think any of those ovens will work during a power outage. Even gas ovens require electricity these days. As far as I can tell, no residential ovens use standing pilots and that would be required to use them completely without electricity.

If you want a super functional kitchen, I would recommend a 36" Bluestar RNB range with open burners. And then pair with a good overlay griddle, a Miele CSO wall oven for more flexibility and faster preheating, and get an outdoor gas grill with GrillGrates.

Bluestar doesn't really change their design much over time and uses basic industry standard parts. Ours is more than 10 years old and I can still easily get all the replacement parts. In fact, I can do all the service myself; it's so easy. The open burners are easier to clean than any other design except for induction. Their high power output is amazingly useful and the low power range is very precise on this range, if the installer set it up correctly. The built-in wok ring is a game changer when cooking for large families. And the super high power broiler opens up possibilities that I didn't even know I had as a home chef.

The downside is that the oven takes a long time to preheat. It's very reliable and even when it is at full heat, but for quick meals I prefer the 24" wall oven that preheats in a few minutes.

I feel a 48" range is overall less functional. But I do appreciate that they look great. So, I understand that some people prefer them. And if you truly cook for very large groups of people (i.e. more than 100 guests) or with multiple cooks, then they can make sense.

On the other hand, if looks are important to you (in addition to great performance), then you should take a serious look at LaCanche. Their European dimensions are overall a better choice than American size increments.

You mention that you don't want electric wall ovens since the power goes out often. Not sure about the brands you are looking at but many gas range burner's don't even work without power. You might want to check that the top burner's can be lit with a BBQ lighter and I'd for sure check about the oven. In order to work without electricity it would need a pilot light feature. We have a gas range and I can use the range top in a power outage but if I want the oven I need to fire up the generator.

I apologize, I should have been more clear. We do have a generator (not whole house), so with an all gas range I am able to still use the whole thing with our generator running, as it doesn't use too many watts to start up. If it were electric, that could be a problem. I have had a few occasions that we've lost power when we were preparing holidays feasts and I was happy that I had gas.

M-I will put Bluestar back on my list, I really appreciate the input. I like that you can do a lot of the work yourself-Fortunately my husband is handy so that would be great if we could do any repairs, for the most part, ourselves.

One note though, wall-ovens are completely not an option, but I will look into the Lacanche, however I thought that their ovens were electric? Do they make an all gas range?

I'm not knocking the Duel-Fuels either! The all gas ranges are the cheaper options, too, which is a huge deciding factor-unless I hit the lottery, then all bets are off!)

@Lisa: yes they make all gas range

Mat CZ-Thank you, I will look into them as well. I apologize, I was confusing them with La Cornue, which from what I see only have electric in lower price ranges.

@Lisa

“I think that Bluestar can be out, I'm feeling that the BTU's are just overkill for my needs”

There is more to it than the BTUs.

Bluestar also has a 48” range with ring, capped burners and a sealed burner tray, the RCS.

Most people buy BS for the star burners though and they have one in the 36” that is lower BTU than the RNB and it is the star burner but that doesn’t help you. There may be some other things on the RCS that would be benefits.

You mentioned the griddle. One of the big problems with griddles is getting them evenly heated. There are two things you can do to help this. You can make the heat source over a greater area and/or you can make the griddle of a material that conducts heat well.

Thermador has done both. They have a cast aluminum griddle which has very good heat transfer properties and the heat source, which is electric is wide.

It is supposed to be nonstick though so durability might be an issue.

Wolf used rolled steel which does not heat as evenly as the aluminum. They do try to provide a more even heat with an infrared burner. Wolf depending on where you read on the website has a 1/2 thick surface. VVVV

This is BlueSta,s burner. The griddle is half as thick as the Wolf griddle.

I would also consider an add on griddle. It leaves all of your burners open if need be. They are very inexpensive. This would be more of an issue with a 36”/6 burner. You can use whatever metal you want as the griddle. I know some who have aluminum, aluminum nonstick and rolled steel. You can have almost 50% more cooking area with a 2 burner add on than you do with a built in. Some people use these as a holding area or like a French top.

This is the Royal Industries version and Chef King makes one about like it in rolled steel. I have picked this griddle up full of food and and put it in the oven.

This is why the built in is smaller. The size is constrained by the burners next to it. The add on kinda steals a little space from the neighbors being 15” wide.

You also have a lot more heat available because the BTUs for the builtin griddle are around 15K total and the Thermador is a little more. The heat for the add on can be whatever the heat of the two burners is combined. 30K +

The built in does give you a way to consistently have the same temperature. When you turn it to 350°F, it heats to the same detergent each time. The add on griddle is like adjusting a really big pan. The aluminum add on adjusts very quickly. Wolf takes a little longer.

As as far as simmer BTU ratings, BS does not disclose It. Wolf and Thermador are both very low but the Thermador does that by clicking on and off. Wolf has the dual stacked burners.

As to these types of burners on prostyle ranges, they are wide. If you can find a place to see how they are with your pans that might be helpful.

This is all of them together.

The top two are capped burners. This gives you more flare on high heat. The Wolf is stacked so it seems like the flare is not as bad as some. The BS capped burner would have a little more flare but check it out in person.

The bottom two are a triple ring burner by Capital and the BS Star. As you turn up the BS, the flame stays more within the footprint of the burner because the flame goes out from the sides of the star rays. The Thermador is more like a modified ring in that as you turn it up, it flares. The star has better heat dispersal if you use cast iron or steel which are poor conductors of heat. The capped burner can leave a cooler middle in the pan unless you are using heat conductive pans like heavy aluminum or heavy copper.

The open burner tray just makes it easier or more difficult to clean depending on your perspective.

Check the oven size. The BlueStar has enough room, that you can fit a full commercial sheet pan or 2 half sheets side by side. Check with Thermador, I don’t think the 30” oven on the 48” is big enough. Wolf is not that big.

Check the broiler size. These are infrared and tend to be smaller.

wekick, that was super informative, I really appreciate it, especially the oven size and the griddle information. I have a lot to think about (more so than I though before...)

I was in the same boat as you about 18 months ago and went with the 48 Blue Star RNB with 12” griddle. It was a long process of research and information overload and a few close calls/near misses. For example I saw an orange Bertazzoni in person and fell in love with it and its pretty knobs and adorable thermometer gauge, until I thought carefully about the closed burners and less powerful broiler, etc. Anyway, it’s been just over a year and I love the Blue Star. There have been zero issues and we have zero regrets. The knobs don’t get hot (as a matter of fact I baked bread in it last night and had the oven at 500F for about an hour and noticed how not hot the knobs were). We needed all gas for the same reason you explained (hurricanes/power outages where we live), and one of my kids loves to cook with me so we do a lot side by side and are never in each other’s way. The burners are powerful (even the simmer) so we turn them to raise them a bit or double them up if we are melting chocolate or making hollandaise. Or we just use the griddle as a French top. The broiler is awesome and I end up broiling things I never thought about broiling in the past, like steak. The (1200 cfm Prizer) vent hood is insulated and we have 10” ducting. It’s not loud at all when it’s on low and the only time we have it on med or high is when we’re blasting something on the stove top, like a stir fry or pan frying fish. I’m not saying you should get a BS, but you have obviously thought carefully and done your research so you should get what you want as only you know how you cook and how you will use the appliance. The BS ticked all the boxes for us. The only thing that is weird is that I feel a bit sheepish when we make something like KD or Ramen, like the BS is judging me!

Queen E-your response is fantastic! You even said you use the griddle as a French Top, which I've been curious about as well. I greatly appreciate your response, and it's humor! Also, the fact that you mentioned your kid likes to cook with you- I have a 6 year old that loves to make fresh pasta and carbonara with me, and I was concerned the burners would be TOO much for a little guy to try to "learn" on.

P.S. your "judging me" comment made me laugh out loud

As @wekick explained so nicely, there is more to burners and BTU than most power. You'll rarely cook at full BTU for an extended amount of time. But the extra power and even heat distribution of the open star shaped burners give you a lot more control and allow you to use things like carbon steel skillets, cast iron and woks very effectively. That opens a whole bunch of possibilities.

And the precise power control on the Bluestar burners is such a joy to work with. In fact, I even got rid of our simmer burner as it didn't seem necessary. Instead, I turned it into another 15kBTU burner.

As for the griddle, take a look at GrillGrates. If you can install a (plumbed) outdoor gas grill, they are a huge upgrade. And they do work as a nice griddle. I was so impressed when I made bacon on our gas grill, something that I thought was impossible

I’m happy to hear more props towards the bluestar, especially seeing its the cheaper option of the three. We have a weber outdoor propane grill on our deck and a Kamado Joe smoker already, so we are mainly focusing on upgrading our indoor experience. Does anyone have experience with the thermadors star shaped burners? Are they actually better than a standard round burner or do they not make a huge difference? The Pro Grand has similar btu ratings as the bluestar, which is why I’m curious. It also has more options and features, so I’m really intrigued by it...

Take a good look at GrillGrates. They're comparatively cheap way to seriously upgrade your gas grill. I found out about it here on Houzz and I'm genuinely impressed.

As for the stove, more features isn't necessarily better. It also means more things to break. One of the nice things about Bluestar is that for the most part it's the same design as the Garland range they Julia Child cooked on. Very basic and robust mechanical parts and no electronics.

M- I will take a look, I am very intrigued by them now. I feel like Bluestar may be for the win, here :-) Too many positive's from people and really not a lot of negatives, thank you!

We have a 1962 Thermador with concealed downdraft that raises and lowers into the back of the unit--still works great. Just listed it for sale in fact.