I have been putting off buying a new stove for a while now, mainly because I knew it was going to be a big and expensive purchase, something best saved for a remodel. Christmas dinner was my turning point. We had Christmas dinner at our house this year, which meant I was responsible for cooking the entire meal. I can’t even begin to tell you the level of frustration I experienced while cooking that dinner. Let’s just say I would have sold a body part for a larger oven and an extra burner! The stove we had was great at broiling–but nothing else! I was literally guessing what temperature I was setting the stove to because the spots on the dial indicating temperature had come off.
I already knew I wanted a Blue Star range, it has been my dream stove for about 15 years. Two months ago I looked at the Blue Star website, found a dealer near me and took the plunge! Just a note of advice–NEVER do this! When you order a range of this caliber jumping into it is the wrong move–there is a reason most people put it in during a remodel! I bought the range went home–told my husband–then preceded to panic! I, the queen of reviews, had not read one review–except for Marcus Samuelson’s 15 years prior! So off I went down the rabbit hole of reviews–to find complaints of hot doors–doors so hot that they fuse shut–and a list of reasonable requirements for installation–none of which I had thought of–I just wanted a new stove! Mind you most of the reviews were old–circa 2003-2010!So if you’re reading this–you’re welcome! After sorting through hundreds of the reviews I found that Blue Star was very responsive to customer complaints and fixed every complaint. The ranges no longer have any of the issues I read about in the reviews. I was particularly concerned with the hot door issue because of Page–she loves to hang out with me while I cook so I couldn’t have that. The installation requirements were not anything huge, nothing that most kitchen remodels wouldn’t cover, for instance, we had to install a non-combustible tile behind the range, and we also had a base wall that we had to cover with non-combustible material–luckily the wall met the depth 24in requirement. We had to install an electrical outlet just for the range and lastly we had to install an oven hood. The hood installation was actually the most stressful of all of the amendments we had to make. The installer had to remove the cabinets we had above the range, and in the middle of that he found that we had a faux ventilation system–the people who lived here before us set up a vent piece that had no piping to the outside–dangerous for us for sure! While I’m grateful that we now have a ventilation system that actually vents to the outside–it ended up costing 3 times the amount we were quoted to install the hood–but again what’s a few dollars compared to our lives!
Now let’s discuss the range. Blue Star is made right here in the USA. Most if not all of the production of the range is handmade–which is why it takes so long to get one–7 weeks–each range is custom made. There are several iterations of a Blue Star range but the big decision for me was choosing between a sealed burner range or an open burner range. I chose the latter. Blue Star ranges are known for open burners and simplicity– no frills, computer boards, timers, or self-cleaning ovens. They are as close to a commercial restaurant range as you can get. Why choose and open burner range? The beauty of an open burner is that open burners allow for better oxygen flow, that equates to more even heat and more firepower in the form of BTU’s. I went with the base open burner model the RCS–which on my 36-inch range includes 5-15k BTU burners and 1-9500k BTU simmer burner. I have 6 burners ya’ll!
The open burners are on this range are powerfully hot!! In fact other than searing and boiling water, I don’t see a need for using the full power of the 15k burners.
The simmer burner is great. I’ve used it to cook rice. The water barely moves, but 10 minutes later I have perfectly cooked rice. It’s like magic!
The oven is not talked about a lot in most reviews, so let me say a few things. The oven is huge! I can fit 2 commercial sheet pans in it at the same time! This will definitely cut the time I spend making caramel popcorn this Christmas in half.
The broiler is amazing! Lamb chops under the broiler were done in 6 minutes, short ribs in 2!
I’ve never worked with infrared anything, and I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t like the broiler on this oven because the one in my old oven was pretty great, but consider me a convert–infrared is awesome– 1850F of straight awesomeness! Many have complained about the broiler being too small–for me, it’s not, I could easily broil 2 or 3 small steaks at once, which for me is perfect! I mean look at the crust on the short ribs I made! As good as any grill could ever accomplish! The oven is optional convection, meaning you flip a switch to turn on the convection fan. Once the oven reaches temperature, it holds temperature well! It takes a good 30 minutes to preheat the oven just because it’s so big. I’ve made brownies, brussel sprouts, kale chips, and sweet potatoes all with great success in this oven! Overall, I love this range! It’s a pleasure to cook on and in this range, things cook quickly and evenly. Getting this stove has made me realize how much time I wasted cooking on my last stove, by buying this range I actually spend less time cooking–that is always my goal!
Just so you know, this is not in ANY way a sponsored post. I bought and paid for this range with my own money, and the review you’re reading is my own personal experience with this range.
Edit/Update : I started a Facebook group for Blue Star ranges if you have one and want to chat or ask questions of other people who own one join the group. I figured the best way to learn about our ranges is to chat with other people who have one. It’s a private group so you’ll need to search for it : BLUE STAR RANGE OWNERS
Lazy Girl Dinners 
Thank You! Thank You!! I have looked at these ranges and read reviews for a few years now…I could be a salesperson I know so much about them! Your review was very informative…love the cast iron open burners! The 36″ RCS is all I need, stainless steel and plenty of power!
June 🙂
Awesome! I’m so glad you found my review helpful. Now that I’ve had it for awhile and I’ve had the opportunity to run it through several paces— I love it even more! I would be very sad to leave my Blue Star behind if we ever sold our house. I hope you enjoy yours as much!
I just read your post and thought it was worth while to let you know that Bluestar and BigChill gas ranges from 2015 – 2017 have been recalled in Canada and the US for explosion/ burn hazard. You may want to check your range and perhaps let your reader’s know?
Here are the links:
https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2018/67736r-eng.php
https://cpsc.gov/Recalls/2018/gas-ranges-and-wall-ovens-recalled-by-prizerpainter-stove-works-due-to-burn-hazard
Hi Kelly! Thank you for alerting me. While I was sifting through the reviews on Blue Star I read about the recall on the wall ovens, I was not aware that it extended to the ranges. My range is not affected by this recall thankfully, but I’m happy to pass this on to readers of my blog. The good news is that Blue Star has a solid reputation for being very responsive to fixing any issues with their ranges. Their customer service is excellent at least they have been with me. Again, thank you for sharing this with me and thank you for stopping by my blog!
HI there, stumbled on your Blue Star review…do you find that the open burners make it harder to clean? I’m debating between going with Viking vs Blue Star and might go with Blue Star since they offer a sealed burner at the same price as the open burner. Vikings sealed burner is $1400 more than the open burner.
I had the same worry after reading hundreds of reviews about open burners versus closed burners. Now that I own an open burner stove I have to say I don’t understand the fuss. This stove is by far 100% easier to clean and keep clean than any sealed burner stove I’ve ever had. In my opinion keeping the surface of a sealed stove shiny and buffed is a lot more work because I always worried about scratching it. With the open burner stove I don’t have that worry. Boil overs, stray potatoes or green beans, rather than stay on top of the stove, fall through into trays. I layer the trays with foil and throw them out so clean up is a breeze. As for the stove top, a quick scrub down with a green scrub pad keeps the grates looking new and I don’t worry at all about scratching or scorching the surface of the stove. Hope that helps, good luck with your decision and thank you for stopping by my blog!
Thank you for this, it is such helpful information! We are in the market for a new range to replace a c. 1980 analog Kenmore (this is the last Christmas I am doing this, I swear) and BS is the top of my list for many of the same reasons as yours. Great to hear that the oven doesn’t disappoint and the broiler works well. I have booked natural gas conversion for our house and decided on a 48 inch to get a smaller side oven that I assume will heat up faster than the large oven for things like re-heating leftovers as we don’t have/want a microwave. But now I am trying to decide do we want the integrated 24″ griddle or all 8 burners? I know the BS Platinum has a removable griddle but I really don’t like the idea of having attachments to store separately and feel that the griddle would be useful assuming it has even and adjustable heat. If so, I can imagine using it as a french top as well. And I love cooking but I am not a professional chef so would not use all 8 burners at once. Here in Canada, we can get a 48″ RCS from Costco but it has sealed burners, so the only option for open burners is buying direct from the distributor for, essentially, double the price of the Costco 48″ RCS. It’s great hearing your experience because it reassures me to go with my gut and finally be able to cook a meal without cursing at my stove!
First of all I’m so jealous that you can buy a blue star at Costco! I’m also envious that you’re getting a 48 inch range! Oh how I wish we had the space! I personally think you’ll be extremely happy with the performance of the sealed burner RCS. I’ve definitely been where you are as far as cooking a big meal on an incompetent stove, once you get your range you’ll definitely wondering why you didn’t get it sooner. Congratulations and do come back and let me know how everything works out once you get it! Thank you for stopping by!
Hi there! Stumbled upon this blog (thanks to the original author) and see you are going with a 48″ range. I’ve been researching this topic for 2 years now. We are ready to pull the trigger on our remodel and I’m hesitating, again, on the BS. The only other option I’d go with is the Wolf 48″ range, but I LOVE that BS has larger ovens than Wolf, but I like the dual ability of Wolf. Have you made a purchase?
Hi, it’s me (May) again and I just wanted to say in the end we bought a 48″ Blue Star (RNB) with a 12″ griddle and it arrived last week.It is awesome, exactly what I was hoping for and I am having a great time figuring out how it works. Ordering it, getting it delivered and into the house then hooked up, and getting the cabinets configured around it and vent hood installed has been quite the undertaking, and in hindsight not a great project to start in December right before Christmas. I have been trying to embrace the process while I wait for my kitchen to be put back together. Anyway, just wanted to say it has not disappointed and has been lots of fun so far. It is massive, heavy and powerful, and so very pretty (I ordered white with stainless knobs). Thanks for the inspiration!
Wonderful!!! Installing the accompanying components was a big headache for me as well, so I empathize! I’m so happy that you’ll get to cook in your dream kitchen for Christmas! Congratulations and thank you for coming back to share your experience!!!
Happy Cooking!
I ordered the same model about 3 weeks ago. the shipping company didn’t put it on the truck so I need to wait another day or two. I was sooooo bummed. I can’t wait to get cooking. Congratulations
Awesome come back once you’ve used it awhile and let us know what you think!
Thank you so much for your review as I read it I am sitting here worrying myself sick . we too took the plunge and have ordered a new blue star for a kitchen remodel.( after about seven years of wanting one ) . Consumer Reports was no help at all and some reviews were tough. 30in. Platinum . We will see …lol Thanks again for your review.
Hi Dave!
Congrats on your new purchase! I’m so happy to hear that you found my review useful! Please come back after you have your blue star installed and let us know what you think. I’m sure you will love your new range!
Thank you for stopping by!
Thanks for posting this review…I’m looking at this same range … can’t afford to make a bad purchase!
I bought the same stove! Just installed it. Love it but I need to change out my vent hood. Currently, the vent hood I have is not deep enough to cover the front burners. How do you like your NXR hood? Is it loud on the lowest setting? Is that a NXR Pro model?
Hello! Yes I do have the NXR Pro. I have never used it on the high setting so when you asked how loud it was I had to shuttle through each setting to hear if it was loud or not. There are 4 different settings on my hood. My go to setting is low or the second setting which I would say is medium low. Neither are what I would consider loud. I can still hear the television in the living room on either setting. The last two dials are louder but I not overly loud in my opinion. But I probably couldn’t hear the television in the other room on those higher settings. With that said, I’ve definitely worked with hoods that are much louder. I like my hood, it definitely serves its purpose. It is more than capable of handling the heat and smoke that comes off of the blue star. I pan sear steaks, and salmon on it often, never have I had to go beyond the second setting on this hood—it’s great! The only gripe I have with the hood is that it has a NXR Pro name plate plastered on the front of it. I’d prefer not to have a name plate at all, but that is a matter of taste—not function. Hope this helps, thank you for stopping by!
Thanks for checking. I went ahead and ordered the hood through Costco and a chimney cover through another web company. With our current hood, I hardly use the high settings only when I seal my wok or cast iron skillet. I don’t like the NXR logo plate either. I’ll see if it can be removed once I get my unit.
Keep up the good work on this site. There are some recipes I will try out.
Congrats on both of your purchases! The best thing about ordering from Costco is that if you change your mind you can always take it back! Let me know how it goes if you do decide to take the nameplate off.
Hi, I was able to remove the nameplate off using my fingers. It popped right off and then use some hot water and soap to remove the glue. Although my nameplate is an oval shape NXR, yours is a square NXR PRO from what I can see.
Thank you so much for coming back to tell me this! I didn’t realize it would be so easy to take the name plate off! It never occurred to me that it was just a sticker. I was able to get it off without damaging my hood, it looks great now! Thank you!
I love my nxr Hood. Is designed exactly like a professional hood. Only downfall is the lights burned out quickly and i need to change them out but the hood itself is incredible. The squirrel cage blower will last a lifetime but looks easily swapped out if issues arise. The hood screens pop out and clean up easily. No more smoke detectors going off and oily residue on the cabinets as it collects in the screens. I do not consider it loud but that did not factor into my purchase. We leave it on at nights in the summers and it sucks the hot air out and cool air comes in.
Oh no, sad to hear about the lights, I use mine all the time, hopefully replacing them isn’t too tedious!
Thank you for stopping by!
So we are considering a 36” BS for our home remodel and have a few questions.
1. Do you really get a low simmer? I’ve heard elsewhere that the simmer runs hot. Also, what do you do itpf you need to simmer more than one item. We were told you could stack the burners, if you needed more simmer burners, but this seems like a safety issue. Comments? (Btw-we are considering induction because of this.)
2. Platinum versus Nova series. The Nova does not have the 25000 btu burner which is offered I the Platinum series (can’t imagine needing something so hot, anyway), it does not come with the griddle, and it has the more traditional oven, with the heat coming from the bottom, and slower preheat time. Have people been happier to have the higher heat, quicker heating Platinum series?
Hi! I’m so sorry I just saw your message. The simmer burner works great, I use it primarily to cook rice and I have to say I love it—I get a true simmer! If I need to simmer anything else I just turn one of the other burners down to low, it doesn’t work as well as the simmer burner but it works well enough. Keep in mind that on my range all of the burners are the same with the exception of the simmer burner. The Nova and platinum series models offer several different burners on one range so I’m not sure that I’m the right person to answer this question for you. Thank you for stopping by and if you made the purchase please come back and leave a review it could help others who are searching.
We are trying to decide between a BS 36” Platinum, Novo, and an Induction.
Questions.
1. For those who went with Platinum, do you ever really crank it up on the 25,000 btu burner, or is that overkill? I guess it would be good for boiling a big pot of water, but cooking on that high of heat seems too much.
2. Do you get a true simmer from your 5000 btu burner? Hat do you do if you need to simmer several items?
I bought the Platinum a few months ago. I use the 25k BTU burner, but I used to cook professionally. It is an inferno and I love it. Somehow they also made it so it does not gum up and was easy to clean when something cooked over. I am mystified as I have used Wolf, Viking and American Range. These burners are superior in every way. That said I intensely dislike the PowR oven. When the flame in back ignites it overcooks everything in the back of the sheetpan. I would up buying smaller sheetpans so the heat could cirulate better. For bread, roasts, cakes and such it is fine. For cupcakes I had the same issue I had with sheetpans. Unless you want inferno burners go with a less expensive model that has a better oven. Do not get the PowR oven if you can avoid it, the performance is worse than any other home/commercial oven. I would happily pay to get it retrofitted as a normal oven, but they can’t do that. I would still buy it for the burners, but I am frustrated by the deceptive marketing on the oven.
Interesting, and disappointing to say the least. How do you like the broiler on the platinum? I am so in love with the broiler on the RCS, it is the thing I never knew I wanted but direly needed in my life. I wonder if it’s bigger in the PowR oven.
I am building a house and ready to purchase all my appliances. I am going to purchase the Bluestar stove. Do you have any recomendations for other appliances?
Sheila
How exciting!! Congratulations on your new build! I don’t have any recommendations but please come back and post pictures when you’re done, I love seeing beautiful kitchens!!
Thank you for your review! This was one of the only real consumer reviews I saw outside of Houzz comment threads where BlueStar owner seem to love their ranges. A few months ago, I broke our current range, but it was a crappy Fridgedaire that I knew needed to go. I fell in love with BlueStar while shopping for a new hood. It was good timing, since we now need a more powerful hood for our new incoming BlueStar range. We can only accommodate a 30″ but I decided to go for the RNB model. I can’t wait!
Congratulations! The reason I wrote this review was because I couldn’t find any current reviews and that was very frustrating to me while I was researching, so I’m extremely happy to hear that you found my review helpful. Please do come back and let us know how you like your range once you get it. Thanks for stopping by and happy cooking!!
Consumer Reports reviews have warned about extremely hot oven door fronts when the oven is in use and burner control knobs requiring mitts to operate if the oven is in use. You made passing reference to your own concern about this issue in the beginnng of your review but did not come back to it in the later section where you talked about the oven. So what is the scoop on the hot stove front/knob issue? If you held your hand on the oven door or knobs would you get burned or have to remove your hand quickly if the oven is on? Is there any concern about excessive heat damaging/warping adjacent cabinet walls if the oven is slid into a bank of lower cabinets?
BlueStar addressed the hot oven door issues by adding a second vent line to the oven door. Their first iteration only had one vent line, the addition of that second vent line solved the issue of doors getting so hot that they fuse shut as well as the problem of doors being too hot to touch. I can personally say that I’ve never had an issue with the oven door being too hot to touch or place a hand near when it’s on. As for the knobs getting hot when the oven is in use- I often cook on the stove stop while something is roasting in the oven, I touch the knobs and the knobs the don’t feel hot—again those vents work wonders! There is one exception to hot knobs! The broiler— I sometimes leave the oven door open to watch my food while it’s under the broiler, when I’ve done that the knob that controls the oven/broiler gets very hot, I definitely need an oven mitt to turn it off then— BUT only if I leave the oven door open while broiling—leave the door closed and it’s not a problem. Hope that helps!
I too want a Commercial Style range but the lack of a self-cleaning oven holds me back. I know the burners are great, but why should I pull the trigger and pay top dollar for a manual, Easy Off clean oven?
If not having a self cleaning oven is an a deal breaker for you I completely understand. I am not here to convince you one way or the other, buy what makes you happy and what’s works for you and your family, I did. Good luck with your search, and thanks for stopping by!
You have to ask yourself how you use your range and why you want commercial style. If you use commercial techniques and want a restaurant result, very high heat is necessary and BS comes through on that. If you mostly bake, save your money as there are better ranges. My least favorite was Viking, I had Viking in both condos I rented when I lived in LA. Everything broke on them and they did not have very hot burners. The oven was excellent. In my opinion I would get GE before Viking. Cleaning the oven does not bother me, it is a once or twice a year chore and I love gas. American Range has the very hot burners, but their heat is not as even, they are harder to clean and they can’t do simmer well. The gas oven was fantastic, but their electric wall oven never worked and their customer service is legendarily awful. BS has much better customer service. For Blue Star just make sure you do not get the PowR oven if baking is important to you. I doubt many home cooks will every use the full 25k BTU’s of the platinum series so you can get a different series and avoid the PowR oven. It is impossible to communicate how wonderful their burners are. Somehow they are faster, yet they don’t scorch pans. The control can be very fine tuned. My Wolf was manufacured before they changed who made them so I can’t speak to the modern Wolf, but I had 1 60 inch Wolf I bought around 2000 and I loved that thing. It had a salamander with a 24 inch griddle, but the burners were underpowered. You really have to figure out which features are the most important to you
Open burners all the way! Self cleaning is over rated. My poor brother used the self cleaning option on his standard oven and it melted parts!
Lazy Girl Dinners:
I am torn between the RCS with 5-15K + 1 simmer burners
OR the RNB that has 2-22K, 3-15K + 1-simmer
I don’t know if having 2-22K burners is worth the $2,000 price difference? We don’t do a ton of searing and taking a bit longer to boil water with 15K is hardly the end of the world. $2K difference is significant especially since I need to buy a REAL vent system. Curious your thoughts!
I can’t speak for the RNB other than to say I’d love one! But the RCS burners do a great job, the 15k burners get hot! I rarely use their full power other than to sear, even then I find myself turning down the flame. Boiling water is pretty quick on the 15k burners, with that said, budget was the only factor in my decision not to buy the RNB, if I had a bigger budget I would have bought one. Does that mean I regret my decision to buy the RCS? Absolutely not, the RCS is awesome! I love it, and can’t imagine not being able to cook on it everyday. So my advice is stick to your budget, if you can manage the RNB within that budget great! If not still great—the RCS is an awesome range. Hope that helps!
Thank you for stopping by!
See if you can try out hotter burners at a store with a demostration. People often wonder why restaurant food tastes so different and cooking hot is a big part of that. Only you can say if it is worth it.
Does the door get hot? That’s a worry for me.
No it doesn’t they added additional ventilation so the door don’t get hot.
Lazygirldinners, thank you for your blog and everyone’s input, especially Liz with her professional cooking background. This blog helps solved so many questions for me. I am in the process of choosing a range for my new build. I had the same concern as you about keeping the stovetop clean with a sealed burner, now I know it should be easier to keep clean with an open burner.
My one question remains for the 30″ RCS model, the sealed burner has two 21kBTU in the front while the open burner has three 15kBTU burners. I want high heat for my cooking. I do lots of stir fry food on a 14″ pan, so I need searing power for cooking. My new house has propane, that means less powerful BTU after conversion. If it were you, would you still pick the open burner for the ease of cleaning or the sealed burner for higher BTU? Or just go with the RNB that has 22kBTU and open burner but costs extra money?
Anyone with the BS range already, can you help?
Thank you so much for this review! I was so close to ditching my1st choice (the Blue Star 36″ Culinary Series – Open Burner) and going with the Kitchen Aid36″ KFGC506JSS after visiting a showroom and listening to the salesperson’s opinion. This blog, questions, and answers resolved all my concerns, and I placed the order today!
Awesome! So glad it helped! Please come back and share your experience once you get it!
Thanks for this helpful review. I’ve had a Viking range for the last eight years or so. The oven takes an inordinate amount of time to preheat and throws off an enormous amount of heat when in use. Is this the case with the BS?
Hi, I usually turn it on 20-30 minutes before I need put food in it, and that’s usually enough time for it to reach my target temperature. But yes, it’s an oven, it warms the house while in use, I prefer to use use my Brevielle Smart Air countertop oven to avoid heating the house and also the preheat on the BS. Despite the preheat and heating the house on an already hot day— The BS oven shines because of the broiler! The broiler is awesome! It is the thing you never knew you needed—worth the entire cost of admission! I can’t recommend the broiler enough it’s my favorite thing on my BS.
How does the gas oven perform? My wife and I are sold on the burners, but we also like to bake. Some reviews I have read say the gas adds moisture and some say the extra movement of air removes the moisture… Does anyone have experience they could share?
Hi,
I’m not a huge baker, and haven’t used the oven to bake desserts. I mainly use it to roast veggies or air fry/convection bake veggies and in that area it is awesome! My favorite thing about the oven though is the broiler—it is Amazing —1850F of radiant heat! The open burners and the broiler set the Bluestar apart from its competitors. With that said, my neighbor has a Wolf and she’s an amazing baker, she loves her Wolf oven.
Thank you so stopping by,
HonLazy Girl Dinners.
I would like to share our experience with Blue Star Ovens. Our oven exploded on us setting two people on fire. We found out after the fact that our unit was recalled for the exact reason that caused our explosion. Blue Star never contacted us to tell us of the recall. The explosion happened 11 months ago and Blue star is still fighting with us over the incident. They will not take responsibility. We have medical bills, burnt hair and faces, food expenses, of course have to buy a new oven. Please research this company. Google Blue Star recalls. Ask them why they won’t take responsibility for an oven they knew had a defect and recalled. Feel free to reach out to me about details. Please reach out to Blue Star and ask them.
Would you please include details/full story of what happened/caused the explosion I’m sure those interested in buying would want to know
I would be interested in speaking with Jennifer if possible, our Bluestar range exploded as well. Is there any way you can pass along my email address?
Hi I don’t have an email for her, sorry, but would you mind sharing the details of your experience, I’m sure readers would appreciate it!
I don’t feel comfortable sharing my experience. BlueStar’s trolls are ruthless and I don’t want to provoke them by posting something. If you are smart you would take my advice and buy something different. It just might save your family.
Kelly
>
This is a safe place, no trolling allowed on my blog. I approve every post before it is posted, I won’t allow anyone to bully you or anyone else. You are the second person to post having this type of experience with your range neither of you have shared the details that led up to it. I think it’d be helpful to others if you did, it may just save a life.
This review and the following comments are invaluable. I love the Classic Big Chill range which Blue Star makes for them. That said, Big Chill is not getting great reviews: damaged equipment, poor customer service. Does anyone have insights on their experience with this company and their ranges?
Kelly (Uniewski) Simpson ,
It would really help the community if you left details about your experience. Being “smart” about a product /topic involves taking information from various sources including your experience. I hope you would reconsider.
Exploring 48” range vs range top. I’m sold on BS open burners and power but I’m hesitant about the gas ovens. Concerned about long preheat, noise, baking. Would love any further input on your experience. The platinum model in the store has the power r oven which was an intimidating loud inferno with poor reviews so if I went with the range I would choose RNB. I love the look of the range, especially the color options but I’m considering the BS range top (with colored knobs) and double wall ovens..maybe monogram French door oven over the advantium smart oven.
Hi,
The preheat is long because it’s a really big oven, but once it reaches temp it’s accurate and consistent. I haven’t noticed any noise other than when the convection fan is on. IMO the oven works as it should. The convection on this oven is amazing, but the thing that makes it worth every cent to me is the broiler! It is amazing! It is the function that I never knew I needed until I got it! Now I can’t live without it! I don’t bake a lot and when I do I tend to use my Brevielle Smart oven because I’m usually not baking a large amount at once—a few cookies for my daughter, a muffin tin of brownies—it doesn’t make sense to me to use the behemoth BS oven for those things. However, during Christmas I bake much more and the BS oven has worked beautifully. When I finally redo my kitchen I plan to install a wall oven and I want an additional BS broiler! Good luck with your decision and thanks for stopping by!!
Thank you so much, I appreciate your response. Will be undergoing a major house renovation starting this summer that will include completely relocating the kitchen. The number of decisions to be made as well as the expense of everything can be overwhelming and there is a lot of self imposed pressure to get it right. I plan to go forward with the 36″ RNB Bluestar range. Thanks again!
Hello.
I came across your post about your Bluestar Range. Just wondering if you still love it? Had any problems? If so, was the customer service acceptable?
I was so thankful to read your review. Reading reviews is a never-ending, hopeless rabbit hole. I sometimes think if I just take the plunge & start now, I could build one from scratch & the chances would be the same for performance as if I plunked down the money for a serious range. I mean-these reviews from customers give me doubts about spending this amount of hard, hard-earned money to get a dud & then be told by a manufacturer, ‘sorry-not our problem.’ Seriously. If you wouldn’t mind updating-I’m sure we in the range decision world would be so appreciative.
Hi!
No problems with my range, it has been the MVP of my kitchen since I got it in 2018! We did have to replace the igniter on the broiler a few weeks ago, but it has been 3 years of constant use! I use my broiler on average of 3/4 times a week. Plus in the early days of learning to use it I set several steaks ablaze and had to let them burn out inside the oven—that probably wasn’t good for my broiler. The BS is well worth the money we spent to buy it, it’s as serious a range as the competitors in the field and I’ve cooked on all of them! Good luck with your decision
Hi, just wondering how your experience has been with the Bluestar after a few years? I’m seriously considering a 30″ RCS open burner range. I was just about to pull the trigger but am a little nervous with all the reports of reliability issues and customer service nightmares posted on Houzz. My last stove lasted 15 years without issue and was a cheap consumer grade range. Also, you most read accolades of the open burners and stove top use for the Bluestar, but not much about the oven. Do you find it to be accurate, reliable, and to cook evenly?
Hi,
My BS has been a godsend! I had to replace the igniter on the broiler a few weeks ago but I use my broiler a lot 3/4 times/wk and I suspect that it’s failure was partly my fault—I set a few steaks ablaze learning to use it. The oven is pretty accurate I leave an oven thermometer in mine and once it reaches the set temperature it stays consistent. I love the convection— it airfry’s to perfection! The oven is large so I tend to use my Brevielle smart oven much more, but for larger portions the BS oven has been great! I’ve never had a problem with BS customer service they delivered my range as promised and It has worked beautifully! Even when we called about the broiler they gave us the number to several service people in our area, we picked one and our repair was completed within a week. Good luck with your decision!! Thanks for stopping by!
Nice write up. Informative, real world experiences. I’m unsure a gas oven is as precise as electric but I love the BlueStar.
Hello! Did you have to have makeup air unit put in with your range hood? If we get anything higher than 400cfm here in Kansas it requires that we also get makeup air unit installed as well (which is a whole lot of $$). Would a 400cfm hood that vents outside be enough power? Thanks for your help!
I’m not really knowledgeable about range hoods. I googled cfm’s and found this :
To power your range hood, you need at least 100 CFM for every 10,000 BTUs of your stovetop. For example, a 100,000 BTU stove needs at least a 1000 CFM range hood. For electric stoves, multiply the stove width by 10. So, for a 42” electric stove you want a range hood with at least 420 CFM.
My hood has a cfm of 1000, I don’t know if the installer had to install a makeup air unit or not—I don’t think he did—but we he definitely had to upgrade our ventilation system a lot and it was pricey!!! I asked him if the hood would be able to handle the smoke that could come from my BS and he said definitely! Hope this helps!
Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
Then when the installer came to install I asked him if it was good enough and he told me it was. I’m sorry I’m not much help with this.
Absolutely love cooking on my BlueStar range. I’ve had it for 6 years and don’t cook much. Already had the oven igniter replaced last year and it’s failing again. Last night the convection fan started to vibrate badly. This range is junk.
Sorry that you’ve had a bad experience thank you sharing your experience!
I just found myself in your shoes :). We went to the appliance store for Thermador cooktop and the salesman told us to buy Blue Star or Wolf. We ended up with BS as it was slightly cheaper. Now I am sitting and researching the stove. But the more I research, the more convinced I am that it was a good decision. Thank you for the article!
Haha…I’m glad to know that I’m not the only person out there who buys first asks questions later! Glad it worked out for us both!
Hi there! I’ve been following your post for awhile, and I think it’s the most helpful review of Bluestar I’ve seen on the internet. Would you mind sharing how your range is doing now in 2023? Still holding up? Still love it? We are about to make a decision on our range for our new kitchen and it’s between a Bluestar a Thermador and a Miele. Thanks so much!
I’m curious if you know when BS added the 2nd vent system. Does it vent out the back? We bought a house with a BS 30” RNB range in it that was put in when the house was built in 2014. My chief complaint is how hot the oven door gets on the sides where it is vented. Mine also vents at the back of the cooktop, which also gets very hot, but less chance of accidentally coming in contact with it. I’m curious if this is the 2nd venting system you mentioned. I love love love the open burners and power – the oven not so much, although I’m learning to deal with it. I’ve learned that lower temps = longer cook time, higher temps = less cook time.
I’m sure I knew the answer to this back when I was researching, but I can’t remember the exact date at this moment. I do know that the additional vents are visible on the front top of the oven door, the previous iterations don’t have these vents. Hope that helps!
Really appreciate this review and comments to read real life experiences with this brand. We are shopping for a new 30 inch range and Bluestar is at the top of our list. As much as we would like an RNB series for the higher BTU’s, it’s just right outside our budget. With that said, how was it cooking on the RCS series being that the max is 15k BTU’s? I believe the only real difference between the series is that the RNB has higher BTU’s on the stove.