I saw this one in the Kitchens area.. lol

Oh man, where to start.. heh. I am totally with you. I researched stuff for months and months. Poor Trevor with Eurostoves was so patient. So...I am no expert. I am a normal guy that just loves to cook, so MY answers will be based upon my knowledge and likes. There is no kitchen expertise, just what I like and how I found something to fit that. Secondly, I did not want a range top, but that is okay, the principles of the top apply same as a range.

ALSO - I have not gotten mine yet.. lol. I purchased it, but my house is being built now... but I researched it to hell and back again.. grin

Couple of things:

Open Burner - To me.. more control. That is about the brunt of it, in MY mind. Able to control the heat. Does this mean you cannot do that with sealed? Heck no.. just means more, not the only way to do it.

Sealed burner - all about keeping the burner elements clean. That is what it means to me. These were developed because city slickers who hate to cook or clean can clean easier.. heh. Does this mean they are bad? Heck no.. and some people love the heck out of them.

When it comes to BTUs, here's the skinny for a non chef - don't get too carried away with that. Why? You love to cook, right? You probably grew up on a coil electric oven, may have had some gas ovens too. You can probably cook up a storm on anything you have and people love your cooking. So, if you try to get all fired up (no pun intended) with the differences in BTU at the level of range you are looking at, you will, again.. MY opinion, miss out on the fun you are looking for. At the level of cooktop you are looking at getting, they can all burn from 0-60 in under 20 seconds... heh

So, you want to step is up to a 48" cooktop that has 6 burners and a griddle. Guess what? I got the exact same thing in a range.. heh,.. for the same reasons probably.

Bluestar and Capital are the two that probably will be top of the lists you want to look at. You are right, and have probably seen all the Wolf and Viking and Thermador models etc around you. While those are great, Wolf and Viking and Thermador are a lot pricier for the same (or less quality depending on who you ask).. and Jenn Air, I have heard great things about them, but for me, Bluestar and Capital Culinarian were the two I narrowed it down to.

The Culinarian is a beast and when you do not get the griddle element (same thing I did as I live in Texas also).. you save money. The grill costs more to have than the burners.

Here is what I would do, call Trevor at Eurostoves. Ask him about those two and the differences and the prices. Anything I say about that process will sound like a sales pitch for him.

The thing "I" want to get across is yes.. it is a huge thing when you are trying to pick one or the other and so many models etc. Most folks just get what comes in the house when they buy it. Don't get bogged down in the things they all offer. Any one of those will have features that the other may not do as well. For me, The culinarian 48" in the configuration you are talking about can simmer, distributes heat more evenly (that part you will need to see Eurostoves youtube videos on.. really good info), and the grill looks awesome.

Sorry.. not as much info as tips.. heh

Russ

Sealed burner - all about keeping the burner elements clean. That is what it means to me. These were developed because city slickers who hate to cook or clean can clean easier.. heh. Does this mean they are bad? Heck no.. and some people love the heck out of them

Actually we had a sealed burner in our last rental, and I found it harder to keep clean. Yes it didn't drip down, but trying to clean around the hobs like that were a real PITA.

lol.. yea, I agree. I think the little "teeth" they sat on were a royal pain to clean also. BUT.. that being said.. it really is a preference. I love open burners, myself is all.

R

Russ, yes I posted it first in the wrong place and am not sure how to delete it. I'm a bit new to these forums. : )

I can't thank you enough for your response! Somehow you seemed to get exactly where I am coming from and ease the swirling in my overloaded brain! I appreciate it.

I will definitely take a look at the Bluestar and Capital Culinarian and check out the Eurostove videos you mentioned. Did you actually order your range from them or somewhere here in TX?

Thank you again for the help. Hope to hear how you like your range when it comes in!

Posted this over on kitchens, here it is again...I'd look at the Bluestar. 3 1/2 years with mine, and very happy with it, love and use the griddle daily. I have the 36" RNB range, but the range top is exactly the same less the oven.

If I had room for a 48", I would get a 24" griddle and 4 burners. In 40+ years cooking, I've never needed more than four burners. Although you may have different needs, something to consider as the griddle is so versatile.

I'll also add: the open burners on the Bluestar have been the easiest to keep clean by far over any stove I've had in the past.

Not a problem. I am going to steer you toward the Culinarian, but that is because I love the cast iron grates and durability of it. But, what you need to do is make sure you get it from an advocate for you.

In my research, one of the biggest problems people face in whatever brand they get is support. Now, nothing may ever go wrong, but if it does...the order, the product has an issue or breaks.. etc, you want to insulate yourself from either "online purchases" where they tell you to deal with the mfg, or from distributors that, again, send you to the mfg.

Trevor sells both the bluestar and Culinarian. In fact, he sells a LOT of the other beautiful brands. More importantly, he tends to deal directly with the people that makes these and so you just call him.

Again, I do not make money off it and you will find plenty of folks on here that argue with the guy, but I made a post when I was doing my research in a topic about the Culinarian and support, and I got a call from the head of the support group at Capital an hour later. I was not even complaining, just asked if the support issue was real.

Now, for the price, you won't beat the prices of the Bluestar and Culinarian in what you are looking for. The "comparable" products were selling easily 1k-2k more and they did not have the support that Capital and Bluestar have. (I lean more to Capital for my style but I hear all sorts of good things about BS)

Lastly, remember, it's okay if you get something that looks beautiful because it looks beautiful. People say folks are shallow for wanting a fancy stove if you are not a chef, but if you want it, and it makes you smile.. you get it. Just focus on the things you listed and then watch the videos... especially the Eurostove ones where they do heat distribution tests. When you are cooking, it is a chemical aspect just as much as culinarian aspect, no pun intended. Heat distribution is very important to the cooking process, and the single most important reason I went open burner and Culinarian.

Ask anything ya like. Trying to be unbias... heh, but I have had a great buying experience ;)

I did not order from TX. The closest place I came to was in Dallas and they did not have one in stock and frankly sold so many things they had no clue. Deal with someone like Trevor, if you do not go through him. You want someone that knows what the heck it is. He cooks on them every day and so do his classes. Anyone else is just there to sell it to you and won't have a clue about the stove.

Russ

Bluestar. I love my range top. I've had the Wolf range top. I prefer open burners. I think it's easier to clean with open burner than with closed burner.

I get the service issue. Pretty much anyone with a screwdriver can fix a Bluestar. It's a pretty simple and dependable unit.

I think the range top and separate ovens is a great configuration.

If you are in Dallas, Texas, BlueStar sales and service is better than Capital. There are three big kitchen distributors in Dallas and two of them are glorified Wal-Marts. For example, I'm looking at Wolf, Thermador and, Gaggenau ovens while grade school age children are screaming and running around. Granted, that is really beyond the control of the store but, really ..... Why would I drop >$5k on an oven in a store that sells Whirlpool and Frigidaire at a discount? One distributor is a class act and has live BlueStar's on the showroom floor you can actually turn on and, not to sound snobbish but the customers and sales people were both targeted at premium kitchen appliances. The sales guy I spoke to knew his stuff better than most.

Trevor from Eurostoves is a total class act and is far superior to anyone I dealt with in Dallas.

Sidpost is exactly right. That is the aspect you want to look at when buying a stove like you are talking about, no matter what stove you pick. Get it from someone that knows the stove and knows the type of person that can handle the stove. That is a person that will "champion" your ownership and any issues you may have. This is like buying a car, not a stove. You will have this for years and you expect to get a lot of mileage out of it. Anything less, in a dealer, is not snobbish at all, it is quality in the follow-up.

R

Would this model be close to something you are looking for ? http://www.dcsappliances.com/product/indoor/cooktops/?productuid=6B6A3787-999F-FD79-F10A7895751A4C9D

We are very happy with the dual fuel DCS range we bought in 2008, and it has the same configuration for the cooktop portion (griddle and five burners). We were living in San Antonio at the time, but found it much cheaper from a mail order appliance store in Los Angeles.

We topped it with a stainless steel vent-a-hood that was recessed into a decorative enclosure so that you could not see the hood. The hood has 3 fans, with a total of about 1200 CFM.

Bruce

Julievarg "Open burners/closed burners/btu's/all have my head spinning. "

I think it is worth the investment of time to understand what these features represent. That way you can get exactly what matches your style of cooking, saving yourself a lot of aggravation and not wasting your money. You can see through any marketing hype that comes your way. If you can, try to cook on the ones you are seriously considering with your pans if possible. You are already way ahead of the game in not choosing a range based in a preference for certain burners or oven and then having to take what comes with it. Cooking is a multidimensional process. You have a heat source, the pan which is the interface between the heat source and the food you are cooking. Each has to be considered and everybody has different ways they cook so no one "best".

Looking at the heat source . "Open" vs "sealed" is ambiguous terminology at best. People use it to refer to the burner cap, the burner tray, in this thread the control and even the "power", the BTUs. These are all separate things.

BTUs- high is great if you need a lot of heat quickly-like boiling a lot of water quickly or larger quantities of stir fry. If you want to sear a steak, you can use a big cast iron pan on lower BTUs and it will come to a very high temperature but it might take a little longer. You mentioned wanting a low simmer. You have to know the BTUs to compare on the low side as well, apples to apples. The temperature number given by most manufacturers means nothing. Nobody is marketing their high BTUs by saying it is rated at 500F.

Capped vs uncapped burner - the cap was developed not that long ago to keep gunk out of the burner ports. It was in conjunction with the sealed burner tray so this why some have this confused. On high heat this can cause more flare of the burner but the amount depends on how the burner is engineered so you have to see it in action. The uncapped burner allows a more upward flame as is oft quoted "to the center of the pan". Some market this as "even heat" but if it is all to the center of the pan and a small pan, that might be true but if all the heat is to the center of the pan and you have a 14" skillet, then it would be a hot spot in the middle. You can't have it both ways. Luckily though the right choice of cookware helps this tremendously. Some range tops have different sizes of burners to accommodate different size pans while others have all the same with one small pot burner. The pro style ranges have bigger size burners than most non pro style.

Shape of the burner- This might be a single ring, triple ring or star. The star burners have the widest dispersal of heat. There are dual stacked burners like Wolf or Miele so that you have a simmer burner stacked with a regular burner. At this point look at your cookware. What type of cookware do you use? The star burners with different sizes become more important if you use something like cast iron, steel or stainless steel because they don't conduct heat well and tend to hot spot so that would be good. If you use heavy copper or aluminum, the pan evens the heat out.

Control of the flame comes from the knob which you turn to allow the amount of fuel so that you have the right flame for the job. How easily and smoothly can you move through the range of BTUs? Some knobs go from low to high with little movement of the knob. Others take more movement of the knob to move through the range giving finer control. There are dual stacked burners that have a full range for the lower burner and full range of movement for the top burner. Something to notice if you get to try them out.

Sealed vs semi sealed vs open burner trays I don't have any preference on way or the other but many have very strong opinions either way about what is easier to clean. Some of the materials used to make the rangetop could have just as much effect on ease of cleaning. Look at what is involved in cleaning to make up your mind.

I would try to keep your research as independent as possible. If you talk to any dealer, they are going to cast their products in the most favorable light. I have recommended Eurostoves a couple if times on this forum in the last week or so, if you are going to buy BS or a Capital product, but I have never heard Trevor Lawson recommend anything but products from those two lines. The fan boys will disagree but, there are some who will be better served by considering other product lines as well.

Since the griddle is important, you might want to look into the specifics there-thickness, what type of metal, type of burner under there( infrared might be a little more even than a regular burner), range of BTUs.

Thank you wekick! Thank you for taking the time to give me all this great information! I really appreciate it and you really helped to explain some of the details that I need to take into consideration. I haven't had much time to look yet as my focus has been on a laundry room this week, but we are moving closer and closer to the kitchen, so I will be researching more very soon. Along with double ovens, dishwasher and farmhouse sinks...yikes. Thank you again. Julie

Bruce, yes that model might be close to what we are looking for. I will have to see if I can find out more info about it. Looks like it has 5 burners as opposed to 6. I am also wanting to do the decorative hood with concealed vent. Thank you for the info!