So, how did the story with the Bluestar end? I get this question all the time from anxious cooks trying to make a decision about which range they should get. After 7 years of ups and downs (mostly downs), the bluestar is finally dead.
I was suspecting a gas leak due to a faint smell of propane. Since Vesco was here only a couple of months ago, I called my propane company. They showed up immediately and confirmed that there was a leak. After testing their system, they narrowed it down to the range itself. Maybe Vesco should have paid more attention to the fact that my burners were lighting with a huge puff of flame. The propane company disconnected the range since it was a safety hazard. This happened on a Wednesday. I had 2 classes scheduled for Saturday, and 2 sick children at home. It was not a good week. But Natick Appliance came to my rescue and got me a Wolf in 2 days.
Everything on a Wolf worked out of the box, except for the broiler. The fact that something should not work on a $5,000 range was puzzling to me. It took 2 weeks to schedule a repair. I could have been done earlier if I were able to cancel all my appointments on a moment's notice, and take whatever time they gave me the evening before showing up. Since that wasn't possible, I had to wait 2 weeks so that I could get an appointment with a specific time arranged ahead. The repairman from Clarke, the Wolf distributor and repair shop, was thorough and knowledgeable. My problem was not consistent -- sometimes the broiler stayed on, and sometimes it turned off shortly after lighting. The repairman stuck around long enough to recreate my broiler issues, fixed it (he had the part on hand), and spent another 20 minutes running the diagnostics to make sure the broiler was working consistently.
Wolf pros: smooth operation, easy clean up, good repairman
Wolf cons: small oven, expensive
Bluestar pros: huge oven, burners heat pans very evenly, half the price of Wolf
Bluestar cons: everything breaks, you might set yourself on fire and burn down your house
Will the Wolf age gracefully? We'll see.
3 comments:
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Are you still happy with your wolf gas range or would you recommend Miele. I am thinking of buying the 36 is gas oven range, but also need a 30" gas wall oven and do not know which to choose since American and Bluestar have awful reviews.
Wolf is ok. Things break. I had the technician here 3 times already because the oven igniter was malfunctioning, and the broiler was broken out of the box. The burner design is not as good as the bluestar, BUT the customer service has been great. They come quickly and fix things well. Also, the things that break are small compared to bluestar. The oven was still functional. Of course, it hasn't even been a year yet. If you get Miele, let me know how you like it.
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