Curious about Wolf

[eleny]

I don't think we'd be able to afford this stove. But Wolf pricing isn't available on the net. What do you suppose this dual fuel 30" Wolf stove might cost?
http://subzero.com/wolf/description.asp?category=dual%20fuel%20ranges&id=27

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

1. $5000.00 n/t

[eleny]

2. Falling back down - plop

I was guessing 4k. Thanks for posting!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

6. Isn't that obscene?

Technically it's something like $4,986.00. They should just call it 5 grand & be done with it.

It's a super cool looking stove, though.

Years ago, I saw a Viking that I really, really wanted until I noticed the discreet little price tag of 7 grand. So much for that!

best

[SW FL Dem]

3. I was hesitant to click on this topic -

am I the only one that wondered what you wanted to know about wolf?

[Lars39]

4. Like....how to cook one?

That was my first thought, too. :)

[eleny]

8. You guys are too funny!

It never entered my mind that it had a dual meaning. You can see how focused I am on appliances!

[Sparkly]

19. I thought you meant Wolf Blitzer.

I spend too much time in GD.

[wildeyed]

24. I wouldn't mind talking about ways to bar-b-que wolf

if it was Wolf Blitzer.

[Stinky The Clown]

26. Too gnarly

You'd have to marinate his azz fer waaaaaay too long.

Just use him for dog food.

[eyepaddle]

30. I was wondering if the meat

was stringy!

What a relief! :P

[eleny]

31. One thing for sure

After you take a bite, you realize it's not what it's cracked up to be. :spank:

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Being a gearhead, I **knew** what this post was about! :-)

Why did you pick this particular one? The look? The function? There are generally comparable ranges that might well be available for less. Wolf is a pricey brand, for whatever reason. I'd guess this could be upwards of $5,000.

Here's a similarly configured and styled Viking for $3500:

http://www.universal-akb.com/30vikdualran.html

I have a Viking 36" 6-burner cooktop and love it.

[eleny]

7. I had to know because they don't want to tell online

It was pure curiosity.

The deal is that I want to replace my fridge and stove. And since I love to cook, I want to get a great stand alone even if I have to pay some more. I want a gas, self cleaner with 5 sealed burners. I think the 5th burner in the center with the grate that covers the whole top is so helpful for those large pots.

I'm willing to pay a little more since hopefully I can find a stove to last the rest of my life. I had an avocado convection oven Tappan with a attached microwave on top for 20 years. Now we have a low end GE that's terrific but I'm ready for that 5th burner. I'll check out the Vikings!

Edit: I just looked at the Vikings and this one looks very nice. It only has 4 burners but it has the "one surface" configuration and sealed burners on the top. I can't fnd anything about self cleaning. But with a convection oven, it's bound to be s/c.
http://www.universal-akb.com/30vkgasravg.html

[Stinky The Clown]

9. In this price range, I dare say all of them have self cleaning ovens

But check just to be 100% certain. Try here:

http://www.vikingrange.com/welcome.html

This is the cooktop we have.



Notice that the knobs, the burners, and the grates are identical to the model you found. They make ranges (what you chose) cooktops (what I have) and rangetops, which are literally your choice with no oven - made to fit into a counter but protrude at the front for the front control knobs.

The model you chose:



according to Viking's website has a porcelain self cleaning oven.

edited to add: You say you want 5 burners .... and I understand why ...... but ......

The range is still only 30" wide. Pots are as big as they are. The fifth burner may well not really be very useful. I'd rather have four bigger burners than five smaller ones .... or even four ordinary sized ones, and one tiny one.

In any case, would it be at all possible to get a 36" range to fit? That extra six inches is huge! You get six burners, all of a useful size, and a larger oven. We often have all six going at once all under separate pots. All for more cost, but not **that** much more.

[eleny]

10. I have to wonder

Wonder if I'd burn the house down with the heat these guys put out? I read one of the opiniion sites and someone pointed out that you need a heavy duty range hood for heat removal "or else". I got to thinking that there had to be a nextlevel down for kitchen safety sake. But these ranges are the one level down from the pros.

Now, don't laugh. Or at least have fair warning to hold your side. We have tongue in groove pine wood walls in our kitchen. Can you see me doing some wok cooking? Hey, honey, hand me the soy sauce and would you do me a favore? Call the fire department.

Rats, H2S. There has to be something I can cook on that's got more oomph but won't have me in fear. I really like havng my pots hanging over the stove and don't want a range hood. But, then, it's more important to be reasonable and find another place for the pot rack. The Viking is glorious and comes in all those colors.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Exhaust hoods and range power

The **dire** cautions you hear (and maybe even from me) have to do with true commercial ranges. Just by way of example, here's the first one that came up on a fast Google for "restaurant range".



This guy has all the functional features at that Viking or Wolf, but for only $1,300 bux. Here's the summary of the features:

Product Description:
Restaurant Gas Range 36" wide, 6 burners and one 29" oven. 20,000 BTU’s per open burner. 35,000 BTU oven. Stainless steel front, sides, and back riser with high shelf. 6" adjustable legs. 3/4" rear gas connection and gas pressure regulator. Individual pilot for each burner. Full width pullout crumb tray under burners. Thermostat adjusts from 150° to 500°F. One year limited parts & labor warranty. AGA, NSF.

So why so cheap and why not buy this one!?!?

Weeeeelllll .... the power, for one thing. The "big" residential burners tend to be in the 12,000 to 14,000 btu range, per burner. (A basic range is even lower at about 9,000 btu per burner.) This guy's a third more powerful! At least! Same thing for the oven. And that's just to start.

What's not stated (and largely why it is so much cheaper) is some of the other issues. This guy vents the oven through that back shelf support. You can get it without the back shelf (called a "low flue riser" option). With that, the temperature of the vent could be in the 600°F to 750°F! That'll peel your wallpaper! Then there's the issue of clearances. You need to keep this bad boy at least 6" from any combustible materials. Suddenly you have this range in the middle of your room instead of against the wall.

And try keeping the air conditioning in balance when this sucker's belching all that heat into your house. It is, after all, not designed for home use. There's no insulation in it. The sides and front get ..... uh .... HOT!


So you need a hood over it. Relatively speaking, you need a big hood. Hoods are measured in cfm (cubic feet per minute) of air volume. The average home hood over a home range sucks about 500 cfm. This guy will need 2,100 of 'em. If you have anyone who wears a rug, that sucker's up the stack before you can say "Holy Toup' Batman!". Of course, for every cfm you pull out of a house, you have to add it ...... at the cost of your heat or a/c.

As far as the Viking (or that Wolf you liked), we see none of these problems. They're made for home use. Insulation, lower power, less need for a vent, cool to the touch, able to go against a combustible surface, etc., etc., etc.

(By the way, I really do advise a hood over a home range, too. But something reasonable ... like 500 or 600 cfm.)

So no ....... you don't need to worry about catching your hair on fire with a true residential range.

[eleny]

17. Big sigh of relief!

I could move my pot rack to be over the window. That wouldn't be so bad since the window looks out to the backyard. Then the options also include venting the stove up and out through the roof.

Thanks for everything, H2S. This kind of help doesn't come along every day. I sure appreciate the time you've taken to help me think through the choices.

[murphymom]

11. Since you're talking about ranges

does anybody have any experience with Jenn-Air dual-fuel ProStyle® ranges?



It has downdraft ventillation and you can swap out the grill module for a 2 burner module, or a griddle module.

We're also planning a kitchen redo and this one appeals to me. I would probably want to put a microwave/convection combo above the range. In our small kitchen space a hood would take up too much room, and I've been told the ventilation in above-the-range microwaves isn't that effective.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

14. I have the Jenn-air cooktop in gas.

It may be just me, or our settings, but I've been very unhappy with it. Either the pot boils over, or I turn it down & nothing happens. There doesn't seem to be a simmer mode on the darn thing. I have two burners & the barbecue on the other side that can be swapped out for two more burners or a fryer or a griddle or about a thousand other appliances. I had the same problem with our electric one. It broke after about 7 years & we replaced it. Why we replaced a 7 year old broken Jenn Air with a new one escapes me at this time. I think it's because my husband had to have the barbecue thingy. But I have just the cooktop, this range may work perfectly. I would be interested if anyone else has experience, also.

best

[wildeyed]

21. Check out Consumer Reports before you buy.

The Jenn-Aire is poorly rated. I bought the GE.



My mom has the Kitchen Aid, this one, I think.



Although hers is prettier. Must have changed the design. Anyway, it rates about the same as the GE in performance, but is quite a bit more expensive.

As far as over the stove ventilations, I think it also depends on whether it vents outside or just kind of filters the air. In my last house, I had an over the stove micro/range hood combo that vented outside. It seemed to work better than the plain over the range hood we have now that simply filters. The old kitchen, the stove was on an outside wall, so it was easy to vent. This house, the range is on an inside wall, it would be very expensive to vent it outside.

I had the electric Jenn-Aire in this kitchen before I bought the GE. The downdraft ventilation was not good.

Good luck! So many choices out there.

[eleny]

22. We definitely don't have the same GE

I was just looking at the GE page and your range has so much going for it. It's on my list for sure. GE offers so many color choices, too.

How do you like the self cleaning? Does it do a great job? Mine is very good except I have to be sure to give attention to that area in the front center.

[wildeyed]

23. Embarrassingly enough, I have not cleaned this one, yet.

It really needs it.

But this is my second GE. The one I had in my old kitchen was the same model in white. The self-clean worked fine. I did have to use oven cleaner on the window and door, but that didn't seem like too much of a hardship. As long as I don't have to reach way back, I am happy.

The gas GE Profile is a very good range in its price range, possibly the best. I liked my first one so much that I bought a second for the new house. At least two of my girlfriends have purchased the same range, and they all like it, too.

I use the high output burner the most, for cooking meat, stir frying and boiling water for pasta. It also has continuous grates, which make it easy to slide pots around. Also looks cool.

The oven cooks evenly and seems to be fairly accurate, although my sense is that this one is somewhat different from my last. Mine is not dual-fuel or convection, but according to the CR, dual-fuel is somewhat overrated and adds allot to the bottom line.

I also don't have a warming drawer, but you can get a model with that feature.

All-around good stove at a good price. I recommend!

[eleny]

25. Thanks for telling so much about it

When I looked at the GE pages, I also searched for the French door fridge. The search took me to some GE press releases. They're coming out with one in June. They'll be white, stainless or black. So, I'm gong to wait to see if I can get matching appliances. I like GE and have had good luck with my old Hotpoint washer dryer that lasted well over 25 years with only one repair we did ourselves.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. I was just looking at that GE, but as a drop-in

... same range, but without the back controls for use in an island. Its for my son's new kitchen.

Now ..... he saw a picture of it and told me he didn't like it because it has black trim. He wants all stainless. He forgets, however, that he has a strict budget. And dear ol' Dad is not gunna help his budget out by adding to it!

[wildeyed]

28. I think that is why people go for the Kitchen Aid.

Same performance but a more professional, all stainless look. It is almost twice as expensive as the GE, though, so I went with the GE.

[wildeyed]

29. Ooops, this is the Kithcen Aid my Mom has.

Much prettier!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

12. eleny

here's a site that might give you a little more info. I can't find anything that has five burners. I've found some that have the 'one grate' thingy so you can move pots around, but nothing with five in a range. I think you should get the Wolf. That is so cool & I'm always willing to help someone else spend their money. You know, it probably is a lifetime investment.

http://homerepair.about.com/od/stovesandranges/tp/30_in_ranges.htm

[wildeyed]

13. Well I was perfectly happy with my recently purchased GE

until I started with this thread. This forum is the WORST for my pocket book. Oh well, at least it is cheerful here.

Those are some purtty stoves :loveya:

[eleny]

15. I know what you mean

The way I figure it, in the end I won't go nuts and get something that looks great but is way more appliance than I need. For instance, I'm sure that I can figure out some way to fit a 25 cu ft fridge in here. But the 20 or so is enough for two people. Plenty enough. Same with the stove. I'll research it to a nub and find something that's just the ticket. I just won't rule out the high end since this one may be the one for the rest of my days. But it'll be a good decision. Not everyone is in to cooking like us. Heck, I don't even go to the movies. So my savings goes into my house. It's where we spend most of our time. Funny but sometimes I'm more worried about cleaning the stainless. I hear it can be a daily chore. But that's for another thread.

[wildeyed]

18. I know what you mean.

We drive crap cars, but live in a relatively fancy house. I figure the cars depreciate, but the house is an investment that I can enjoy living in while it appreciates.

I like fixers, so I buy cheap, fix it up, then sell for a profit. But this house is the one I plan to raise my kids in, so I want to do stuff just for me here, not stuff that I think will appeal to a certain generic market.

I don't cook fancy, so the gas, four-burner GE that I currently have is fine. I do like the high output burner the best, so maybe someday I will upgrade to one of those fancy stoves. But for now, the GE will be fine.

[eleny]

20. We might have the same GE

We got it over 5 years ago. It was not long after the sealed burners came out whenever that was. The one who invented sealed burners should have a place in heaven.

Btw, my car is a '91. Great minds cook alike!