here is a link to some recent comments on this forum. I too would like to get some more feedback as I think for the price this could be a great range.

Here is a link that might be useful: Five Star

jacobmishpacha - did the Capital thread turn you off their range?

Malhgold, thank you for the link. I only wish that I could find more information on the five star ranges from more actual cooks who have used them for a while.

Coleen, I must admit that the Capital thread did leave me with a bad taste. I had already suspected that two posters who seemed to regularily plug the product (and seemed to have no interest in other products) were somehow related to the company; but I far more uncomfortable about the seemingly high possibility that one of them was so harsh with the aggrieved customer.

I haven't ruled out the Capital, as it does sound like a great range, but I do have concerns. I am really looking forward to finding out how you like your new range!

Five Start is a nice option if you are concerned about your budget or really do not cook. It is a value priced pro-style range. They others are very high performance cooking machines. You have been considering a Mercedes, BMW or Land Rover and just threw in a Kia.

Dogidolo - what do you mean by "really not cook"? Can you not cook on the Five Star? I am considering this range as I am not a "gourmet" cook and do not need a high performance cooking machine, but am interested in the extra space of the second oven, the extra space on the range top and the larger size range fits well in my proposed layout.

I was actually thinking maybe the Five Star could be compared to more of a Honda than a Kia.

I guess I never thought of a 48" range with six 21.000 btu burners and a gas and electric convection oven as a "Kia" range or one for noncooks.

I am all for quality, but I don't need a "name-brand"... just a product which fits my needs. I am a home cook, and don't do any catering from my kitchen so I do not need an industrial strength range... but I like to cook, and am often cooking for crowds. I stir-fry, make pasta, bake bread, roast chicken... etc.

I like having a small gas oven (gas is much more energy efficient then electric) for weeknight dinners, and a larger oven for bread or other baked goods I may make, as well as for when I am cooking for crowds. I like having a self-cleaning oven, as I have young children and not much time on my hands. I want high btu's for stir-frying and pasta.

It seems that Wolf has less btu's and no self-cleaning gas; Blue Star burners ovens are not self-cleaning, and I am a bit concerned at Capital at this time. So, I am looking at other options, and wondering if other brands are not as popular because of lack of name recognition or due to it being an inferior product. I have heard very little about the Five Star except it isn't as attractive as the alternatives and that the doors felt flimsy.

So, here I am doing what I would call "due diligence" and looking at alternatives before I make a choice. I must admit that I am concerned about buying a range which I can't learn more about from users, and that is making me hesitant to try a Five Star or Capital.

One more question... does the Wolf have enough btu's to do some really serious stir-frying???

Thanks.

I'm wondering if the appliance store where you might be purchasing the range would be able to give you some referrals.

My BIL is a former professional chef and has a Five Star in his new kitchen. He loves it and he and my SIL highly recommended it to us.

We're currently favouring induction cooktop/wall oven, but if we go back to our original plan for a gas range, it will be a FiveStar or Bertozzoni, which was recommended to us by good friends who have one.

We've only had our Wolf AG for a few weeks now, and I don't stir fry, but so far the burners seem plenty powerful to us (I've sauteed veggies and they cook fast!). Water definitely boils faster on it than it even did on the 18K burners on the Jade range we had for a short time. Maybe it has to do with them being open burners?

As for self-cleaning, I had insisted on it when we chose our appliances, which is one of the reasons we'd ended up with the Jade at first. When we had problems with it, I asked myself, is it worth having a range we are unhappy with (the range had a number of issues from day one) for that one or two times a year I would ever actually "clean" my oven? I pretty much only ran the self-clean on our old GE once or twice a year at most. I finally realized that I'd rather have a range I enjoyed for 363 or 364 days a year and have one or two days of complaining about cleaning it, than the other way around. I've heard a few tricks for cleaning the oven, so maybe it won't be as bad as I remember (my first oven wasn't self-cleaning). If it is, that's still a few days a year at most, and I do get to have a range I really like.

If you're in NY/NJ you can always call the distributor/showroom to see the Wolf ranges live (we went to the Westye Group East showroom in NJ to check them out).

Good luck with your decision. Whatever you choose, you'll get the best one for YOU :-)

Malhgold- that is a good idea about asking my retailer.

Kailleanm- thank you for the feedback. I would think that a professional chef being satisfied is a good endorsement.

Cat mom- it sounds like you are happy with your Wolf. One thing I really like about the Wolf is that it has such a solid reputation. And, you are right about the self-cleaning mode. We are in an apartment during our remodel, which came with a new GE Profile range- and after 5 months here I must admit that we haven't yet run the self-clean on the oven...

jacobsmishpacha--we are enjoying it so far! The reputation was a big thing for us (especially after our Jade had those issues I'd mentioned). Our Wolf range was in excellent shape when it was delivered, but we were told we had 30 days for cosmetic issues (in case they're missed on intial inspection by the purchaser). When the tech was here to do a performance check for us (we weren't taking any chances this time around), I pointed out some of the very minor things we'd noticed. He came back with replacements for us the following week, no problem at all. The tech answered all of my questions knowledgeably, and patiently, and gave me some pointers for using and caring for my range. As with any new appliance, there's a learning curve involved with using it, and the people at Wolf have been very helpful so far with the process.

I've had a Five Star for 4 years now. About 9 months after I started using it, I told the Five Star rep at KBIS (I'm a kitchen designer) that it was the worst appliance I'd ever owned. THAT got his attention! The service department had NO up to date info about service providers in my area, so at this guy's request, they ended up sending a factory guy out from Tennessee (I live in Virginia). The burners wouldn't light properly or burn evenly, they got soot on my pans, the ovens were highly unreliable in terms of temp maintenance, and the grill was USELESS (the griddle is acceptable). Their guy spend SIX HOURS at my house getting it fixed, and several days later it needed more work, because the oven wouldn't go on. Another guy from the factory came out and spent another four hours on it, and it's finally decent. I used an oven thermometer for several years, as well as a digital meat thermometer. I don't use the grill. It still takes 25 minutes to boil a large pot of water for pasta. I bought it because of the price, because I could have both the grill and the griddle (most companies don't have the interchangeability) and because the dealer said it was "as good as Viking, but they don't have all the marketing expense." They don't have the QA expense either, IMHO. The local distributor, Hadco, now describes the Five Star as a "good starter" pro-style range--but they clearly don't think it's in a class with the big guys. I'm a reasonably decent home cook, not a caterer, not Julia Child. It's now acceptable, but I wouldn't choose it again, in all probability.

I glossed over the other posts. I think in its day, Five Star was considered very good but they let the world pass them by and let their production quality decline. I always remember one of the first posts I read when I first started visiting this forum. The subject line was somethin g like "Is there anyone out there who likes their Five Star?"

That said, the set up is quite interesting with gas and electic ovens.

I also have never understood why people think sealed burners are easier to keep clean. I have had both (sealed was not pro style though) and found the sealed MUCH harder and tedious to clean. I just take my tops outside, spray them down with oven cleaner, let them sit for 10 minutes and hose them off...OK I'll also break down and scrub them a bit too if I have too.

I didn't have the 48", but the 36" all gas, SS, open burners for over a year. I paid about $3,100 and for what I paid, it worked well. The burners and oven were great, as was the griddle. However, the grill (bought as an option) did not live up to the expections. I personally think that the grill doesn't work that well due to the low BTUs. I would have considered my range good for the price. When I moved this summer, my new home had a cooktop/wall oven already, so the Five Star stayed in the old house. I will tell you that the GE cooktop is pretty sad compared to the Five Star burners!

Thanks for the additional input about the Five Star. It sounds like there have been some mixed results with the range. I noticed that the Five Star has 21,000 btus on the sealed burners- is that the one you were using that took 25 minutes to boil pasta on, roobers?

I have another question (if anyone out here knows the answer), then... how can it be that one burner with 21,000 sealed burners can take longer to bring a pot to a boil then another with 15,000 sealed burners? Isn't energy just that- energy?

"I have another question (if anyone out here knows the answer), then... how can it be that one burner with 21,000 sealed burners can take longer to bring a pot to a boil then another with 15,000 sealed burners? Isn't energy just that- energy?"

How fast you can boil water will depend on how fast and how much heat is actually transferred from the heat source to the water. If all the heat generated by the burner was transferred to the water then a higher BTU burner would boil water faster, however that does not happen in the real world. All kinds of stuff will affect the efficiency of the transfer such as the size and shape of the burner, the number of flames, flame direction (do the individual flames point up or out?), how far the heat has to travel from the flame to the bottom of the pot, etc.

FiveStar ranges until recently maxed out at 14,000 btu on both sealed and unsealed models. Going up by 50% is a lot and would certainly affect water boiling time. I love the idea of having a gas and an electric oven in the same range. It certainly sounds like a reasonable option. It would be interesting to see anyone with a review of one of the newer models.

Thank you to all for the clarifications. Does anyone know if open burners are able to boil water faster then sealed (generally speaking)? Are we talking a significant difference or just a minute or so?

I am still on the fence (Five Star, Capital and Blue Star) and have a few more weeks before I need to make my final decision. I had the contractor wire me up for dual fuel just in case...

Coleen- I am still waiting for a detailed review on your Capital! Is there a new Capital thread that I missed? I must admit that it still is a very enticing range!

I have the 48" Five Star which I purchased in my kitchen addition/remodel 18 mos. ago. I love it. I desperately wanted the Blue Star and would still love to have it for the ease in cleaning, but the Five Star is a great option for a much less expensive price. The griddle is great; the dual ovens work well. The convection/electric is great for baking, while the gas smaller oven is perfect for every day. THe only downside is cleaning the burners. They are finicky when you take off the top to clean and there are cracks that are difficult to get into (oh, for the slide out Blue Star sheet under the burners). But I am VERY glad I purchased this range.

Thanks for the feedback about your Five Star, concordkitchen. Do you have the open or sealed burners? Do they work well for stir-frying?

Sorry jacobmishpacha, I didn't see your question until just now - the Capital is great - I never realized what a good cook I am!(SO just kidding!) - but I will say it is so much better than my old range I can't even compare. The control is excellent as is the simmer. I haven't used the rotisserie yet, but the ovens are very good as well. I've had to contact Capital for a couple of minor things and they have been responsive. I'm really happy with my choice. Let us know what you decide on!