I loved my six-burner Bluestar RCS range at first, but it has caused a lot of headaches, and then the convection fan recall pretty much ruined it for me. It's a whole different oven; the convection feature is useless now. I worked in restaurants for years, and on most residential ovens the convection feature is sad because they use a weak little fan, but the Bluestar convection fan was serious and really improved cooking results. I realize the recall happened out of an abundance of caution (probably with the help of a lot of lawyers), but now the fan will only turn on when the gas is not lit. It's a part time convection fan--maybe on 20% of the time, depending on the cooking temp. If you're roasting a chicken at 500 degrees for nice crispy skin, the convection fan will turn on when the oven is up to 500, but once the fan is on it cools the oven down quickly and the gas kicks on and the fan turns off. It's a joke now. IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE THE CONVECTION FAN RECALL REPAIR, DON'T DO IT. JUST USE YOUR OVEN CAREFULLY. Other problems in the 5 years of owning this thing: The bottom pan fell apart because they used rivets that melt (they replaced that for free, with a stainless steel riveted pan, even though it was after warranty, that was nice). I replaced the first convection fan, under warranty, before the recall, because it was vibrating like crazy. I replaced the oven ignitor once. I currently need a new spark module for one of the burners ($100+ for the part). If you attempt to replace one of the burner ignitors, which I did, the cheap screw holding it on will break, so be ready to drill and tap a new hole and put in a better screw. The stovetop is definitely better than anything out there, but that's about the only good thing I can say. The broiler stinks. Customer service has been decent, but not great. I wouldn't buy Bluestar again, but I'm not sure what else I would buy.

The only surefire way of checking that is to install a pressure guage between the shutoff valve and control. Then cut the valve off and watch the guage to see if it's leaking. Leak detectors are a good tool, but they will pick up all sorts of stuff...dish soap, leak detector soap, pipe dope, etc. You can't always trust them.

I wouldn't expect any noticeable smell of gas. Does this happen with all of the burners or just with one? Is there anything unusual about your installation? High altitude? LP vs. natural gas? No or undersized vent hood? Recirculating vent hood? If none of the above applies, I'd call Blue Star's service department and ask them if they have seen this problem before. A small temporary amount of leaked unburned gas is generally harmless. But it does seem unusual. I can't recall ever noticing gas smells with my Blue Star.

When we got a new propane tank installed, I discovered that I can smell propane even when the electronic detectors cannot detect it. The mercaptan odorant that is added to propane is overwhelmingly strong smelling for some people and it can stick around for a long time even when there is no longer evidence of the propane gas itself. That said, if your range is brand new, it is also possible that you could be smelling the liquid gas pipe sealant used during installation. It has a smell that could be mistaken for the smell of propane. Try taking the grates, bowls and burners out on the left hand side and sniff around to try and locate the source of the smell. The gas intake pipes and regulator are on that side.