Range recommendation?

amother

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 10:00 am

Does anyone else find that their kitchen ranges wear out quickly? Sometimes I think I must be doing something wrong. But I'm starting to think that they just are not made to stand up to daily cooking/baking anymore. It's the ovens that seem to go first, rather than the burners.

Can anyone recommend a range that they like and has held up for more than 4-5 years? I am looking for gas. The ones we have had have all been GE, so I am thinking maybe we should try a different brand?

Does anyone have a Blue Star? If so, can you use the oven on yom tov? From the looks of them online, they have a dial control, rather than an electric keypad, which makes me hope that maybe they are like the old fashioned ovens (before everything got fancy and electronic, etc.).

Thanks in advance!

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 10:15 am

I own 2 Bluestar gas ranges. Unless they've changed something since I purchased them 10 years ago, yes, you can adjust the oven temp on YomTov. There's an indicator light that turns on when the oven is heating (and you can raise the temp) and turns off when it's not (and then you can lower the temp).

amother

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 10:17 am

Thank you! That is super helpful! And great to hear you've had them for so long. Much appreciated.

amother

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 12:22 pm

If you have time for a follow-up question, rubber ducky, how do you find the ranges to clean? Do you think the open versus sealed burners make a difference? How about kashering for pesach? Thank you again.

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 5:33 pm

I only really clean them before Pesach. Easy Off Fume Free overnight, elbow grease in the morning. I have a self-cleaning oven (Fisher-Paykel) in addition to the ranges, and I simply put the burners and grates in that oven.

I have open burners. Much more prone to getting clogged, excellent heat distribution, and best thing ever for wokking.

amother

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 6:30 pm

Thank you. Very helpful!

amother

Red

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 8:12 pm

I still reccommend you stick with GE - as far as cooking equipment they are the best brand to go with. Nowadays - they are made to last 8-10 yrs, and that doesn't mean without repairs. If you find they don't last you - make sure to buy a reputable 5 yr extended warranty. (it comes with 1 yr) this way you know you are safe for 6 yrs. Blue star is not a commonly sold brand so if s/t goes wrong with it, will be very hard to find a servicer who will fix it..take long to get parts..etc. (hey, did I mention I work in an appliance store!)

amother

Teal

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 8:14 pm

I actually have a gas GE that hasn't needed any repairs in the nine years I've had it. All digital controls. Am I just lucky?

amother

Black

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 8:16 pm

I have thermador

amother

Red

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 8:24 pm

bosch,thermador, jennair, kitchenaid brands are a step up from GE, and Wolf is the top. (stay away from lg, samsung. viking, frigidaire, whirpool, maytag for stoves). GE has many styles

studying_torah

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 8:25 pm

Be careful if you have kids with the Bluestar. I tested it out & found a few issues.
The flames are much larger, I found them hard to control.
Also the oven vent slots were ontop of the door & the oven handle/top/knobs of the cooktop got extremely hot.

I too loved the Thermador when I tested it; dream of buying it one day. Also the La Cornue was amazing, but wow the cost.

Eta- in all honestly I wasn't so in love with the Wolf I tested.

amother

Taupe

Sun, Aug 04 2019, 8:28 pm

I had a viking and loved it. We moved and got a Wolf. I love it.

amother

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 4:45 pm

amother [ Red ] wrote:

Amother Red--Thanks so much for your reply! Perhaps we have just been unlucky with these. Or maybe I cook more than average. We are on our 3rd GE in less than 15 years. We maintain them--each has had multiple service calls. It's really inconvenient to have them break down so frequently also--it's never at a good time. For various reasons, I cook everything from scratch--no option to get take out or go to family/friends. I'm getting frustrated with the reliability.

So you're saying a 5 year warranty plus the 1 year it comes with...is 6 years about what the industry builds them for? Totally serious question. Smile

I came to a similar conclusion about washers and dryers actually--the manufacturer of our last dryer actually stopped making parts for it after 6 or 7 years. I literally could not fix it. So then I got low tech machines, figuring at least if they are now built to be "disposable," better to spend less on them.

This most recent range, the "shabbat mode" started turning itself off over the past year during chag. Pretty inconvenient. Fortunately, I had a plata and a portable electric burner, so we managed, but it was annoying. And now the ovens are not heating properly again--they were serviced for this already at least once.

I would like a cooking machine that is easy to fix and doesn't have electronic parts that stop being made, etc., so that's why I was thinking about the blue star. It doesn't look complicated mechanically and the few parts it has seem to be fairly easy to source from what google tells me. In some ways, it seems more like the old fashioned ranges I remember seeing when I was a kid--some of those could be serviced practically forever. I don't mind periodic maintenance.

Studying Torah--which company did you end up going with?

Thank you everyone for the ideas. Going off to research more.

amother

Seashell

Mon, Aug 05 2019, 4:48 pm

I have a wolf and I love it. But I can’t speak for it’s longevity as we’ve only had it for a year and a half. No issues so far though.