Upgrading cooktop/rangetop...(going high end)

[Anonymous]

I hate my Wolf. It’s needed service every other year since we’ve had it. The only thing I like about it is the two ovens. But who needs a griddle and six burners? We have the space so it’s fine but I really hate how much it needs repair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Bluestar 36", 6 burner range, and love it. The chief advantages are (i) the open burner configuration, which, though a pain to clean, allows for better control and cooking with a round-bottom wok without a ring (which I love); and (ii) being able to fit a commercial baking sheet into the oven, which isn't possible with other similar sized ranges. That isn't a concern for you, though with a rangetop.

I did overpay for the Platinum series, though - I don't use, at all, the interchangeable griddle or grill. In retrospect, I wish I'd either splurged and gotten the 48" with the French Top - I'd have gotten a lot more use out of that - or saved some money on one of the less expensive models.

The best thing about Blue Star is there aren't any bells and whistles, so there's less to break.

I don’t understand, half sheet pans fit in my cheap kitchenaid range. I don’t want to use full sheet pans at home. It would be a pain to pull them in and out of an oven on the floor, for one. I don’t have a speed rack in my home kitchen. And a half sheet pan fits plenty.

Is it so difficult to understand different people have different preferences?

I’m just pointing out that it’s not an advantage. Full sheet pans are as big as a person can comfortably handle. That’s good for efficiency in a commercial setting. But there’s no advantage for a home kitchen, and a half sheet is arguably better.

Good grief. It isn't an advantage for you. I can handle it easily. Also, the right comparison is the difference between a 36" Blue Star and another 36" range, which I'm guessing your "cheap Kitchenaid" isn't.

You seem weirdly invested in this. Why is that? Do you not get enough validation in real life?

Seriously, WTF is the previous PP's problem? She doesn't use something, therefore no one needs or should want it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a wolf range top and it works very well. We swapped the red knobs for black.

We have an electric cooktop in our second home and one of the things I hate most about it is that the knobs get dirty from cooking grease or splatters. Much prefer the knobs on the front.

This is hilarious - the Wolf is basically a GE where people pay a premium for the red knobs.

Well we didn't like the red knobs so we swapped them. We have a wolf wall oven, microwave and warming drawer too. I don't think GE manufactures Wolf ranges, and the GE monograms aren't that much less expensive than Wolf.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the input! Interestingly no feedback on Thermador.

Anonymous wrote:I worked in a kitchen alongside some great chefs. Unless you're making really huge batches of soup every day, any range/cooktop of reasonable quality is just fine. This whole obsession with burner power and open vs closed is really just marketing BS for rich people who like to research things and buy gadgets. Having a hugely overpowered burner is fine, as long as it's well-ventilated, but also completely unnecessary. Oven quality/fuel varies much more and is maybe worth spending for depending on what you want to do with it. A burner is a burner. Pots and pans, liquid and stirring do a good job of distributing heat.

So pick a well enough made burners, open or closed depending on your cleaning preferences. But only get something super intense if you will enjoy knowing how many BTUs it has and thinking about how much you paid for it, like a sports car or something. It won't make a difference to your cooking performance.

Thanks, this is helpful. Is the high BTU only useful for wok work? Or is there another use for it?

As for the open/closed burner, I would guess that an open burner would be better for searing (more even distrubution) but maybe that's nitpicky?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Bluestar 36", 6 burner range, and love it. The chief advantages are (i) the open burner configuration, which, though a pain to clean, allows for better control and cooking with a round-bottom wok without a ring (which I love); and (ii) being able to fit a commercial baking sheet into the oven, which isn't possible with other similar sized ranges. That isn't a concern for you, though with a rangetop.

I did overpay for the Platinum series, though - I don't use, at all, the interchangeable griddle or grill. In retrospect, I wish I'd either splurged and gotten the 48" with the French Top - I'd have gotten a lot more use out of that - or saved some money on one of the less expensive models.

The best thing about Blue Star is there aren't any bells and whistles, so there's less to break.

+1 -- We have the 36" Bluestar rangetop for about 3 yrs now. It is by far the best thing about our kitchen. No problems with it at all since we've had it.
We do a lot of wok cooking -- the drop in design for woks is perfect.
We do use the griddle and grill... we didn't expect much from them, but they are really good -- exceeded our expectations. In the winter when we want grilled steak and don't want to go out in the snow to clear off the outdoor grill -- it is perfect.
If you are really into cooking, the high BTUs will really matter when you want to sear or stir fry something. Low end can be a challenge -- they do a dedicated "simmer burner" which helps...

Whatever you choose, if you are a serious cook, be sure to get a vent hood that is powerful and big enough for what you plan to cook.

Thanks! As for cleaning an open burner, that concerns me since cleaning the range is always challenging. Open burner top would be more challening. Do you all find yourselves using the simmer burner quite a bit? Also, as for servicing, how often are you having it serviced?

Seems like it's best to save the money and get the cooktop over the rangetop. I have a full oven/range and the knobs even though they are on the front, STILL get grease on them.

[Anonymous]

I have a 48” Thermidor and love it. The house came with it, so it wasn’t my choice, but I am amazed at how much I enjoy cooking on it. It’s 20 years old and still looks brand new - they really are built to last.

Ours has 4 burners, grill and griddle, the the ovens underneath. There is noticeable difference in how hot it gets vs my previous range, but I don’t think it has made my cooking better. I do like that I can boil water faster, and the high heat is great for stir fries, etc. I will admit I love the way it looks.

Op, GL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I moved around frequently for my job, I've cooked on quite a range of stoves from the very fancy, bells and whistles, to the mundane and even the cheapest possible stove you could get away with in an expensive rental (you'd be surprised). Did the expensive stoves make a difference in my cooking?

Nope. Not at all. None whatsoever. If anything, the cheap and basic gas stove didn't break down on me while one of the luxury stoves did. At least I didn't have to pay to repair it.

I also didn't like the fancy stoves because they're aggressively overengineered far beyond what you need for home cooking, even serious home cooking.

I do understand the appeal of a nice looking stove and when I do a remodel, it will be a factor. But the stoves you get in the 2-4k category are going to be just as good as any Viking or La Cornue. The baseline Bosch is all you really need. More than that is design preference rather than any cooking advantages.

+1. Spend your money on pans and knives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a wolf range top and it works very well. We swapped the red knobs for black.

We have an electric cooktop in our second home and one of the things I hate most about it is that the knobs get dirty from cooking grease or splatters. Much prefer the knobs on the front.

This is hilarious - the Wolf is basically a GE where people pay a premium for the red knobs.

Well we didn't like the red knobs so we swapped them. We have a wolf wall oven, microwave and warming drawer too. I don't think GE manufactures Wolf ranges, and the GE monograms aren't that much less expensive than Wolf.

We also swapped out the red knobs but for stainless.

GE doesn’t manufacture Wolf. I assume PP was trying to say that people are just paying for the name/look of Wolf but that the quality isn’t better than a GE. We had a GE Profile before our Wolf, and I disagree…but I also agree with PPs you can cook well on pretty much anything and obviously recognize that high-end appliances are luxuries.

OP, we have a Wolf cooktop and separate wall oven and like them both. If I had it to do all over again, I would probably get a rangetop instead of a cooktop to maximize cooking space.

[Anonymous]

OP here : that’s helpful. ^^^

Thanks all.

If you were to do it all over again, would you upgrade your cooktop/rangetop or would you rather upgrade your (in our case) double oven?

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised no one mentioned concerns about the amount of pollution we generate with gas stoves.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/10/gas-stoves-are-bad-you-and-environment/616700/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here : that’s helpful. ^^^

Thanks all.

If you were to do it all over again, would you upgrade your cooktop/rangetop or would you rather upgrade your (in our case) double oven?

It depends on your oven. As long as it’s well insulated with good convection and electric heat, you’re in business.

[Anonymous]

You’re starting to see induction in high-end kitchens. Our neighbor just did this in a reno and I am jealous. Induction looks sleek, allows great control of heat, is a cinch to clean and doesn’t have the pollution issues. We have a 48” Thermador range. I love how it looks and cooks but it is pure misery to try to clean it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re starting to see induction in high-end kitchens. Our neighbor just did this in a reno and I am jealous. Induction looks sleek, allows great control of heat, is a cinch to clean and doesn’t have the pollution issues. We have a 48” Thermador range. I love how it looks and cooks but it is pure misery to try to clean it.

Agree, commercial-style gas ranges are going to start to look very dated. Induction is the way to go, and better from a health perspective, too.

[Anonymous]

Yep, we're planning to do some kitchen renivation next year. I just assumed we'd stick with gas, but the more research I do, the more I'm leaning toward induction.

[Anonymous]

We really like our 36" Bluestar--both the space and the high heat burners. Whenever I find myself on a 24" range I feel really cramped. The oven does take a little while to heat up, that's the only slight negative I can think of. Other than that, we've been very happy with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re starting to see induction in high-end kitchens. Our neighbor just did this in a reno and I am jealous. Induction looks sleek, allows great control of heat, is a cinch to clean and doesn’t have the pollution issues. We have a 48” Thermador range. I love how it looks and cooks but it is pure misery to try to clean it.

Agree, commercial-style gas ranges are going to start to look very dated. Induction is the way to go, and better from a health perspective, too.

I have news for you - the “commercial” style ranges have been in style for eons. The induction look, otoh, comes and goes.