Kitchen Remodeling

[Unpopular Poet]

I grew up with a 60" Vulcan -- and I loved it. It is like its own heating system in your house. I went with a Bluestar when I finally got a house where I could put in a stove I wanted -- I love it, but it is definitely not perfect. I never cared for sealed burners either -- cleaner, but I think that sacrifices burner power -- but how often do you need the full 22k btus that a bluestar spits out -- I am certain I do quite a bit, but not all the time -- from a searing point of view, a high power burner has no comparison -- but I have also heard great things about induction...

The cost of the bluestar at the time was a few grand less than the wolf/viking/thermador equivalent. I don't know if it still is.

Ebay is also a great place to find stoves...if you don't mind the scratched and dented type.

[dcarch]

Convection and rotisserie in an oven are what I have found to be very nice.

dcarch

[gfweb]

LOL. I am emotionally attached to the old Vulcan (we ought to have named it "Spock"), but its hard to keep clean and the oven temp varies all over the place until its been on a n hour or two I think it was meant to be left on all through the restaurant day.

Good point about rotisserie and convection.

[rotuts]

this isnt what you are after, but If I had a windfall, Id study very carefully

1 ) a professional induction top, with lots of Amps. I understand it would need new wiring for sure

and

2 ) a turbo electric dual (2) ovens

more new wiring.

Id throw in a few cooper inductions pans from France just as Id miss my large copper collection w this new set up.

sadly, the windfall while big enough wont cover a 1/2 sheet pan Combi- 2 oven set.

[HungryC]

I bought a BlueStar in October, and I'm loving it. Had a small problem w/coating flaking from one grate, and BS replaced it with no problems. Plenty BTUs, no superfluous electronics, easy to keep the cast iron top clean (IOW, it's not so shiny that every droplet shows, so you don't have to polish), and an oven big enough to fit a full sheet pan in a 30" stove. It was several thou cheaper than a Wolf or Dacor, but both are loaded with circuitry.

BlueStar's IR broiler is light years better than my old Amana gas oven's weak output.

[Unpopular Poet]

BlueStar's IR broiler is light years better than my old Amana gas oven's weak output.

I forgot to mention the Bluestar broiler - pretty top notch. I think if you love your Vulcan, but want more even oven temps, the Bluestar is perfect -- it also has convection in the big oven -- but no rotisserie.

[gfweb]

this isnt what you are after, but If I had a windfall, Id study very carefully

1 ) a professional induction top, with lots of Amps. I understand it would need new wiring for sure

and

2 ) a turbo electric dual (2) ovens

more new wiring.

Id throw in a few cooper inductions pans from France just as Id miss my large copper collection w this new set up.

sadly, the windfall while big enough wont cover a 1/2 sheet pan Combi- 2 oven set.

Unfortunately, space and $ are an issue. For our space, keeping the burners and range together is all that works cleanly as far as i can see.

[gfweb]

I bought a BlueStar in October, and I'm loving it. Had a small problem w/coating flaking from one grate, and BS replaced it with no problems. Plenty BTUs, no superfluous electronics, easy to keep the cast iron top clean (IOW, it's not so shiny that every droplet shows, so you don't have to polish), and an oven big enough to fit a full sheet pan in a 30" stove. It was several thou cheaper than a Wolf or Dacor, but both are loaded with circuitry.

BlueStar's IR broiler is light years better than my old Amana gas oven's weak output.

I love the idea of minimal circuitry.

Does BS have enough electronics to tell you what the oven temp is?

[Porthos]

I haven't looked at stoves in a long time - but - make sure you have at least one high-power burner. Mine is 16K BTU and does what I want. I wouldn't complain if I had a burner around 20K. I have a free-standing camp stove with 30K burners I use for my ren faire stuff and for certain things I wished I had one of those burners in my kitchen - with a more powerful exhaust system than I have now.

[rotuts]

good enough

I must say that the BlueStar is pretty impressive

I have not, thankfully looked into the price of the 30" which would fit nicely into the 30 " space where my

gas stove now sits.

bummer.

its not Combi nor induction, but ...........

Life is Short, the Art is Long.

[rotuts]

well there is this:

http://www.amazon.com/BlueStar-Range-RNB-Inch-Natural/product-reviews/B002LF2ANM

who knows ?

Id say take your time, then a bit if not more.

[HungryC]

I bought a BlueStar in October, and I'm loving it. Had a small problem w/coating flaking from one grate, and BS replaced it with no problems. Plenty BTUs, no superfluous electronics, easy to keep the cast iron top clean (IOW, it's not so shiny that every droplet shows, so you don't have to polish), and an oven big enough to fit a full sheet pan in a 30" stove. It was several thou cheaper than a Wolf or Dacor, but both are loaded with circuitry.

BlueStar's IR broiler is light years better than my old Amana gas oven's weak output.

I love the idea of minimal circuitry.

Does BS have enough electronics to tell you what the oven temp is?

Nope. BS has a little blue indicator light on front near the oven knob--it comes on when you turn the oven on, then the light goes out when the oven comes up to temp. No annoying beeps or displays to fail. LIke I said, no printed circuit boards anywhere in the damn thing. Just wires, LOL. I can fix wires my own self. The BS even includes a couple of spare igniters w/purchase. I got TWO 22k btu burners on front, 1 15k on back, and one 10k simmer. You can configure as you'd like. Local cost was around $4500 without delivery or installation. I will never need to buy another stove, ever.

I bought the all-gas model b/c I live where gas is cheap & the norm. You might like the electric oven version, depending on your regional gas prices.

[HungryC]

well there is this:

http://www.amazon.com/BlueStar-Range-RNB-Inch-Natural/product-reviews/B002LF2ANM

who knows ?

Id say take your time, then a bit if not more.

I bought from a local dealer and picked it up myself from the distributor. After meeting them, I feel certain I'd get excellent service. And when I called BS directly about the slight flaking on the grate, the nice person on the phone gave me her email address and asked me to send a pic. I snapped a pic w/my phone, off the email went, and less than a week later, I had the brand-new part. No need to send the old one back or fax a copy of my receipt or go through the local dealer. I read beaucoup online reviews, and it does seem there were quality assurance issues a few years ago. Others who've posted negative reviews can't seem to distinguish between BS's customer service and the varying levels of competency evidenced by local repairmen. Anyway, I've had exactly the opposite experience---my unit has been fine aside from the cosmetic issue w/the grate.

Do know that the control knobs get warm to the touch when the oven is on. I have no small children in my household, so the heat buildup doesn't bother me.

RE:exhaust, there are plenty of high-end choices out there. I went with a relatively affordable 42" hood--the Broan Elite E64000 series--over my 30" stove. It produces 1200 CFM of "suck" and has commercial-style baffles and a removable grease rail. It is externally vented thru the roof. It was far far less expensive than comparable CFM hoods from BS or other "luxury" models that allowed for external appearance customization. Broan's brushed stainless exterior was fine for my kitchen. Here it is: http://www.broan.com/products/series/broan-elite-e64000-series-dbcefb50-4eaa-47e5-9170-848f8f190a9a

[Edward J]

All of the above are great suggestions, and here is another one.

You don't need to replace your cabinets--just the doors!

It is the doors that take the most abuse and the most seen. If you are fortunate enough to have stock IKEA cabinets already in your home, you can swap out doors, I think IKEA has over 30 types of doors to choose from. You can re-use all the existing hardware or replace just the handles/knobs.

Even if you don't have IKEA cabinets, it is still cheaper to get new/custom made doors or drawer fronts and stick them on your existing cabinets than it is to replace everything. Also, replacing doors doesn't need a contractor or installer, just a bit of your time.....

[djyee100]

Has anyone tried Lowe's? I was looking at their cabinets a few weeks ago. I forgot about IKEA, so this msg bd is a good reminder. Not quite ready to do a remodel on my small galley kitchen, still thinking it through.

[dcarch]

Don't forget to look into under cabinet lights. Lot's of LED lights to pick from. Lot's of bright light without heating up the food stuff you stored in the cabinets.

dcarch

[Meredith380]

I don't think remodeling a kitchen is cheap but you've gotten good ideas. I would recommend Pergo flooring if you have a solid warranty. My parents just remodeled their kitchen and didn't change their cabinets or fridge and still spent 50k.

[DerekW]

Just another happy BlueStar owner chiming in. [30" model] We've had ours long enough that it has the old [i.e. long since improved / superceded] oven door hinges. As noted, no-tech electronics, robust construction. Thermal expansion / contraction eventually loosened some blind-rivets, and we had an ignitor module go down once, but nothing which could not be fixed fairly easily. I don't broil much, but the thing is like the surface of the sun. Our convection oven [startlingly] seems to accurately reflect the set temperature on the dial, and is stable. Burner outputs can be custom-adjusted easily, and the simmer holds at a very low level, while the big ones [as in, we needed to run a bigger gas line into our little house 'big ones'] are a joy.

Running a five-foot Vulcan, you probably have all the extraction you need already, eh?

We run a Sakura 600cfm hood [wire filters, spin-off traps] comparable to the Broan unit mentioned above [don't know where the 1200cfm figure comes from, that's a 600cfm hood too] straight up through the roof and using the burners gives no smoke/smell issues. About half the price of the Broan hereabouts. OTOH, opening the oven door trips the smoke alarm fairly regularly, and the noise is not insignificant. Depending on pocket depth and tolerance for these things perhaps a higher end solution might be worth the money for you?

[gfweb]

well there is this:

http://www.amazon.com/BlueStar-Range-RNB-Inch-Natural/product-reviews/B002LF2ANM

who knows ?

Id say take your time, then a bit if not more.

Thanks Rotutus, Pretty divergent reviews. Sounds like there are great units and crap ones even recently.

And I was just getting eager...

[HungryC]

We run a Sakura 600cfm hood [wire filters, spin-off traps] comparable to the Broan unit mentioned above [don't know where the 1200cfm figure comes from, that's a 600cfm hood too] straight up through the roof and using the burners gives no smoke/smell issues. About half the price of the Broan hereabouts. OTOH, opening the oven door trips the smoke alarm fairly regularly, and the noise is not insignificant. Depending on pocket depth and tolerance for these things perhaps a higher end solution might be worth the money for you?

If I linked to a 600 CFM, I linked the wrong one. I have the 42" 1200 CFM Broan w/internal blower motor.

[chocoera]

Hi guys!  So...as we all know hindsight is 20/20....so i'm sure we ALLLLLLLLLLLL  have things we'd do differently if setting up our home or professional workplaces.  I'm working with a space that's approximately 850 sq ft.  If you could create your ideal space, what would you do?  The kicker is, i'm a mixed media kitchen, i dont do straight chocolate work.  I do baking so i'll have a double vertical convection oven, i'm getting rid of my 6 burner range and switching to table top induction burners. I have a dishwasher and big sink for rinsing vs 3 compartment sink (hand sink of course) and mop sink....and i have multiple 7 ft and 8 ft stainless tables. I currently have a "cooling room" set up with 4 speed racks, but thought maybe i should switch to a fridge turned up to 40 or 50F? I freeze things for bulk production, so will still have some chest freezers set higher than normal....but yeah. i'm just at a loss of how to capitalize on space, and keep things organized and storage of bon bons, turtles, barks, chocolate caramel apples (things that need to be stored for packaging by employees before they hit the retail floor)  i know jin from vegas had a fridge set at 50F for cooling molds once sprayed and shelled, then once she filled them, moved to a 40F fridge to set filling, then she sealed them...but i didn't remember where she kept bon bons for her bar (where customers pick and choose) or the ones out ready to be boxed?  i know she and jean marie were freezing for bulk orders etc...but yeah.  my mind is just overwhelmed with possibilities, and i just dont want to mess up this new kitchen layout. i think its harder because i make so many things in my kitchen, so i have pots, pans, sheet pans, springforms, cookie cutters, muffin tins, kitchen aid mixers, a floor mixer,  mol d'arts, baking liners, molds, colors, EZ temper, brushes, kitchen utensils, transfer sheets, bulk chocolate and ingredients blah blah blah.   so. if you guys could make an ideal workflow....would you do a walk-in fridge for confection storage? a few fridges set higher (but would humidity be an issue if stored for multiple days before packaging), build another cooling room (it was a room with drywall/insulation/a door/speedracks and portable AC set to keep that room cooler...), or yeah.  thoughts?  oh yeah. and  i need to fit an enrober in there too.  sooooo, ideal workspace. what's in it?  and go!  :0)

[Toliver]

Has anyone seen the new kitchen sprayer technology by Delta called ShieldSpray? Here's a link to their website (click). You don't lose the regular spray function or streaming function of a faucet...it's just a new function in addition to the others.

Here's a video showing it in use:

 

So it it a good thing? Or just a gimmick?  I like the lack of spray splatter (but, really, no one sprays a plate and make a mess like that unless they've never done dishes before ).

[BeeZee]

I vote for gimmick. I want some spray force to dislodge stuff, this would seem to be less efficient.

[Dave the Cook]

Gimmick. We had one of these faucets installed during our recent remodeling (yes, I owe the membership the story of our travails), and had forgotten about this feature; luckily, it's not why we selected it. 

 

The problem is that in order to get that sexy balloon shape they show, you have to run the faucet at maximum pressure, and even then, only that center squirt does any appreciable work. At lesser pressure, the "balloon" doesn't form well, and it's almost as prone to splatter as the spray (and not as powerful; the center squirt is pretty wimpy). However, the spray function is excellent, and as Toliver says, only an amateur would make such a mess (ducks head in shame).

 

ShieldSpray might be good for cleaning deep-bowl wine glasses that have sat around all night and have dried deposits in the bottom, but we haven't fully tested that theory, because the remodeling also included a terrific dishwasher.

 

It's a great faucet, but don't buy it for this.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Wine glasses in the dishwasher?