[motty]

Hi All,
I'm currently in the process of redesigning my kitchen and decided to invest in a high quality range. I cam across the Garland brand which is a commercial range. I didn't find any reference of any commercial oven being used in a home kitchen. Has anyone had any experience with a commercial range in a home?
From the little info I gathered the upside is price and the downside is space from combastibles (6" on each side). Any other drawbacks?

Thanks for any advise,
Motty

[Drac]

Check to make sure that there isn't any city or county ordinance against the btu rating you’re looking at. Some areas won't allow the sort of btu's professional model put out & some areas that do allow it require special boarding around it.

Jim

[motty]

Thanks Jim. I wasn't aware of the BTU limitation, I'll check my town's building code.

[foodpump]

While your at it, check your home owner's insurance to see if you can actually install a commercial range in a household, and if, in the event of fire or smoke damage if you' re covered. Then check the clearance for the commercial range, chances are you'll need at least 6" from the wall and 6" on either side. Then back to City hall and check what kind of fire rating you need for the walls around the said range. Then check to see what kind of ventilation system you'll need, cause if if the range puts out over 100,000 BTU's you'll need an "advanced" ventilation system, and what goes out must come in, so you'll need some kind make-up or return air system, and then.......

[Jock]

I agree with the other posters - it's probably better you don't go that route. Way more trouble and expense than it's worth. Commercial ranges are not insulated like residential and that can be dangerous - especially if there are children in the house.

Jock

[Dg0113]

also there is a plot light always lite on them so that can be a big fire danger there

[deltadoc]

If you're really serious, you can check eBay for an older model Residential Wolf Range. Years ago, before Wolf Residential was bought from Wolf by SubZero, hey took their commercial range and added insulation all around inside the outer metal part so you could bump it up right against your wall and kitchen cabinets. I still hate myself for not going for it, but at the time, from a Restaurant Supply house the Wolf commerical range with the raised griddle and broiler underneath, was about $1200 and the insulated Residential version of the same Range was about $3300. I couldn't justify the differential in price, so I went with a Thermador Professional Gas Cooktop instead. Sadly, the 15K BTU grill doesn't cut it, and the 15K BTU griddle is only passing fair if you don't load it up too much: it is only 12" wide. However, the 15K BTU burners are ok. I've got too set low (you can pull of the knob and stick a little screwdriver in and turn down the flame a bit from Maximum) for simmering stock pots.


doc

[TomBrooklyn]

Some of those commercial ranges have a lot of pilot lights.

[mattwright]

BlueStar is the name of the residential line of Garland ranges. Prizer Painter made the orginial Garland ranges for both home and commercial use. Garland decided to drop the home line a while back, but gave PP the rights to use their star shaped burner in the line that PP now calls BlueStar.

I have been doing a lot of range research the last couple of months (kitchen reno about to happen), and have settled on a BlueStar. The BTUs are awesome (22k), infrared broiler, large oven for a 30" range. To top it off, it is really the only commercial range available in a residential setting - without buying a true commercial range, and worrying about screwing with building codes, and burning down your house.

Some notes about the bluestar:

Little electronics to go wrong (yay)
Really powerfull burners
Great open burner design
Star shaped burner gives even heat under pan
Build quality is very much "commerical" A really solid range, but lacks the refinement of a Wolf or Viking.

I would pick one of thes over a Wolf or Viking any day. It is cheaper, more powerfull, easier to clean, and less complicated. It is a cooking TOOL, rather than something to show off to friends with.

I took a few photos during a visit to a local showroom, that had one live - take a look, MSG me if you want the photos.

(and no, I dont sell ranges!!! I had just been looking for something like this for ages, and get rather passionate about kitchen stuff )

The other line you can check out is FiveStar - these are decent, a lower price point, lower BTUs and no infrared. But they aren't bad - BlueStar are better though.

[cheflayne]

I have a commercial range at home and my only observation would be that I have to keep a good eye on flame height compared to pan size otherwise the outside of my pans get blackened because of the size of the burners and the BTU output and the fact that at home I am generally using a smaller size pan than in a professional situation.

[Lana]

What about the Jenn Air Pro Line of Appliances?
or Maytag Gas 30 in. Double-Oven Free Standing Range

I would go with one of these. They are just as striking in their look....if not more so....definately an attention getter! Also, they are rated for home use, so you won't have to jump thru all of the building code hoops.

[Ercillor]

Hi,

After reading these posts I feel like a kid with a BB gun who has just wandered onto Aberdeen Proving Ground and is looking at all the monster weaponry they've got there... Just a bit overwhelmed by it all and a bit timid about being out of my class, but...

What do you all think about the GE Cafe gas stove? My wife -- I'll blame her -- picked it on looks and I can certainly see why.

Does anyone know about this self standing stove?

How about the GE Cafe microwave?

Certainly would appreciate some professional opinions.

Thanks.

[mattwright]

All I know is that it is a pretty new stove - out in the last 6 months. My opinion is that I would rather go with something that has been roadtested a little more to be honest, especially if is one that has a bunch of electronics on it.

I have just had a kitchen remodel done, and we got a BlueStar RNB 30" put in. I do a ton of cooking, and absolutely love this stove. It is really powerful, yet extremely controlable. Very well made, commercial grade (about the only home range that you could call commerical grade - forget viking or wolf home stoves).

To top it off, the whole thing is really simple. No expensive electronics to go wrong - it does one thing, and one thing really well - cooks food. To top it off, in my area it rocked in cheaper than almost all competitors - far less cash than a Viking, Wolf etc, and IMHO far better quality.

The only thing is that because it is so powerful, you need to look a decent vent hood. Forget having a small hood, or even a microwave hood over it - that isn't going to cut it.

Anyhow, I would try and find a store that can give you a "live" demo of any stove you are looking at - try before you buy. I would also do a ton of research, and get peoples early opinions on the GE Cafe.

[Ercillor]

Thanks Matt.

My wife and I will have to vote on this; It's a democratic arrangement -- she gets to break any 'ties' -- so we may wind up with the GE Cafe units even though your advice is extremely sound and I would be inclined to follow it myself.

If we do take the "road untravelled" (GE Cafe) I will let you know by starting a new thread under that heading.

Eric
[Heck, somebody has got to go first].

[mattwright]

Before I found BlueStar one appliance guy was telling me to wait for the GE Cafe series - apparently (according to him, who stocked GE stuff) it was going to be a decent quality unit, that looked good, and was priced right.

18k BTUs sounds perfectly powerfull enough for most stuff. I would go for the dual fuel range. There aren't a lot of full gas ranges that I would buy (BlueStar is one of them..).

Also before you buy, find out information on repair costs. The Cafe has a quite an electronic panel on the front, and those can burn out pretty easily - especially if you use the oven self-clean option because of the high heat involved. I have heard of repair bills up to $1000 for those costly electronics.