If you can increase your budget by about $800 Canadian then you could get a BlueStar RNB Series RNB304BSS which is the exact size you are looking for and it out performs any gas range available for the home point blank.

The BTU output of the Ultranova burners exceeds any other gas stove burner availble in the home and the simmer burner gives exceptional control down to 130 F or 54.4° C. It has a superior star shaped burner design that gives much better heat distribution than the standard ring of fire. It has open burners which cause the flame to directly impinge the bottom of the pot at a 90° angle instead of the shallow and less effective angle you see in the standard ring of fire. The infrared oven burner is unequaled. The oven size allows up to an 18" x 26" commercial sized baking sheet to be used. The iron grates can go in the dishwasher for cleaning. Virtually all of these features and performance are exclusive to Bluestar. Oh, and you can pick from 190 different colors and get brass trim if you don't want plain stainless. Unless you can't move on the budget or have serious cosmetic attachments to another range I think this decision should be a no-brainer. Whether you are shopping purely on performance or a price:performance ratio - Bluestar will win every time. It is simply the best gas range for the money.

We just received our American Range - 30". In my market they were a little less than the Blue Star.

Each burner has a simmer function - 140 degrees. The oven is huge too. And you can get it in color too! There is more info on the American on the forum and on the web site. I would toss them in to the ring - we have been very pleased with what we have done the past week with the range.

I would be hesitant to add the Wolf gas range - see posts- as we just had some issues with ours that couldn't be resolved. Once they identify the problems and fix it they may be an option too.

There are several good candidates, depends on what functions/features you want. Do you want sealed burners or open? Colors or SS? Self Clean or No? Etc.

For all gas I have been carefully watching this forum and I believe the above mentioned BS and American are highly thought of as well as the DCS.

I am sorry, but I have to be a "devil's advocate" here, and post on why I have decided against the Bluestar, which I nevertheless think is a great machine. I am going to be perfectly honest - in going through all the aggravation and expense and time to redo my kitchen, well, I wanted some bling in it, for all my trouble. The Bluestar is not blingy. I know, I know, I am shallow, and shouldn't place looks over cooking ability. But compared to the fit and finish of the Wolf or the DCS, the Bluestar looks industrial and bare-bones. Of course, that means less to break! I also haven't seen the Bluestar in the optional colors, so maybe it'll look more exciting in a color. So, I am choosing the Wolf AG, which I believe is above the OP's budget. It was above mine too, but I ended up saving money elsewhere in the renovation (less expensive DW & MW, and cut out some cabinetry extra's), so I put that money toward the range.

My other issue is that I don't want so much btu's (Bluestar burner has 22,000) cause I am stuck with a 6" duct for my exhaust. Due to the constraint of my 6" duct, I won't have the kind of hood with the cfm's necessary for the Bluestar's btu's. And, 22,000 btu's is overkill for the kind of cooking I do, which is family-style basics (i.e. no wok, and if I want high-heat grilling, I grill outside); the Wolf has sufficient btu's, believe me. There have also been a couple of posts about scorched back or side walls due to the Bluestar's high btu's. So the Bluestar's installation needs to include some kind of backguard or trim to prevent that, which I didn't want to deal with.

I have read the threads on the recent Wolf issues. But there have been some posters who have chimed in that their Wolf ranges are fine. So it's a hit-or-miss thing. I am hoping I am one of the lucky ones.

I don't know anything about the American range, other than they offer sealed burners which I do NOT want. I like the open burners on the AG Wolf. Having said all the above, I will say that if I had a 10" exhaust duct, did a lot of high-heat cooking, and didn't mind about the aesthetics, I'd choose a Bluestar cause it's a great cooking machine. Just MHO.

Everybody should realize when they read a burner's simmer capability is "so many degrees" that they are reading marketing BS. I don't know which manufacturer started this but they all seem to have jumped on the bandwagon here. Burner output, whether simmer or otherwise, should be specified in BTU/hr or other measure of power. How hot an object gets on that burner depends on what it is. Think about it: if I have a burner cranked all the way down, which gets warmer, a small frying pan with nothing in it or a ten quart stock pot full of water?

I'm in a similar place as the first poster so thanks for everyone's responses. I care less about "bling" and kind of like that industrial look but I'm not sure I really need the 22K burners (I've lived with 12K sealed ElCheapo ranges in rental units to this date) and had also put my budget at about $3000 like the poster. That said, one thing I came across was the 30" RCS BlueStar which foregos the convection oven and replaces 22K burners with 18K BTU, but costs about $700 less than the RNB from what I can tell. In people's opinion, how does this unit compare to the American Range 30" which is about the same price?

All great posts and kudos to Juliet for taking her CFM's into consideration! You simply cannot go wrong with the Bluestar or DCS ranges, both are well designed. Also, Fisher & Pykel if you are looking for more of a designer (vs Professional) look.

I'll throw another name out... how about the Fratelli? You get duel fuel, 30" range with great Italian styling. This should fit very nicely in your budget, and is avail. in verious colors.... if that matters.

After spending hours reading a lot of the previous posts and threads on this forum, I think I am definately going with the Bluestar range. I understand juliet3's comment regarding the lack of "bling" to this unit; however, I kinda like that about the Bluestar. I love the simple industrial look to it AND less "gadgets" means less things to break and fix$$. Now that I have decided to gop with the Bluestar, my only biggest concern is going with the 18,000 BTU vs. the 22,000 BTUs. It is not so much the BTUs that concern me (18,000 BTUs is sufficient for me), but the fact that the 18,000 BTU model does not have the convectional oven. I have never owned a gas oven before and am really worried that not having convection in the oven will affect the baking and cooking performance for this.
Does anyone have some advice for me about this???

And thanks to all for your help....this has been such a hard process and this forum is A LOT of help! :)

The 22K Bluestar burner doesn't have to be about heat. It's more about control. And the number and pattern of the flame holes that provide an even distribution of the heat. You can control the amount of heat by simply turning the knob down. It's not difficult. Also, Wolf and American and Viking and all but the most tepid range tops will discolor the stainless backsplash. They all do that if you turn the heat up with a big pan on the back burner. And just like a stainless pan you can clean it with a little "Barkeeper's friend".

Also, the ventilation requirement for a Bluestar with a 22K burner is not really different than Wolf or anything similar. It's simply a matter of how you cook and how hot you let your pan get.If you need the heat, you can get it faster. Which is good for stir frying or maybe if you're in a hurry to boil pasta water, or larger quantities of food. But you can create just as much steam, grease or whatever with any quality range if you wait a little longer and put some extra heat in the pan.

The Bluestar cooktop will stay looking nice because nothing burns, or sticks to it's cast iron. Unlike the black porcelain sheet metal of Vikings and Wolf that stain and scratch, peel and chip. And spill-overs are less of a problem because it's a more open burner design.

I read that the newest Bluestars are coming with a little more bling, with a rolling lower oven rack and blue (instead of red) indicator knobs. I'd recommend the convection and the 22k burners if price isn't a major consideration. And wait for the newest version which is just out.

Hi there,

I have had my Bluestar installed for just over a week now....and I love it.

I was one of the unfortunate folks that originally purchased a Wolf because the Bluestar wasn't available in Ontario through a retail network and I would have had to buy sight unseen back in April. To the poster that is going to take their chances with the Wolf - I would be cautious about it......I counted and of the 6 or 7 recently installed Wolf AG ranges from posters to this forum, all 6 or 7 had the same issue with burner ignition and the oven going. Now I know that that is not a great sample size etc but I also know that typically the number of people that actually call to complain about things is a tiny number of the total number experiencing the issue (lots of reasons why people don't complain but that's another post)....it is just to weird that 3 different posters either had the problem out of the box and/or had the same problem on the replacement range.

And to me.....the final indication that the distribution network for Wolf knows that there is a problem came when the distributor offered me a duel fuel range at no cost to replace my AG (an approx $2K upgrade here in Canada) after 2 service calls.....they know that they have a problem, one that can't be fixed via service calls.

Now back to the original topic - I have found the Bluestar to be easy to clean, easy to manage with the various burner strengths although I must say that I am still learning how to use the burners - they are much more powerful than the original Magtag AG that I had and different from the Wolf in terms of having to think a bit about what I am cooking and do I need the really big buners for whatever I am cooking.

As to bling....I find that the Bluestar is simple and well put together. Not much bling. But then again I didn't think that the Wolf AG had much bling to it either - other than the red knobs which did look great in the kitchen - but I could have toned that down by putting on the black knobs that they sent me......I didn't because we liked the look but we also like the look of the Bluestar now.

I have to say though......keeping the cooktop looking clean is much easier with the Bluestar - dust is a way of life in our house - my husband builds custom guitars and even with a dust collection system in the house, I still have dust.....and my range gets its heaviest use on the weekends......so after a week, the top on the Wolf is very dusty.......easy enough to clean but takes a bunch of time if you don't want the streaks etc that can come with the cleaning.....the Bluestar is just easier - to wipe the dust off and even if you can't get to it it doesn't look like you have left it for days ( I know - that's bad but it is also reality in my working household).

And I think that you can get the bluestar for close to your budget here in Ontario.....I know that the Bluestar was significantly less than the Wolf. Email me if you want details on where I bought mine and tghe pricing.

Hope this helps.

Marion K

tom_g_dc
if you google...
calling all american range owners
a post will come up with all sorts of info on american range
best of luck in your search.
john

I am deciding between a 30" Bosch dual fuel range and a bertazzoni 30". Does anyone have experience with the Bosch? I am leaning towards the Bertazzoni as it seems like more of a real cooking range, and I absolutely love the way it looks, but I am hesitating because the Bosch has a much larger oven, a warming draw, is self-cleaning and has an electric oven which will heat in minutes. I would appreciate any advice!

The other factor in my decision is that we may be moving at the end of the school year, but my current electric range (which came with our house) is half-dead and I need to replace it. I've been just dying for a gas range as I cook a great deal. In this market, we're not sure if we'll be able to sell our house for a long time, so we don't know if we'll actually be moving. So, I am planning to convert the kitchen to gas (we already have a gas dryer and have natural gas piped in). The Bosch is less expensive ($2000 for dual fuel, $1699 for all gas), but the Bertazzoni seems well worth the money for its quality, although the warming drawer and larger oven would be great, and I'm worried about having to clean an oven manually.

Also, the salesperson told me that with either the Bosch or the Bertazzoni range, since I only have a recirculating hood and the range will be against an interior wall, I can get away with just buying a larger and better recirculating hood, as neither range has full professional btu capacity (My current recirculator is disgusting and I want to get rid of it). Does this sound right? I had been thinking I'd have to install a venting hood.

Thanks in advance for any advice. This site has already been extremely helpful to me.

Plenty of info on this site regarding the Bertazzoni - just do a search at the bottom of the page.

We have the American with a recirculating hood and it has been fine. (the only choice we had) Love the American, great quality, priced in line with the Berta, huge oven and the performance is wonderful.

I've heard good things about the Bosch too.

Good luck,

Hey Clyde10!
I have been reasearching like crazy about my new gas range and this site is fantastic! My best advice to you would be to set a side a few hours and read a lot of the past posts on this site. I have read about a lot of people having some problems with the Bertazzoni (a lot of igniting problems, etc..). I haven't heard too much about the Bosch as I believe it is rather new, but haven't heard much negative about it either which is good. The other brands that I have heard great things about on this site are: DCS, American Range and Bluestar....hope this helps....

Happy Hunting!
:)

JRoe

Thanks, JRoe, I will look through. What did you end up purchasing?

Plumorchard, I did look at the 30" American but it is much more expensive than the 30" Bertazzoni, but it does look great and the oven is much bigger. The Bertazzoni is already stretching my budget up a bit. I wish the Fratelli had a 30" because the 36" is only $2100. How big is your American and how large is the hood? I'm glad to hear the re-circulator is OK.

Thanks again!

clyde - our range is 30" and we were able to get it for just a little more than the Berta - if they are still around the $$ they were. We are in ATL - maybe pricing is different in other regions.

The Fratelli is pretty too but I would be hesitant to purchase without seeing how it operates. (Does it have a lighting operation like the Berta? and what are people posting about it not coming with a plug?) I would encourage you to see any range you purchase live - even if you purchase somewhere else, there really is no replacement for seeing it in person. (been there, done that!) Short of seeing it, I would suggest getting a copy of the owner's manual and reading through that. It will tell you any of the things you might not know about operation wise (like leaving the oven door open to start the oven). You should be able to get that from websites, dealers, or distributors.

I do love the color ranges though and you are right, the choices are so much more with the 36" ranges. Another neat thing about the American is that you can get color panels (if you are looking at colors). You can even get them later if you want. I know you mentioned it was much more so if that pushes it out of consideration that is a shame. I know others have gotten great pricing online from Dvorson's...might be worth a try to just ask.

Our hood is also 30" - it had a "space" that was originally a micro hood. We did end up moving a cabinet up to accommodate it but we didn't really renovate our kitchen - just kind of gave it a new outfit! The hood was from Modern Aire.

Best of luck - let us know.