Kitchen Conundrum: Dual-fuel range vs. Cooktop + wall oven/microwave
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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- 2 years ago
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36' range plus wall oven vs. 48' range with dual ovens?
Comments (4)We had the 36 foot (HAH) AG Wolf in our last house. We loved the unit and space up top but did often run out of burner space. The 36 inch oven was nice and held a lot which was great as long as we were cooking things at the same temp which we rarely ever did. Next, that oven took forever to preheat... 40-45 minutes to 400. Lastly, we think b/c of its huge capacity, it cooked really hot. I think the burners had to run a lot to keep it at temp which over cooked bottoms of breads etc. Great for roasts and some other things but not for breads, cookies, pastries etc. In the end though, we were VERY pleased with the Wolf. We adapted to the hot temps by using additional pans for heat shields and adjusting the temps. In our current house, we went with a 60 inch AG Blue Star range. It has 2 30 inch ovens, 8 burners and a grill. We also put in a Wolf 30 inch wall oven. The preheat on all 3 ovens to 400 is about 15-20 minutes. The first cookies and corn bread we did in the gas ovens. They were better than in the 36" Wolf but still cooked pretty hard. Next time I did corn bread, I thought, Oh yeah, I've got the wall oven and used it... a world of difference. Since then we have done biscuits and other items and they come out perfectly. We still find the gas is great for roasts, casseroles, reheating etc. We may have a bit of over kill, but due to advice from this forum, we specifically diversified to both gas and electric and have been very pleased. So, my recommendation? The 48 inch AG range AND an electric wall oven. Oh yeah, the grill on the BS is killer. I got talked into it as a last minute decision and thought I would use it occasionally. We have used it a fair amount so fay and it does a killer job on veggies and chicken. We have elected to limit the grill to those items only. Beef and fish are too messy and when we grill those, its always outside (so far). I have found a griddle plate that fits nicely over the grill to convert it to a griddle when needed....See MoreRange vs Dual Ovens and Cooktop
Comments (9)To the OP, if you are happy with your cooktop, go with the double wall oven.. especially if you bake alot. Now, if you are open to replacing your drop-in, then go with a rangetop. A rangetop has a few advantages over a drop-in cooktop. First, it's got the knobs in front which keeps it mostly free of splatters and they don't "stick out" on the surface. Second, rangetop options are much nicer than the drop-in. I prefer open burners *and* was limited to drop-in cooktop which meant Bluestar was my only real choice. No regrets there, I love it and would probably buy a range or rangetop (they call it a slide in cook top) from them regardless. For ed77, if you do a lot of wok cooking, get an open burner. I'll throw my vote to Bluestar but whatever brand you choose, open burner is the way to go. I had a sealed burner for quite a few years and always hated it especially when I used my wok. The reason is, wok cooking requires intense heat in the center tapering off toward the edges. With a sealed burner, you'll get high heat in a ring around the edge and a the center will be relatively cool. There is also a lot of heat loss up the sides which is not good. I'm very happy with wok cooking on the Bluestar. Now, when I drop cold ingredients in to the blazing hot wok it keeps on sizzling. I find my self moving faster now, much more like cooking in a restaurant kitchen. With my old cooktop, I always stood around waiting for the heat/sizzle to come back up cursing the whole time because my dish is being slowly boiled instead of stir fried....See More30 inch range vs. cooktop/wall oven vs. 36 inch range
Comments (1)I can answer the BS oven door question. My 36" BS RCS was installed two days ago (haven't used it yet, hopefully this weekend). During the burn off of the oven (high temp is 450 F for an hour) I checked how hot the oven door got, as that has been a big issue noted on these boards. On my range, the SS part of the oven door did not get hot, just a bit warm. The glass on the oven door got hotter but not that hot. What did get quite hot were the sides/edges of the oven door. I could touch the side but not for long. Definitely quite hot. Not instant burn/scald though. There are vents (or look like vents) right there so it makes sense that those areas heat up a lot. Your kids would have to press their hands up against the 2" side of the door for several seconds for it to affect them negatively. More likely a kid running around will touch the front of the door and that is not a problem, on my range at least....See Morerange + wall oven VS cooktop + wall oven + steam oven
Comments (1)I like a range top and wall ovens. I love having two big drawers under the range top for pots and pans. And, I think a wall oven is easier to use. Also, we have had Thermador in my last two kitchens. I have really liked....See MoreRelated Professionals
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