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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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/

lol



There is a move on to end gas stoves in new construction in certain places. That movement wins on a nutty city level but is losing at the state level. This is one of those things that will cause people to just say screw it to going greener.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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/

lol



There is a move on to end gas stoves in new construction in certain places. That movement wins on a nutty city level but is losing at the state level. This is one of those things that will cause people to just say screw it to going greener.

I think you're wrong. The link between gas stoves and asthma was not widely appreciated by consumers-- still isn't--and as that understanding disseminates, more homeowners will look for other options. At the same time, experienced cooks ate switching to and have started to talk up the merits of induction. This is also something new-- most people have never heard anything other than "gas is best for serious cooking." These two forces combined will drive a permanent shift towards induction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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/

lol



There is a move on to end gas stoves in new construction in certain places. That movement wins on a nutty city level but is losing at the state level. This is one of those things that will cause people to just say screw it to going greener.

I think you're wrong. The link between gas stoves and asthma was not widely appreciated by consumers-- still isn't--and as that understanding disseminates, more homeowners will look for other options. At the same time, experienced cooks ate switching to and have started to talk up the merits of induction. This is also something new-- most people have never heard anything other than "gas is best for serious cooking." These two forces combined will drive a permanent shift towards induction.

I’ve used an induction stove, and I’ll stick with gas, thank you very much.

FWIW, with my vent hood going full blast, I can’t even smell the food. Im not worried about the combustion by products.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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/

lol



There is a move on to end gas stoves in new construction in certain places. That movement wins on a nutty city level but is losing at the state level. This is one of those things that will cause people to just say screw it to going greener.

I think you're wrong. The link between gas stoves and asthma was not widely appreciated by consumers-- still isn't--and as that understanding disseminates, more homeowners will look for other options. At the same time, experienced cooks ate switching to and have started to talk up the merits of induction. This is also something new-- most people have never heard anything other than "gas is best for serious cooking." These two forces combined will drive a permanent shift towards induction.

I’ve used an induction stove, and I’ll stick with gas, thank you very much.

FWIW, with my vent hood going full blast, I can’t even smell the food. Im not worried about the combustion by products.

Look, there are still people with gas ovens - people hang on to outdated and dangerous things for a long time. That's OK, but induction is definitely here to stay and will eventually take over. Look at most countries in Europe to see how it is going - the US is behind on all of this but will catch up.

[Anonymous]

IME there are a lot of people who think any smooth-top electric cooktop is induction. So they think they've cooked on an induction stove but actually haven't. (Not saying that's true of anyone here, but just another indication that the American public in general is pretty ignorant about induction cooking and how it compares to gas.)

[Anonymous]

We had the 36" Thermador cook top in our old house and it was great. Moved to a new house with a cheap Whirlpool and it is terrible. Can't cook at a low heat. Things we never burned on our Thermador burn all the time on the cheap Whirlpool.

We are planning to buy a Thermador as a Christmas gift to ourselves. The only down side is we will have to get a 30" due to space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am the PP with the 3-year-old Blue Star. We have never had it serviced, and have never had an issue with anything going wrong on it yet. It is super simple, no electronic parts, so I expect that we continue without issues.

We personally really like the open burner design. Clean up is not a big issue for us, it has a drop through with a collection pan on the bottom, so everything is super easy to take apart and clean up.

I think whether the high BTUs are worth it, comes down to your style of cooking. If you use a regular stove ( like the one you have now), do you ever say gee I wish I had a more powerful burner? If so, then you need a more powerful burner. We previously had a gas 12000BTU GE Profile cooktop, and we're constantly wishing we had a more powerful stove. We do a lot of stir fries, and do like to sear things, so the more powerful 25,000 BTU burner definitely exceeds what we need now. If you primarily do sauteing and sauces and boil water, and never think hey I need a more powerful stove, then you probably won't notice a difference.

You should also try to see them in person. Go to one of the high end shops around, and you can compare a lot of these high-end brands. Ferguson has a lot of these on display.

I don't really use the summer burner that much, but it is still pretty helpful. I made the comment about having proper ventilation, and want to reiterate that. If you will do me heavy cooking with frying, you need a powerful overhead vent. A downdraft vent will not do the job. Don't skimp on your ventilation. There was some discussion about gases and someone mentioned that with the vent going they can't even smell the food. That is the same as our setup, and that is what you want.

[Anonymous]

We've had Thermador and Wolf. I prefer the latter. Thermador burners had a star shape that were a pain to clean, same with the knobs on top. Wolf is a much faster wipe down. Both had great gas control low to high.

That said if cooking is your passion, you may enjoy the professional novelty of Blue Star. We just needed a straightforward performer.

[Anonymous]

LOLing at all the rich people who are just super into stir frying, okay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOLing at all the rich people who are just super into stir frying, okay?

Or searing for that matter. Can you imagine a rich person wanting properly seared sea scallop! Ha. Cracks me up, every time, okay?

But to this person's point... if you aren't really into cooking, there is no point to get the high-end, high-powered stuff.
Just like there is no point to get a super high power, expensive DSLR, if you are taking snapshots. You could, but if you are never going to be playing with depth of field and want to control for motion blur, it would be a waste.

[Anonymous]

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/07/1015460605/gas-stove-emissions-climate-change-health-effects

Read this, and make sure you have good ventilation. I would go for an electric oven and ideally, a gas AND induction top - they do exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOLing at all the rich people who are just super into stir frying, okay?

Or searing for that matter. Can you imagine a rich person wanting properly seared sea scallop! Ha. Cracks me up, every time, okay?

But to this person's point... if you aren't really into cooking, there is no point to get the high-end, high-powered stuff.
Just like there is no point to get a super high power, expensive DSLR, if you are taking snapshots. You could, but if you are never going to be playing with depth of field and want to control for motion blur, it would be a waste.

You can sear a scallop on a hot plate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME there are a lot of people who think any smooth-top electric cooktop is induction. So they think they've cooked on an induction stove but actually haven't. (Not saying that's true of anyone here, but just another indication that the American public in general is pretty ignorant about induction cooking and how it compares to gas.)

Agree with this. Almost everyone who sees my cooktop thinks it’s electric and then when I show them how it works they are amazed. Most Americans have not even seen, let alone used induction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME there are a lot of people who think any smooth-top electric cooktop is induction. So they think they've cooked on an induction stove but actually haven't. (Not saying that's true of anyone here, but just another indication that the American public in general is pretty ignorant about induction cooking and how it compares to gas.)

Typical DCUM. “If you have a different opinion than I do, you’re obviously stupid and misinformed.”

Nice try. The crappy induction cook top I used was a very expensive European induction cooktop. I did actually own an electric glass-topped non-induction cooktop years ago, and it worked better than the induction cooktop I used.

My view is that people who claim to love their induction cooktops just don’t want to admit that they paid extra for a sub-par appliance.

See? Two can play this game.

[Anonymous]

I have had Thermador induction and the fancy Wolf 6-burner + griddle. I would take the induction any day, hands down.