48" with 24" Griddle Rangetop Questions - Bluestar vs Wolf

10 years ago

Hello everyone... long time lurker and just now posting... we are building a new home and have come to a decision between Bluestar and Wolf for our rangetop. We had a few questions for you guys to see if we can get some help in making our decision. Hopefully some owners of this specific 48" with 24" griddle combination can chime in to give their assessment.

Will we really notice the difference between 20k and 22k BTU's (Wolf vs Bluestar respectively)? We do a lot of wok cooking so the open flame of the Bluestar appeals to us but we've never had anything but regular stoves in rental apartments (think glasstop GE)... we're thinking that we'd probably be happy with either but would we realistically see any difference between the burners?
Wolf vs Bluestar Griddle... is one better than the other? As far as I can tell they both have the same BTU's but Wolf uses infrared... so would Wolf provide a more even heating surface and would it heat up faster?
Customer Service... this is one area that I feel from what I've read, Wolf CS is vastly superior to BS. That being said, a lot of threads seem to be older... not sure if things have changed?
Any other considerations between the two brands?

We're really torn between the two brands as they are both roughly the same price. We'd love to hear from actual owners as to what their experiences have been and why they chose what they did. If anyone has cooked on both (especially the griddle) we'd love to hear about which one you liked better too!

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

homechef59

10 years ago

Range tops won't require a lot of customer service. They are pretty basic. Ranges with ovens, that's a different discussion. IMO, the BS will be superior for wok cooking. Remove part of the grate and you are ready to go. It's a beautiful unit. The Wolf will require a wok ring.

I'm all about the open burners. I don't like the sealed ones because of the loss of BTU's. Wolf used to make an open burner unit, but they stopped that a while back. I love my BS range top. Beautiful piece of equipment.

I've had both. I liked both. My preference is the Bluestar because of the shape of the burner, height of grate over the flame and the open burner.

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Comments (7)

Russ Barnard
10 years ago
You probably already saw this, but a very similar discussion here:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3292954/bluestar-vs-wolf-griddle?n=12
Shaun and Tanya
Original Author
10 years ago
Yup already saw that regarding the griddle and posted on that thread as well... there seemed to be some information on that thread but nobody really said definitively if the Wolf and Bluestar would perform the same and what impact if any the infrared burner has on coming up to temp on the griddle surface.

Right now we're leaning more towards Bluestar just for the open burners but if reliability is a concern we may go with Wolf, especially if the open vs sealed "difference" would be negligible.
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Russ Barnard
10 years ago
I would get the open burners, period. You will use that more often on a daily basis. The differences in the griddles should be small, if any. If I were buying a BS, I would talk to Trevor at Eurostoves, period. I just ordered my Culinarian from him because HE will worry about service so I do not have to go through a "local distributor". If service is the 2nd deciding factor, that would flat out take care of that, hands down.

GL and let us know what you get and post pictures!

Russ
wekick
10 years ago
The Wolf has a 3/4 inch thickness vs BS 3/8 inch so will take longer to heat up but the thickness is one aspect that would make it heat more evenly. Some people do like having warmer and cooler zones though. The increased mass from the thickness of Wolf holds much more heat and will also make it take longer to adjust the temperature up and down.

In discussing burners, the term "open" burner gets tossed around indiscriminately and causes confusion. Some people use "open" to talk about the burner tray and others about whether a burner is capped or uncapped. Some have even attributed high BTUs to "open" burners.

The open vs sealed burner tray is mostly about a preference for cleaning one way or another. There are videos online about cleaning BS.

If you do a lot of Wok cooking, the BS uncapped burner with a more upright flame would have more heat coming lower on the wok so would be better for stir frying along with a few more BTUs. Wolf has increased their BTUs by quite a bit but because they are capped burners, it can cause the flame to flare more on the highest settings. I would want to see how wide the flame is on a live range. I have the older model Wolf that tops out at 15K and the flare is not as much as some capped burners but not sure what it is with the increase to 20K. The dual stacked burners help this but as you try to get more range in BTUs, it can make more flare. There is no way to compare simmers on these two ranges until you can compare BTUs and the BS BTU has never been available. They only give a very nonspecific temperature rating.

The star shaped burner with BS gives more even heat if you cook with cast iron, steel or stainless pans if you size the burner to the pan. If you use heavy gauge copper or aluminum they will even the heat of the burner so the star shape doesn't matter as much.

We bought Wolf with the idea that they backed their product and for the most part during the warranty they would. They used to stand behind their products after the warranty but this kind of service has gone away. If you require service, you have to use their techs so you are at their mercy as to what they will charge and if they will give you an estimate beforehand. Agree with homechef59 that the rangetop has a lot less potential for trouble than a range.

"Homechef59

I'm all about the open burners. I don't like the sealed ones because of the loss of BTU's. Wolf used to make an open burner unit, but they stopped that a while back. "

----

I am curious as to your rationale for your belief that you lose BTUs with a sealed burner tray. Can you please explain.

Wolf/SZ made a all gas range before the current model -with a semi sealed burner tray, that was tight against the burner but broke down for cleaning. and it had a burner with a smaller simmer burner inside and both were capped. I had never heard of Wolf/SZ making a range with open burner trays or uncapped burners depending on what you mean when you say "open" burners.
Shaun and Tanya
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you very much guys! It has really made my decision much easier! Leaning more towards BS now... As for my terminology in my original post when I mentioned Wolf and "sealed" together what I guess I meant to say (now that I know) is capped vs uncapped.

Uncapped seems to be the right choice for us and we definitely did not consider the thickness of the griddle on the BS vs Wolf. Both seem to have their own pros/cons but I think it's the uncapped burners on the BS that ultimately will make our decision for us.

Thanks!
E R
5 years ago
Hi Shaun and Tanya - I came across this thread from years ago but wondering how you ended up liking your choice? I'm also deciding between Wolf and BS range top, leaning BS but a little concerned on griddle comparison. Would love to learn about your experience! thanks