Have you thought about American Range. They are beautiful, commercial grade All Gas Range. I've had mine for about 2-3 weeks. It is priced lower than the viking and others without the problems that some are having with the viking. American Range are used at high end steak houses, but have started making ranges for residential uses, because customers were buying their commercial range for residential uses. Just thought I would throw another Range in your selection. Good luck!

Well, you're right...it can be confusing, and exciting, all at the same time....AND overwhelming!

I happen to sell every major brand under the sun, and I can say that Electrolux Icon, Blue Star & American Range all make an excellent product. All make a product that you can be proud of!

Blue Star is Garland. And we all know that Garland is "the" company! Their ranges also have the best BTU burner ratings on the market! This will be "my" next choice for a range. My wife was a Chef, and I love to cook as well, and I LOVE having 22,000 BTU's of KICK-BUTT BURNER POWER! And this is not because I'm a guy, and it's a "guy thing"...But, cooking with 22K BTU's comes in real handy with stir-fry, steaks, boiling water VERY FAST, and many other cooking methods! You don't realize how good it is to have this kind of power, until you actually use it.

As a matter of fact, Blue Star has the fastest boiling times over ANY other range that you can "legally" place inside your home. As I mentioned...I sell every brand out there, and we will purchase a Blue Star. YES, I can buy a Wolf, or a Viking, or whatever.....But, NONE of those companies offer 22,000 btu's on any burner...Blue Star offers 22,000 btu's on TWO burners!

American Range & Icon also make wonderful products, built extremely well, built to last, and all 3 companies have excellent reputations.....

Side note:
American Range offers colors (like Viking does), where the other 2 brands I mentioned, do not. Other than that, they're all very good companies, but, I favor the BlueStar range.

Laney50w -- thanks for your helpful post. Have you had any experience with Bertazzoni? I'm replacing an old -- probably at least 15 years old -- commercial Garland range I inherited with the house we bought recently. I really don't want to spend $5000+ ... thought the Bertazzoni might be a good compromise. Any input you might have would be great.
Thanks.

I'm planning a pretty big kitchen reno, and am leaning towards a DCS 36" 6-burner all gas. I had originally considered a dual fuel, but when I found out the cost differential, I decided I could very easily learn to love gas. I would like to see a Blue Star, but there is no local dealer. Neither are there any for American or Capital. I've read less than sterling reviews of Dacor, Viking, and Wolf, and they are all more $$$ than DCS. I've lived in four houses during my 25 years of married life, but have never purchased a range, because none of the existing ones ever died. But oh! I have tolerated some really crappy units in that time! My current underpowered Kenny smoothtop takes at least 10 minutes to heat my wok to acceptable stir-fry temps. It takes about the same time to cool down.

As far as I'm concerned, all the pro-style ranges have very good looks, but I wouldn't lay down this much $$$$ for looks alone. I want performance, and hopefully, reliability. The local dealers have reasonable reputations for service. I'm prepared to compromise, or postpone the purchases of other appliances, but I gotta get more BTUs and control under my pots.

We have 36" Viking AG - I wanted DF went w/AG - I was really not a baker - LOVE the AG - I am now a baker - cakes, cookies, even bread - they all come out beautifully in this range
If you are used to a Garland then you will want a serious range -
I like that all burners are config the same - so no guessing which burner does what - Infrared broil is wonderful feature
Viking is a brand people love to bash - but if you really read - much of the bashing is not validated - rather heresay

good luck w/your search & remodel

Here is a link that might be useful: viking

Since you are planning your first really quality range, you should include your range hood exhaust system in the plan, because the two should be integrated. In the appliances and in the kitchen forums there have been several detailed posts and discussions giving thoughtful advice.

Happy hunting.

I'm planning on spending my AG vs DF savings on a decent range hood - a 600 cfs VAH is under consideration. My current kitchen has NO venting at all (unless we open the window), and we regularly trigger the smoke alarms when broiling. Since there is no existing ductwork, we have no excuse for not installing the proper size, and I think it will be trivial to vent straight up through the attic and roof.

Several friends have big gas ranges, and none of them have overhead fan vents, just downdraft systems. I can't imagine the advice they recieved that suggested this was adequate. I'd rather keep my old fridge (obsolete colour but it works fine) than compromise on the venting. I think my house is big enough and leaky enough that I won't require make-up air to move this much volume.

I called about the blue star range as an option, but
it is a no go as it is AG.
I am a serious baker and my goodies do not bake up true with AG.
I am going with dual fuel, so I will keep looking.

The blue star looks great though!

We have the DCS 6-burner all gas range and love it. We have 2 VAH liners installed in our 66" hood, because we also have a 3500w single burner induction cooktop & teppanyaki paired with our range. A good overhead vent hood is a necessity with the range.