BlueStar

SonVolt

Ozzie_Isaac said:

@nolaegghead

I wondered about these too, but I can't lift up on the bottom panel beneath the oven door. It's just for decoration and won't support the weight of the oven. I'd need support arm of the hand jack to extend under and past the panel about 6-7". 

alaskanassasin

I’ve thought about getting something like this to play around with. One of those things you rarely need but might use more if you have one.
 

alaskanassasin

I just picked the front corner up with those two 2x4s

alaskanassasin

Put you knee on it and your hands are free to adjust

SonVolt

alaskanassasin said:

I just picked the front corner up with those two 2x4s

I'll give this a shot. Thanks.

alaskanassasin

Yep, you can get under there past the panel

otter

Insulate the water closet walls and ceiling for sound reasons. 

NDG

Welp, spent 3+ hrs @ Custom Distributors - high end appliance world is dangerously intoxicating.  Our sales guy was wealth of knowledge, super glad bc i have no patience for a fart mouth commission gobbler.  We need a 30” range - crazy to me bc at showroom they had Probably 70+ ranges on floor, and <5 sized at 30” . . Warps your reality.  

Anyway, Without too much details, almost certainly going with the 30” BlueStar RNB Nova.  It’s very impressive & beautiful - wife loved it too - it just FeEls GuD !!  Our sales guy kept calling BlueStar a “power range” (similar to brand capital) compared to his fav Wolf which he just slapped every positive adjective too. He looked at our plans and really felt if we go Bluestar (bc of heat & power) we can’t have cabinets flush against range, need 3” on side, and suggested a 36” HOOD (600 cfm) for our 30” range.  Wife not super happy about this 36” Hood, bc it means we lose more cabinet space, something we have to discuss.  

My wife really liked the whole MONOGRAM line (GE top brand) which would be super easy to match up range, fridge, etc . . Any thoughts on this brand?  

I just looked back at our Contractors proposal and LOL he budgeted 7k for new appliances.  The F-ing Bosch built in fridge my wife was looking at was more than that alone! Something has to give 🤔 but I am convinced the BlueStar is good value, considering 1) i will not go Lowes to buy another Samsung, etc (had tons of issues) this time, and other options like GE Profile range is not that much cheaper consider loss of performance. 

 Gotta move fast, let the games begin !!

alaskanassasin

I don’t know about that on cabinet clearance. 

alaskanassasin

It looks like your install would be fine the way it is in your plans.

you need clearance around vertical cabinets beside the burners but you have counters so it works.  A 30” hood should be fine too. We have a 30” and the cabinets tend to get a bit dirty so a 36 would be nice but not necessary.

https://www.bluestarcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BlueStar-FreeStanding-Range-Installation-Manual-750163-Rev3.28.19.pdf

Corv

With a 30"wide counter, the stove is several inches out from the wall. Mine is flush with the side walls, and that works just fine - no issues. It's in about the center of an 8' counter, but protrudes probably 2.5" further than I'd like it to. My aisle is a little narrow for two people and it cuts into that space. We hadn't recut the opening, which was set up for the Jenn-Air stove I replaced.

My exhaust hood is 30" and that's fine. A powerful exhaust fan with an exterior outlet will such air in around the sides and front, so unless you are doing lots of smokey stuff on multiple burners simultaneously, it ought to work well enough. I have the 30" RNB and a 30" 600 cfm hood and have no issues with that, but if you can get more cfm, do it. I would disagree with your sales rep on that width issue.

buzd504

NDG said:

@corv or others, thoughts on water filtration system ?

Its official, I hijacked the thread . . 

We have a whole house filtration system that my wife insisted on because of the amount of trash we had from drinking bottled water.

Outdoors - there is a water softening system (we have hard city water) and a filter that removes most particulate and chlorine from the the whole house.  Under the island sink in the kitchen, we have an RO drinking water filter, that feeds two sinks (island and bar) and two ice makers (fridge and bar ice maker). 

I love it!!  The whole thing was about $5K installed, and they included coupons for a bunch of environmentally friendly cleaners and detergents that are designed to be good with soft water (you need a lot less soap).  Those have been somewhat hit or miss, but still worth it for the system.

Pretty sure the one we got is made by Puronics.  We have had it almost 7 years and it's going strong with regular service.

NDG

@corv (real life exp) and @alaskanassasin (diagram is super nice) THANK you for the response and the confidence to think Independent from sales rep.  This site helps me keep faith in humanity. Feels good.

@buzd504 great H20 filtration stuff - tnx !!

RyanStl

SonVolt said:

Life Pro Tip on the soap dispensers - toss the stock soap container in the trash and run surgical tubing from the pump directly into a large bottle of Dawn.  I haven't had to add soap in over a year 

I did this a few years ago and it's amazing how such a little thing improves one's life

SonVolt

Ours has ~1" air gap on the sides, but it's hidden behind a lip and appears flush against the cabinets and counter.  I also have a 30" Vent-a-hood and have no issues there. 

I too noticed high-end appliance dealers tend to favor 36"+ ranges... I don't think Fergusons in Nashville had a single 30" range.  That's just part of living in an older home and not wanting to rip out all the cabinets.     

fishlessman

the vent usually comes with a dimension from the stove top up.  people sometimes want it higher so they suggest a bigger hood and bigger blower. these exhaust vents dont pull air like they push

womaus

SonVolt said:

Life Pro Tip on the soap dispensers - toss the stock soap container in the trash and run surgical tubing from the pump directly into a large bottle of Dawn.  I haven't had to add soap in over a year 

This should be an included accessory with all new sinks. Actually cuts down on the amount of soap used also. 

womaus

SonVolt said:

Has anyone come up with a clever way to level these heavy ovens? Each leg rotates to raise or lower the oven, but the unit is too F'ing heavy/awkward to lift a corner up in order to turn one of them, especially when the oven is snug against the wall.  I have a rough textured stone tile that's not perfectly level from tile to tile, so the oven needs to be leveled in place. 

Now that I think about it, I wonder if could use a crescent wrench.... 

You'll want to call local rental places to see if they have something like this available:

https://airsled.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDsOHJT130g

I installed my 30" Bluestar myself with one. Got it leveled, in the correct location, all good. With the AirSled I could move the stove around the kitchen with very little force.

I was able to find one available about 20 miles from the house...picked it up early in the morning, get to the house at the time the plumber was schedule to hook up the stove and sign off on the gas install, leveled it out, and back to the rental joint all well with in 4 hours, a half day rental cost.

The only thing that did not go well was the condition of the airsled... it was a bit beat up, took a little time to repair some leaks with gorilla duct tape.

womaus

alaskanassasin said:

@NDG if you want the range to sit flat against your wall, take note of where the gas line hook up is on the Bluestar. Try to align your wall tap with that pocket

Also be very careful where you have the 120v installed, the stove is zero-clearance on the back, I had to have my electrician com back to move the outlet from the wall to the floor.

womaus

SonVolt said:

One note on the Bluestar... don't get one if you or your wife are a neat freak because the open burner design is not easy to clean. Spills and food can't be easily whipped up like on a sealed/flat design b/c spills fall down into the burners and into the drip trays below them. The grates are also roughly textured so paper towels tend to shred on them.  When it's time to clean you'll need to pull them out and scrub them in the sink with soap and water.  A pot of milk boiling over on my GE would have been relatively easy to wipe up. It would be a total nightmare on the Bluestar, so I'm always cognisant of my heat levels. 

I have very few scheduled tasks. But on most every Sunday morning I break down the top of my my 30" Bluestar for a full cleaning whether it needs it or not.

Oven area maybe once a month, as needed.

And I enjoy doing it. Music on the radio, suds in the sink.

Spent a lot of time in the back end of restaurants. It's not always the cooking that is enjoyable.

Wolfpack

Just did a factory tour of the Bluestar facility on this old house.  I didn’t know the company got its start back in the 1800’s as a fireplace/stove manufacturer. 

 While it was just a high level overview it was interesting- they have an astronomical amount of colors available and I love the fact they are made in the US. 

NDG

Wolfpack said:

Just did a factory tour of the Bluestar facility on this old house.  I didn’t know the company got its start back in the 1800’s as a fireplace/stove manufacturer. 

 While it was just a high level overview it was interesting- they have an astronomical amount of colors available and I love the fact they are made in the US. 

that’s cool I will search for that. I work in MFG and appreciate soo many things about BlueStar . . It’s simple, smart, powerful and the build reeks of quality.  At the showroom, I went from BlueStar to  Thermador, and it made the latter feel like my kids EZ Bake Oven.

CornfedMA

I’ve been following this thread for months. We’re undertaking a massive remodel and my local Blue Star dealer is in the middle of a move. They have a floor model with open burners for $1k off...I think this forum will be officially responsible for another 4 figure purchase. 

buzd504

OK BlueStar people, wtf are you doing with a 25K BTU burner?  I have a somewhat lower end 36" gas range (Verona) with 18K burners, and the only thing I use the high setting on is wokking and boiling water.  To simmer things, I have to move to the back burners.

What's the deal?

Corv

On my stove it's only 22k BTU. I feel deprived.

It's handy for boiling things or speeding up the preheating of my cast iron pans. When I put the griddle on, it works quite well. Where it takes a bit of getting used to is when a recipe calls for something like medium or medium-low heat. They mean that for a more common stove. For this one, it's a lower setting than one might expect. But we adapt.

Botch

buzd504 said:

OK BlueStar people, wtf are you doing with a 25K BTU burner?  I have a somewhat lower end 36" gas range (Verona) with 18K burners, and the only thing I use the high setting on is wokking and boiling water.  To simmer things, I have to move to the back burners.

What's the deal?

You kinda answered your own question.  
I wok several times a week (great way for a single person to cook at home) and I do pasta often, also.  
My other "hot" burner in the front (my wok ring is a permanent thingie on my right hot burner) can be turned down enough to do bacon-n-eggs every morning; I'd like to swap a standard burner from the back with it, but on the Bluestar "cooktop" you can't swap burners like you can on the other stoves.  I can live with it.  

NDG

buzd504 said:

OK BlueStar people, wtf are you doing with a 25K BTU burner?  I have a somewhat lower end 36" gas range (Verona) with 18K burners, and the only thing I use the high setting on is wokking and boiling water.  To simmer things, I have to move to the back burners.

What's the deal?

The New Testament clearly states Jesus baked his eucharist in a BlueStar oven & exclusively used a 25k burner to crisp his fish skin. The Disciples are a texture obsessed bunch.

NDG

New Regulations Incoming ??  today i see all news sources have an Article about the same thing . . Gas Stoves Leak Climate Warming Methane.  Only article I could click without paywall was NPR listed here

SonVolt

buzd504 said:

OK BlueStar people, wtf are you doing with a 25K BTU burner?  I have a somewhat lower end 36" gas range (Verona) with 18K burners, and the only thing I use the high setting on is wokking and boiling water.  To simmer things, I have to move to the back burners.

What's the deal?

That's your sear or wok burner. Or, just turn the heat down and use it like any other burner. Almost all ranges have a small dedicated simmer burner on the back b/c it's very hard to simmer with a large burner ring without resorting to weird tricks like automation turning it off/on repeatedly.

NDG

SonVolt said:

buzd504 said:

OK BlueStar people, wtf are you doing with a 25K BTU burner?  I have a somewhat lower end 36" gas range (Verona) with 18K burners, and the only thing I use the high setting on is wokking and boiling water.  To simmer things, I have to move to the back burners.

What's the deal?

That's your sear or wok burner. Or, just turn the heat down and use it like any other burner. Almost all ranges have a small dedicated simmer burner on the back b/c it's very hard to simmer with a large burner ring without resorting to weird tricks like automation turning it off/on repeatedly.

this is a better answer . .