We have a 30" Blue Star RNB and absolutely love it! Would not trade it for anything. We have open burners and our configuration is 22K BTU, 15K BTU x 2 and the simmer burner. I cannot comment on the RCS as I have never used one but I can tell you that the open burner is super easy to clean. Anything that falls/spills just hits the trays underneath and I can pull the roll out shelf/tray and take out the individual smaller trays and wash them. Very easy to do. We were going back and forth between the BS and Wolf and decided on BS. So happy we did. Good luck with you decision.

Thanks Mandy_elaine for the info. Would love to step up to a RNB or a Wolf, but its just not in the budget this time around. Are you able to but the grates in the Dishwasher, or do you have to clean everything by hand?

Thanks again for replying.

It is my understanding that you can put the grates in the dishwasher but I am just paranoid about that so I wipe mine down with a damp sponge. My range is never 100% spotless looking, I must confess, as I do not run them through the dishwasher. But they have taken on the look of my cast iron skillets, as though they have been seasoned, not dirty. If that makes sense?

I've had my 36" RCS for almost two years and I love it. Open burners are the way to go imo. 15K open burners are powerful, much more so than sealed ones of the same or even higher btus. We cook a lot and almost always have to turn the heat down or the food will burn. I've never put my grates in the dishwasher, I wipe them down, and on occasion oil them like you would a cast iron pan.

Thanks everyone for you feedback. After searching this site, and reading all of the favorable reviews, I've decided to get the BS RCS open burner. It's definitely on the higher side of what my budget was, but in the long run I think its the smarter choice.

I think you are making a good choice.

I really like mine.

Be sure to get the latest model -- RCS version 2 (RCS304BV2). It has design changes that address problems found in some earlier models.

Thanks John. The dealer near me has the V2.

Any of you change out the knobs to add a little color? Looks like a really nice option.

The standard black works best for my kitchen.

Be sure to check the price of the knob color option before getting too committed to it.

I changed out the knobs on my RNB to the blue color on the old BlueStar plate (I requested the old plate instead of the new silver one so they'd match). Please excuse the mess...we are redoing the cabinets and the wall paint.

I love the look of the blue knobs. Might have to seriously consider those.

I looked them up on BS site. They have a ton of choices, but Blue is definetly the way to go. A little pricey for knobs, but I like the look. No one said this would be cheap, lol

Thanks everyone for all your input. My BS was delivered last night. I had to do the calibration myself (installer said it was good from the factory). Now that everything is dialed in, its time to get cooking.

Ohh, and to burn off all of the gunk, I had the over on for about 1hr, and can confirm that the outside door DOES NOT get hot. :)

It looks great! Enjoy :-)

Regarding cleaning the grates in the dishwasher - I have done that several times with our 12 year old RNB rangetop, and it works very well. I'm probably not as fastidious as some when it comes down to keeping the unit perfectly clean, so the machine wash does a nice job a lot cutting thru the mess.

kdoerner - DH is definite about buying a Bluestar range for our next home and I'm hoping you'll report back on yours. Our kitchen will be significantly smaller than our current one so we'll probably go with the 30" too. What calibration did you have to perform? Which hood did you select? Do you find the fan to be noisy? And more importantly - how happy are you with it's performance?

We'll still a few months from settlement and then the kitchen will be gutted so I'll have to live vicariously through your experiences. DH said when we finally order our he plans on ordering extra ignites just in case we break one

Thanks - Maire

"malabacat

Open burners are the way to go imo. 15K open burners are powerful, much more so than sealed ones of the same or even higher btus. "

The BTU rating is the output of heat. 18K is higher than 15K, open or sealed. It is marketing myth that an open burner tray will make a burner burn hotter than a sealed burner tray. At one time it was said as a point of marketing that more oxygen was allowed to get to the flame with an open tray, but the oxygen for combustion is mixed in the Venturi tube.

maire_cate- Love the BlueStar. You do have to readjust how to cook again though. This things puts out some serious flames. I've found, compared to my last stove, I cook on, or near, low almost all the time. I'm using mainly All-clad, scanpan, and le creuset pans.

The calibration I did was with the air shudders and flame height. You can find some great videos on how to adjust these. Out of the box, the air shudder looks good, but the flame height was too high for the simmer (common issue).

I'm using a zephyr hurricane hood that came with the house. It does a fantastic job. My only complaint with the hood is it only has one light, but my kitchen is bright so its not a real issue. The hood is a little noisy, but I don't think your going to get a quiet fan that really does a good job.

Just checking back on this thread-- does anyone have a Technogas here? And if so, what's you experience like with it? I really love the extra large oven space and the large window but I'm nervous that there is little to no info from actual owners.

I never heard of Technogas until this thread. I'd guess service would be a big issue.

If I remember right Technogas is an Italian company. The warranty seemed pretty good, and I loved the look of the large glass oven door. The display at the local showroom was beautiful, but broken, and at the end of the day, it was the fact that the knobs could be broken that drove my decision closer to the Bluestar. Its been 6 months now with the BS and no regrets. I opted for the more expensive open burner, but I would have easily been happy with the closed burner, which was around the same price as the Technogas.

Here's my BlueStar Platinum. It's temporarily in place so they could double check the fit of the counter tops before installing the backsplash.

The hood is a Prizer 30" with an inline 1200 CFM blower. I'm amazed at how quiet the blower is - even on high we can easily stand in front of the stove and have a conversation in a normal voice.

This question is a little off subject, but what is the difference in a BlueStar hood and a Prize hood?

dixieb-Blue Star hoods and Prizer-Painter hoods are the same. I think that is what you are asking?

Yes they start out the same. The only difference is the logo under the hood. Unless you want to customize then there are more options.

http://prizerhoods.com/

However if you look at Prizer hoods they offer more custom touches - colors, metallics, finish, trim, strapping, banding, hobnails etc.

Basically they are the same company so one brand/line may have more colors or options, as the poster above stated, but they are the same otherwise. At least that is what Blue Star told me when I asked them.

I don't know how they compare, but mine is a Vent-a-Hood and I'm happy with it.

Mandy-Elaine,

What is the name of the blue knobs on your stove that match the BS plate? It looks really nice!

Thanks

There’s so many blues on color choices of knobs, it would be great to know the color name of yours. :)

Thanks! My knobs are sapphire blue.

HI Mandy,

We are trying to decide between BS and Techno S. Any cons to your purchase? I'm a meticulous avid cook, so how easily I can maintain and clean the range is just as important as how it cooks! Any advice/info. is greatly appreciated.

Well, keeping the cast iron clean has a bit of a learning curve in my opinion. You can place the pieces in the dishwasher and they come out perfectly clean but I don’t like to do that too often. I have been “seasoning” mine over time really. But they do seem to pick up little bits of dust here and there so I try to always stay on wiping it down but really, at my house the stove will never be perfect. Just like my copper pots and pans, they will always look used! I never polish those after cleaning them either. I like patina and I suppose my BS is similar. Clean but not perfect. I love my BS and would not change a thing about my purchase.

Hi Jora, I saw the Techno S the other day in a showroom, I have zero regrets about buying the BS instead. Having said that, I was pitting the RCS closed burner model against it. If you are looking at BS, the only real option is the open burner models. I'm an avid cook, and I can't imaging anything else. Cleaning the cast iron is a little work, but everything comes apart. After awhile, you'll get to a point that you can literally just wipe it down (I'm there now). My only complaint is with the oven racks. I wish I would have bought the sliding top rack. The rack that it comes with is not very easy to maneuver when stuff is on there (since its so wide). I'm planning on purchasing that in the near future. Everything else has been great.

To clarify, I have the open burner BS and I agree with kdoerner on that aspect.