Ranges/Cooktops/Ovens

[jmolinari]

My efforts to select a range and hood continue....  I am very seriously considering the DCS 30" all gas range, RGT-305SSN.

Does anyone have any thoughts re how challenging it is to clean the top?  It's brushed and apparently made of some sort of aluminum alloy (per the DCS rep, who unsurprisingly says it's a piece of cake to clean).  My husband very graciously leaves me to cook and does all the clean-up, and I will feel really guilty if he ends up whipping out the barkeeper's friend (or whatever's recommended) constantly.  I've never used anything that did not have a porcelainized top.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Cynthia

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I would not go (again) with a cook top that has a stainless or light colored surface under the grates. Any kind of cooking will require that you remove the grates to clean after every meal. The surface eventually gets scratched and discolored. I'd go with one that has a black finish or better, a cast iron surface.

If you haven't yet, check out these videos of the Blue Star brand.

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Agreed. I love my bluestar cooktop, but keeping it clean is a real pain.

[Robert Jueneman]

That's why I liked my Viking. The burners were a coated cast iron that could go in the dishwasher, if necessary, and there as a pull-out drawer that caught everything else.

[LindaK]

I love my bluestar cooktop, but keeping it clean is a real pain.

That's why I liked my Viking.  The burners were a coated cast iron that could go in the dishwasher, if necessary, and there as a pull-out drawer that caught everything else.

I'd describe my Bluestar similarly. jmolinari, why do find your Bluestar hard to clean? I find it easy. Grates and bowls (is that the right term for the piece that surrounds the burner?) lift out for sink scrubbing and can go in the dishwasher if needed. Granted, they weigh a ton, but they're simple to dis/assemble. There's a drip tray, since the burners are open, and they catch anything that falls. I keep it lined with aluminum foil, just roll up and toss if it gets messy.

[jmolinari]

I love my bluestar cooktop, but keeping it clean is a real pain.

That's why I liked my Viking.  The burners were a coated cast iron that could go in the dishwasher, if necessary, and there as a pull-out drawer that caught everything else.

I'd describe my Bluestar similarly. jmolinari, why do find your Bluestar hard to clean? I find it easy. Grates and bowls (is that the right term for the piece that surrounds the burner?) lift out for sink scrubbing and can go in the dishwasher if needed. Granted, they weigh a ton, but they're simple to dis/assemble. There's a drip tray, since the burners are open, and they catch anything that falls. I keep it lined with aluminum foil, just roll up and toss if it gets messy.

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The cooktop has a lot of shiny stainless all over the cookign area. Burners and grates are cast iron, but all around is stainless. Cooktop. Not range or rangetop.

[cupcake]

OK, I think I have pretty much talked myself out of the 30" DCS all gas range due to the aluminum alloy cooktop. I have huge issues due to my 1885 building (8 unit city condo) in terms of space and where the gas is (gas is in a solid brick wall, interesting angles in said brick wall due to former dumbwaiter that prevent any realistic reconfiguration as to where the range would go, etc.) so really, my only viable options are the DCS or Dacor. And let us recall that I can't vent. Ideally, I obviously would, but I just can't. It's not even a matter of cost, although that's a consideration -- there is no way to do it to code due to dimensions of the back stairs. The good news is that I saw the Viking recirculating hood live this weekend, and it is a HUGE improvement over my current situation (microhood). Everything's relative.

I would have preferred the DSC (all burners simmer, overall better functionality) but I am very leery of the cooktop surface. And really, I am limited by my venting situation anyway, gas location aside.

So I would love any thoughts on the DCS range surface. Might anyone have one?? I (well, my husband!) is used to removing the grates every night and wiping things down as we currently have a white Dacor Preference (porcelain surface, cast iron grates). The potential for scratching and staining for the DCS is really bothering me. The only thing that is standing btwn me and the DCS is the cooktop surface. I will not be happy if it stains or scratches. It sounds like it will, making the less functional Dacor Epicure (which is a good step up from my Dacor Preference and may well be a good match for me given my venting situation) a better choice. I'm about to pull the plug and am torn: better features and alloy cooktop, or not as great features (but likely fine given my venting) Dacor and black porcelain top? I truly would love any additional thoughts from anyone who had a DCS or similar finish cooktop.

Cynthia

[santo_grace]

Hi All,

We are in the market for a new stove. We can only do a 30" gas and expect to spend between $1,500-$2,500...so no Viking, Wolf, GE Monogram. Also, regarding BTUs, I'd rather not get anything that requires redoing gaslines to make them bigger. I saw some notes on this thread about having to do that and I don't think that is an option. Does anyone have any thoughts on the GE Profile or something similar?

[eternal]

We are also in the market for a new range. We just bought a new house and the range is the one thing not upgraded already. There is a 30" space but I'm thinking I want to cut out a cabinet and move to a 48" space. I like the (relative) price of the Bertazzoni and the look but some reviews say the oven temps can range quite a bit and there is no pre-heat cycle - you need to guess when it is at the right temp or add a probe to the oven. The other option in the same price range is the Kitchen Aid. It has LCD controls and is dual-fuel for the oven.

There's the annual Albert Lee appliance sale this weekend so even though I might not be able to do the work in the immediate future, I might take a chance on a stove there if I find the right price.

Any opinions on 36" versus 48"? I really want a griddle and I get that, I feel a 36" model won't have enough space for the 4 burners.

[patrickamory]

Like santo_grace, I'm looking for a 30" gas range on the cheaper side - no more than $1500.

Any opinions on the Kenmore Elite gas? The two ovens look useful... how are the burners? Gets Consumer Reports' vote, for what that's worth

[Marlene]

Hi All,

We are in the market for a new stove. We can only do a 30" gas and expect to spend between $1,500-$2,500...so no Viking, Wolf, GE Monogram. Also, regarding BTUs, I'd rather not get anything that requires redoing gaslines to make them bigger. I saw some notes on this thread about having to do that and I don't think that is an option. Does anyone have any thoughts on the GE Profile or something similar?

Stay far far away from GE Profile. Kitchen aid has just come out with a double oven range both in smoothtop and dual fuel. I have the smoothtop one at the cottage and I really like it.

Like santo_grace, I'm looking for a 30" gas range on the cheaper side - no more than $1500.

Any opinions on the Kenmore Elite gas? The two ovens look useful... how are the burners? Gets Consumer Reports' vote, for what that's worth

I had the Kenmore double oven but in smoothtop. It's a good range and the ovens are good as well.

[eternal]

I've been debating between two stoves: The Bertonazzi 48" http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/X486GGGVX.html and the Kitchen Aid 48" http://www.kitchenaid.com/flash.cmd?/#/product/KDRU783VSS/. The Bertonazzi is prettier and while I hate to make a decision based on that, resell value is important.

However, the Kitchen Aid has massive burners (2 20k, 3 15k and 1 5k BTU), much more oven capacity and steam injection (which I didn't even knew existed in home ovens). The price is about the same.

The problem is that I can't find really any decent reviews on this equipment. Consumer Reports gives Kitchen Aid good marks but what the hell do they know about kitchen appliances? I've started to grow very wary of their recommendations.

Does anybody know if this steam injection stuff works well for things like baguettes or is it just a marketing ploy? Also, does anybody know any good review sites? aj madison is about the best i can find and it is pretty lacking. Any experience with Kitchen Aid would be useful too. I think I'm leaning that direction.

And man, searching on this stuff leads to endless pages of garbage websites.

[LindaK]

Have you discovered the GardenWeb home forums? there's one devoted to appliances: here. It's rather massive but if you use the search function you'll find multiple discussions about Bertonazzi, KA, and steam ovens.

If you end up with the KA, let us know what you think of the ovens.

[eternal]

I had discovered that website but its complete lack of structure made me assume this wasn't the website everyone was talking about. Wow. It is absolutely terrible and yet one of the only places to find a lot of information on this stuff. Thanks for pointing me to the right forum. It seems that overall, people love the Berta and KA has pissed off a lot of people with a broken self-cleaning cycle. I guess I need to keep doing research...

[Wholemeal Crank]

I'm now ready to shop for a new range (planning on gas with convection for the oven) to drop into my renovated kitchen, and if I do a 'peninsula' rather than drop it into a slot currently occupied by a standard 30 inch cabinet box, I have the option of going with a 36 inch rather than a 30 inch. Where I really want more space is front-to-back, ather than side-to-side. I've never had pots crowd each other left to right on the range, but get into trouble all the time when I want to put two decent sized pots on the front and back burner on one side.

So....are there 30 inch ranges out there with burners staggered instead of lined up, like this

x x x x

vs

x x x x

or do I have to go with a fancier larger money-sucking range to get more front-to-back space for big pots? I can barely squeeze a 3 quart saucepan behind the 22 quart pressure canner when the 16 quart stockpot is occupying the other front burner, heating up stock for canning.

I've bought a crooked little house without a lot of space and need to save inches where I can.

[AlenChris]

Which one is better. Gas oven or electric oven. Do they have different effect on the cooking?

[Mjx]

Gaggenau has a 30-inch range with a partly staggered array; I decided I'd had it with front to back crowding, and we went with a 36-inch range that has the burners in a row, but you do get a bit of side to side crowding on it.

If I understand correctly, Siemens and Gaggenau are partners, or Siemens actually owns Gaggenau; at any rate, Siemens, has what look like nearly identical kitchen appliances to many of Gaggenau's, so it's an alternative worth looking into.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Oh dear, my diagram got all messed up

just trying to show the parallel (top) vs the offset (bottom) burner pattern: I think the bottom is more practical for providing space between pots on the same net range top territory

[Wholemeal Crank]

If something like that burner pattern was available in gas, it would be perfect. I can't use the 22-quart aluminum pressure canner on induction, and that's a pot I can't do without. If I could find a stainless pressure canner in a similar size, I'd consider induction, although the wok would still be a problem.

[Wholemeal Crank]

And AlenChris, didn't mean to ignore your question.

I think gas ovens still heat up quicker, although the bricks I keep in mine mostly obscure the difference.

The bigger issue for me is the quickness and finesse of control of the gas flame. E.g., when the pressure cookers get up to pressure, I turn down the flame, and don't have to flip the pot back and forth between burners, or watch and hope it doesn't explode while the burner under it cools. Since I've often had three pressure cookers on the stove at once (most recently just a week ago), so it's not a rare situation. And then there's the wok--a proper cast-iron version--so much easier to get it down into the flame on a gas stove. Electric just can't handle that.

[Mjx]

If something like that burner pattern was available in gas, it would be perfect. I can't use the 22-quart aluminum pressure canner on induction, and that's a pot I can't do without. If I could find a stainless pressure canner in a similar size, I'd consider induction, although the wok would still be a problem.

How about a regular glass cooktop? For a variety of reasons, I decided against an induction cooktop, but the ordinary glass one we have is great; the response time of the elements is extremely good, and the absurdly warped, heavy copper and stainless pan that I use so often works just fine on it. Both Gagganau and Siemens offer plain gas cooktops to the US market, although they're discontinued (as far as I can see) in the EU

Siemens does have a gas cooktop with diamond-shaped array, such that there is nothing directly in front of the two larger burners.

I'm talking about Gaggenau (and Siemens) so much, because it's the only brand of cooktop I can honestly say I'm familiar with and have used when new, as opposed to being 10+ years old (make much more difference with an electric cooker than a gas one, I believe).

[Wholemeal Crank]

Way cool!

I'm not seeing that in a range, bummer! But maybe a wall oven could be convinced to be a pseudo-range underneath it?

[Mjx]

Does the layout of your kitchen make having the oven under the cooktop a must? Because if you have a bit of choice in the matter, a wall-mounted oven can open up a lot of options, especially if your kitchen is small.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Wall space that is not window is the most limited resource in my kitchen:

To scale where each tick mark on the rulers is an inch

[Wholemeal Crank]

I grew up with a wall mounted electric oven, and love the ease of standing up and not leaning down when checking my baking. But in this kitchen i don't think it's meant to be. I'm already scheming to move the range to a peninsula to help maximize the space....