What range top/stove top do you have at home?

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Vancouverguy

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We decided to purchase the floor model (about 10% off msrp) of the WOLF by subzero 36" range top. This is for a family of 5 people. The unit looks more commercial than other units. We were looking for a range top that was 36" and had elements that shoots straight up rather than the sides.

Model number : SRT362W

Heating comparison
After cooking Lunar New Year dinner with it wow. The wok burner has a 35k btu that shoots it up from the center. I can't be using a lower btu unit!! I have upgraded from a Bosch NGMP655UC. Although this is a 20k BTU unit in the middle the flame dissipates and spreads on the metal compared to the wolf unit which goes straight up and focuses on the center of the wok. The previous unit was spreading the heat to the side and did not heat the center of the wok. The difference in oil smoking times using the same oil was about 30 seconds faster! The previous wok while cooking with the Bosch was sticking due to the lack of heat.

Still not as much wok hay as I expected vs commercial kitchens! Can't compare to those jet engines. But you can definitely see things are getting crisper faster!

Another note because the wolf heats the center more, the sides of the metal grate does not get hot as fast as the bosch where the heat was spreading.

Cleaning
The brushed stainless steel on the bosch looked nice new but after time the metal is scratched and wears out easily. Stainless steel does not look scratched. After cleaning, the elements spark and ignite after awhile.
Wiping the sealed wolf unit is fast and easy. The grates are much heavier. We have yet to clean it yet.

For cooking:
Must have your mise en place ready! And ingredients!

Curious what kind of range tops do you folks have at home?

Here is a clip of it turning on! ignore the background noise lol
 

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I pulled my gas top out and replaced it with a Viking 6 burner gas range and hood. Way better. My wall mounted gas oven was not useable in the summer as it heated the kitchen too hot. Now the oven in the Viking range vents into the Viking vent hood. I like it much better and I can use it in the summer.
 
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I have a cheapo ($500), 30 in., Hotpoint gas stove, came with the apartment, gets the job done.
 
Bluestar 30", sealed burners. It has no frills and I like it that way... Oh, and it's broiler, is HOT....

I too have a Blue Star 30". But the burners are not sealed. I didn't know they made sealed burners, and I'm not a fan of sealed burners, because I suspect that they are not giving me all the BTUs, with that airflow. I went with BlueStar because they offer a 25K burner, that I really need for my wok cooking. Also the cooktop is very well designed for woks. You pop out the grid piece above the burner, and the rest is designed as a great support for a wok.

Alas, it's only a cooktop. I used to have a full stove of theirs, with that great broiler, but the space under the cooktop is now knife drawers, and my ovens are electric, and in the wall. The broilers in those ovens would best be described by the word "vestigial." So I got a propane broiler for outdoors, with all the heat I could want.
 
I too have a Blue Star 30". But the burners are not sealed. I didn't know they made sealed burners, and I'm not a fan of sealed burners, because I suspect that they are not giving me all the BTUs, with that airflow. I went with BlueStar because they offer a 25K burner, that I really need for my wok cooking. Also the cooktop is very well designed for woks. You pop out the grid piece above the burner, and the rest is designed as a great support for a wok.

Alas, it's only a cooktop. I used to have a full stove of theirs, with that great broiler, but the space under the cooktop is now knife drawers, and my ovens are electric, and in the wall. The broilers in those ovens would best be described by the word "vestigial." So I got a propane broiler for outdoors, with all the heat I could want.


nice

i would love a wall open with french doors :)...
 
The gas broiler in my Viking 36-inch range is excellent and the oven will hold a full sheet pan. The broiler makes my wife happy every time she uses it. It is the best broiler we have ever owned. She comments all the time what a great broiler it is.

It does take a while to heat the big oven. Sometimes I wish I had bought the bigger Viking range so I could have a second smaller oven.
 
I got what was basically the cheapest 90 cm stove that I could find that had 2 bigger burners. Surprisingly not a single affordable 60 cm stove had 2 strong burners, hence I went with a 90 (I had the space). Even some 90's have silly burner layouts where they just give you more burner layouts. Just doesn't make sense for me. It's really worth paying attention to what burners they put on it - unless you have some really fancy pants model where all the burners go all the way from simmer to jet engine mode.

I agree the difference in overn heat up time is noticable. I'd just get a second affordable electric oven that's smaller. I already had one before I bought the big oven and it's a godsend. Just warms up faster so it's more convenient if you're just throwing some bread or whatever into the oven, and having 2 ovens is actually incredibly useful. The small one died recently and it's getting replaced for sure; I basically feel handicapped without it. :D
 
My Viking range is very manual as there are no electronics except for ignitors. I had to order a timer that I keep right by the range.

I mainly use my Apple watch as it has a whole bunch of different times you can select for timer settings. If you need a special one then you can create a custom timer which you can use over and over again. The Apple watch is so easy to use. And you have it around your wrist so no matter where you go it is still with you.
 
90 cm Smeg gas cook top and gas oven.. perfect imho. In Europe it’s the golden age for second hand gas stoves as some governments are pushing people into using induction. The Smeg performs great, and I really love using a gas oven over an electric one.
 
My cooktops.

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I moved to a new much smaller kitchen while renovating. This is as much room as I could devote to a cooktop. I still manage to pull a few things off.

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Recent Breakfast

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20 lbs pork shoulder slow cooked in its own fat.


…. Not that I’m not following this thread anticipating a decent cook top when the reno is done B
 
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Bluestar Platnium 48” open burner with a 3k cfm proline hood and commercial ducting. You can’t even smell the steak cooking the hood pulls so hard. Downside is it sucks all the heat out of the house.
 

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Bluestar Platnium 48” open burner with a 3k cfm proline hood and commercial ducting. You can’t even smell the steak cooking the hood pulls so hard. Downside is it sucks all the heat out of the house.

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drooooooooooooool... and not because it's 2" steak, but because it's a 3k industrial hood
 
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drooooooooooooool... and not because it's 2" steak, but because it's a 3k industrial hood
I agree the hood is what makes it. All ranges make fire. It was such a pain, as the master bath is right above the range. We redid that bathroom first, and I had to go through a lot of pain to reroute all the plumbing so that I could have a clear bay for the duct to support the hood. I then had to have a fabricator make me a custom duct to fit the space (with chamfers, baffles, etc.) and to make the air flow correctly. I spent way more on the adjacent pieces than the hood itself, but it works better than I expected it would. As you might imagine, we’ve been eating a lot of steak. 😂
 
I agree the hood is what makes it. All ranges make fire. It was such a pain, as the master bath is right above the range. We redid that bathroom first, and I had to go through a lot of pain to reroute all the plumbing so that I could have a clear bay for the duct to support the hood. I then had to have a fabricator make me a custom duct to fit the space (with chamfers, baffles, etc.) and to make the air flow correctly. I spent way more on the adjacent pieces than the hood itself, but it works better than I expected it would. As you might imagine, we’ve been eating a lot of steak. 😂
Nice setup.

The big vent hoods are nice. I have noticed with my Viking vent hood those big metal vent hood filters get dirty fast. I just soak them in the sink with dawn dish washing soap.

I would never give up gas for induction. I love cooking with gas.
 
I agree the hood is what makes it. All ranges make fire. It was such a pain, as the master bath is right above the range. We redid that bathroom first, and I had to go through a lot of pain to reroute all the plumbing so that I could have a clear bay for the duct to support the hood. I then had to have a fabricator make me a custom duct to fit the space (with chamfers, baffles, etc.) and to make the air flow correctly. I spent way more on the adjacent pieces than the hood itself, but it works better than I expected it would. As you might imagine, we’ve been eating a lot of steak. 😂
ya, hardcore :D
 
Bluestar 36” Platinum, 900 cfm hood. Hood way underpowered but the btu’s are amazing. Having a larger hood capture area can offset low cfm so look into that option if available.
Had a sealed burner Viking in the past. seriously consider an open burner unit. The cleanup alone is worth it.
 
Bluestar 30" Platinum here. The less said about the crappy hood built into the microwave, the better. But if I got a proper hood, I'd have to find counter space for a microwave, and there is no place where it would not be obnoxious, even if there were room left.

Love Blue Star -- this is my third (left two behind in other houses). Gotta have that 25,000 BTU burner, and the perfect design for taking off the burner grate and popping the wok on top of the supports designed well for just that purpose.
 
Bluestar 30" Platinum here. The less said about the crappy hood built into the microwave, the better. But if I got a proper hood, I'd have to find counter space for a microwave, and there is no place where it would not be obnoxious, even if there were room left.

Love Blue Star -- this is my third (left two behind in other houses). Gotta have that 25,000 BTU burner, and the perfect design for taking off the burner grate and popping the wok on top of the supports designed well for just that purpose.
When I changed houses, the bluestar went with me!
 
I'm building a new kitchen (renovating an entire house) and I had planned to get a Siemens ER9A6SD70 since it was nice and wide and had a quite powerful wok burner for an indoor stovetop at 6kW.

I ordered it back in April with delivery date mid July. Then mid July came and it was pushed to September. Then September came and it was pushed to December due to "component shortages" at Siemens.

I could not wait that long so I started looking for other options, especially considering there is no guarantee it will even arrive in December.

Was able to get a nice discount on an Ilve HCB90FCN, which also has a wok burner, though not as powerful at 4.2 kW. However what it does have is a thick stainless steel teppanyaki plate with an oblong burner underneath. Will make smash burgers for days on this. Great for whole fish too.

HCB90FCN_1000x.png

Lead time was only 3 weeks from production in Italy to delivery to DK. Really looking forward to installing in a month or two when the I'm finished renovating.
 
Bluestar 36” Platinum, 900 cfm hood. Hood way underpowered but the btu’s are amazing. Having a larger hood capture area can offset low cfm so look into that option if available.
Had a sealed burner Viking in the past. seriously consider an open burner unit. The cleanup alone is worth it.
With open burners do you have any issues with center hot spots when cooking for hours with large diameter pans? My Viking burners seem to work OK. Do you have a picture of your range and burners?

My burners come apart for cleaning.

I find vent hood rating are all over the place. My Viking vent hood motor weighs like 25 pounds. You buy it separate from the vent hood as they have like 3 models of motors. The ones that go above 900 cfm require a 10-inch pipe which is not wall friendly. I don't believe the specs for the little China made ones that claim higher ratings. I would not worry about your bluestar cfm rating.

Here are the burners I have. My range is around 15 years old. It still works well.
Screenshot 2022-10-09 214318.png
 
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We bought the house last year. Original owner spent a fortune on high end stuff. Cabinets are Downsview, a canadian company. Backsplash is wild, but goes surprisingly well. Kitchen is big enough that it doesn’t dominate the whole room.
 
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