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Stove


davidthomas8779

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Is there a good web page or other online resource with information regarding appliances? I'm considering buying a new freestanding gas range (sick of dealing with electric) and would like to obsessively research them before I buy them.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I to am grappling with this topic . I am trying to decide what to do in replacing an old Hobbs electric. is there that much difference between a Wolf or DCS and a top of the line Kitchenaid? Looks to me like the big advances are in the ovens and the nice feature of cooking quicker with gas, why spend all the extra bucks for a "show" stove?

Any guidance and direction would be greatly appreciated.

dave

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Check out the GE Monogram line. It hit me right due to price/features. The small oven can be used to proof bread or make yoghurt. Availability of service was another consideration.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Personally I have a GE Profile (came with the house) which functions well but is very difficult to clean due to the configuration of the burners. I never had the opportunity to compare diffferences between the top end models but the cleaning thing drives me crazy. Just something to consider when shopping.

Keba

Oven

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is there that much difference between a Wolf  or DCS and a top of the line Kitchenaid?

Between Wolf and DCS the major difference is price -- an equivalent DCS model is a lot cheaper that a Wolf but provides almost all the functionality. A top-of-the-line KitchenAid is not going to be as powerful as either the Wolf or the DCS.

The KitchenAid Architect-series range in say a 30" size will give you two burners at 6,000 BTU/hr (not particularly useful), one at 12,500 (good), and one at 14,000 (better). A DCS in the same size has 5 burners, with the four weakest burners running at 16,000 each and the center burner running at 17,500, which is good enough to do pretty much anything except serious wok cookery (there is no residential range that can really power a wok the way a Chinese-restaurant burner does). A four-burner Wolf (which is now part of Sub Zero on the residential side, I think) also has 16,000 on the burners. These higher numbers aren't just useful when you want to sear a steak; they also make a big difference when you're just boiling a big pot of water.

There are differences in construction as well. The KitchenAid looks and feels like a residential stove, whereas the DCS and Wolf units have more of a commercial feel in terms of sturdiness and controls. They're not real restaurant stoves, but they're decent substitutes.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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If I had to redo my kitchen again I would get a DCS. The reason being it is the only company left which makes residential stoves that also makes them for commercial. Garland, DCS and Wolf Range used to be the companies that did that, but now Garland and Wolf Range ONLY make commercial. The current incarnation of Wolf that makes for residential is a company owned by Subzero which never made commercial ranges. The OTHER Wolf Range company is a totally separate entity from Subzero. Viking also has never made commercial equipment.

I have also heard Dynasty makes good ranges too.

The GE Monogram Series in stainless is made by DCS, its basically the same exact range.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Well, I'll be damned. I didn't know DCS made the Monogram. That explains the similarities. Learn something every day.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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If I had to redo my kitchen again I would get a DCS. The reason being it is the only company left which makes residential stoves that also makes them for commercial.

Does anyone know anything about Imperial? They seem to make both residential and commercial ranges. The range I've been looking at is here but I haven't found anyone who has one or has at least cooked on one.

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If I had to redo my kitchen again I would get a DCS. The reason being it is the only company left which makes residential stoves that also makes them for commercial.

Does anyone know anything about Imperial? They seem to make both residential and commercial ranges. The range I've been looking at is here but I haven't found anyone who has one or has at least cooked on one.

It certainly looks impressive.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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The problem with GE Monogram is that you can't get the latest DCS models -- the most up-to-date models they offer in Monogram are now something like two years behind what you'd get from DCS. So, for example, they don't have the 5-burner 30" model available in GE Monogram, and the GE burners are the old 15,000 BTU/hr burners instead of the newer, slightly more powerful ones in the 5-burner configuration.

I don't know anybody with an Imperial range, so that alone would be enough to give me pause. It's a relatively new company, especially on the residential scene, and I don't like being a guinea pig. The reason I got a DCS is that I had seen DCS equipment in a number of restaurants and I knew that chefs I respected had chosen the DCS home models for their homes. Gray Kunz has two of them in his house upstate, for example. Another important issue is service: you want a company that can provide repair service in your area. All these ranges will work well . . . until they break. That's when the brands really start to differentiate themselves.

I've had a DCS range for several years now, and I've had professional chefs in my home really kicking the crap out of it -- using it the way chefs use ranges in restaurants: all burners on full, crashing pots and pans on the burners, slamming the oven door, spilling stuff all over it, etc. It makes me wince to watch my beloved stove get abused that way. But so far I've never had a malfunction. There's one burner that takes a few too many ignition-sparks to light, but I have a feeling that's just because I haven't cleaned it well. All in all, I stand by the product.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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Steven although the GE Monogram ranges are like 2 years behind DCS's latest offerings, they are still really good units and you gotta admit, if you live out in the boonies, chances are it will be a lot easier to get a GE serviceperson out there than a contractor authorized to service a DCS. So if I didnt live in a major metropolitan area I would probably go for a Monogram.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Find out what Fat Guy has.  I'm certain he did obsessive research before purchasing, and I'm sure his conclusion was correct.

Was Thermador included in the obsessive research? What was the verdict?

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I don't know what current pricing is, but when I was shopping for these things the Thermador prices were up near $3,500 for essentially the same product-configuration I got from DCS for $2,000. Like the Viking, Wolf, Garland, etc., units the Thermador looked nice, but there wasn't anything about it that seemed to justify the massive price differential. The burners have an interesting shape similar to those of the Garland stove -- a star shape rather than concentric circles -- but I can't imagine it makes much of a difference.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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U.S. Appliance usually has some of the better online prices. They have the DCS 5-burner range in gas for $2995. I'm sure you can get it cheaper through a discount appliance retailer, though -- there's always room for negotiation. Also it's always worth trying to buy the previous year's models as soon as the new ones come out. I forget during which month that happens. If your appliance retailer has a showroom, you can do even better by purchasing the display model. My brother-in-law picked up a DCS range last year for about $1600 that way.

http://www.us-appliance.com/noname48.html

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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In about 1972 or so, an industrial grey Vulcan had open top burners of 15,000 BTU each. The oven burner was capable of 35,000 BTU and there were three broiler burners of 10,000 BTU under a ceramic broiler/salamander which also ensured even heat for the 24 inch griddle plate. I don't know what was available in a residential model back then, but a distinguishing feature on this stove was that in three linear feet, one could sit six one food diameter pots comfortably. It was also thirty inches deep counting the gas manifold in back, but not counting handles or projections in front.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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I doubt the reserve is less than a couple of thousand. But the issue with a restaurant stove is that the building codes almost everywhere in America now forbid installation of restaurant stoves in residences -- or at least they require all sorts of specialized insulation, ventilation, and fire suppression. It's not just a question of ducking the codes, either -- your insurance company might refuse to pay out if an illegally installed range causes a fire. The Perlows looked into what has to be done in order to put one of those things in a house in New Jersey, and concluded it was essentially impossible.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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I am not really in the market right now, but that 5 burner DCS looks sweet.  A brief search on the net only yielded a price of about 3800 bucks.  This seems high, is there a better place to look?

Ben

Beleive it or not Home Depot's Expo stores have good prices, provided you buy a whole bunch of stuff from them if you use them to redo your kitchen. You're gonna need a decent range hood for that puppy too, so you will want to factor that into your costs.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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There was an article a year or so ago in the New Yorker on the company that builds oneof the high end stoves in Mississippi -beliieve it was Viking - and how they targeted the home market. Mainly because mostly people nearly burn their houses down when they imstalled commercial ranges with unregulated gas flows, they started building home units. They marketed the product by getting it on the cooking shows. Naturally everyone wanted one as a "showpiece," but few of buyers knew much about cooking. I guess the founder's mission is now to teach people how to cook. What ever happen to home ec?

dave

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