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histprof1066

Does anyone have experience with post-2015 Viking ovens or rangetops?

4 years ago

Doing a major kitchen remodel. Have picked out everything other than the 36" gas rangetop and double wall ovens. (I'm going for standard ovens, not steam, and regular gas cooktop, not induction.) Discussions here have scared me off of the Wolf ovens. I'm neither here nor there on the Wolf range top. Had a long look at the new Viking appliances and they seem great. I know that for a long while they were sub-par to say the least. But they were bought out by Middleby in 2013, and our local appliance shop says that the new models have been great (and they sell a lot of Wolf, so I don't think they have a particular motivation to sell me the Viking. They also have had no reports there of Wolf ovens flaking.). So I'm looking for people who bought Viking rangetops or ovens recently and would be willing to share what you think of them. Thanks!

Comments (12)

  • 4 years ago

    We purchased Viking double wall ovens, microwave and cooktop at the end of 2014. They have all been wonderful and trouble free. I would not hesitate to purchase any of them again, they seem to have worked out their quality issues of the past.

  • 4 years ago

    Thank you! So good to hear.

  • 4 years ago

    We just went through range choice. From our research Viking has continued to have some quality issues. The biggest thing for us though is that the burners on the Viking heat the edges of the pans and leave the middle cool which plays havoc with many dishes so that ruled Viking out quickly (and was also what eventually nixed Wolf which was our default since we'd had Wolf's before).

    We went with a 48" Bluestar RNB w/ 4 burners + 24" griddle/flat-top. We're quite happy with our choice.


  • 4 years ago

    I am not sure how much their various ovens vary but we, very briefly, had the Viking induction range. We found the fan noise in the oven to be very loud, and the temperature control in the oven wasn’t good enough for my baking needs, so we exchanged it for the Miele. Miele isn’t known for their gas ranges, so I will leave the gas cooktop recommendations to the people more knowledgeable in that field.

  • 4 years ago

    I'll have to look more into the Viking burners, I didn't realize they might heat unevenly. I looked at the Bluestar, but to be honest with the open burners it looked like a bear to keep clean. But I know many people here love their Bluestars.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Thermador rangetop...star burners heat the center of pots and pans, closed burners...very easy to clean. 5+ years old, no issues.


    histprof1066 thanked darbuka
  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Blue star is the easiest to keep clean range I've ever owned. Occassionally I will use the scouring side of a dish sponge with warm water but day to day I just brush any crumbs and they fall to the drip tray below and otherwise just a soft cloth maybe a little damp and rub any oils etc right into the cast iron grates. You need to be good with the cast iron patina look it develops of course but super easy to keep clean.

    Here is a pic that I just took, probably been a few weeks since I've even wiped it down.

    You might notice in the 2nd picture that the back burner is a bit darker in color and that is due to the front burner being my go to for wok and other high heat searing so it tends to splatter more oil to the back while itself is covered by the pan. I do rotate them around to even that out.




  • 4 years ago

    Thanks for the insight Paul. The sight of all that open space and being able to see the wires underneath really gave me pause when I saw a Bluestar at the appliance store. If I remember, the bowls under the grate are also cast iron? So kind of heavy when you do have to drag them to the sink to clean?

  • 4 years ago

    Thanks Paul, I'm now giving the Bluestar another look. And still need to figure out what ovens.


  • 4 years ago

    I'm in the same boat. I'm completely sold on the 36" RNB Bluestar for the fantastic performance combined with the easy cleaning mentioned above, but still pondering the wall oven. Viking ticks all my boxes, but I can't find out much about its post-2013 reliability.


    Of course, anyone can find happy and mad owners online, but that has no context. How satisfied are their customers with reliability overall in the past 8 years, compared to other companies, and compared to their past? I can't find it. Not even Consumer Reports is helpful; their reliability ratings are based on all purchases since 2010.

  • 4 years ago

    I agree @gtjoselyn, it is hard to suss out all the opinions online. Since I first posted this, I'm now sold on a Bluestar range top (thanks @Paul S for giving me the nudge), and I'm going to take a leap and order the Bluestar French-door (on top) double wall ovens. I did get to a store that had one hooked up, and the interior seems really wide and the French doors seem like it will be great taking sheet pans out without having to reach. The sales person was very knowledgeable about needing a slightly wider cabinet for that model because it is a little wider than the typical wall oven. We didn't heat it up for very long, but it seemed quiet enough both for heating and cooling down.

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