Viking appliances

...ask a hundred people, you'll prolly get 101 different answers...

I don't own Viking products, but I was in your position about a year ago, and so looked into it quite a bit...the answer for me, was 'no'

There are other brands out there that seem to be better and/or cheaper...that name seems to cost a lot...

When I was looking, I wasn't seeing anything that made the price::value ratio click for me.

I have a Viking stove and ovens at home. They look great, but in my opinion they are way overpriced for the quality. My stove has had ignition problems from day 1. The ovens have clunky analog controls and arent all that consistent. I think they are just a status symbol.

My dad builds houses for wealthy people, many of whom get viking appliances.  They have a lot of problems with them.

The Viking as well as all the other appliances made for homes are even though the same names and brands not as good as the commercial ones. Viking is an old trusted commercial brand but for the home no. In many cases they have same name but are buit by differnt companies. One for commercial and one for home models  Wolf is one of therse. You will pay a little more but buy the stuff you want at a restaurant supply house over a retailer.

This goes for Vulcan, Southbend, Blodgett, Garland, etc. Stay away from Electrolux ,Wolf, Caloric, Thermidor ;and most of Chinese or Korean made equipment.< unless its a Wok.

Well... you are all lucky people to have gas... they do not run gas lines in my neighborhood and my kitchen is in the center of the house making it pretty costly even if they did... no electric range seems to get hot enough especially these horrible ceramic tops... I would much rather have element burners and mechanical knobs and a mechanical timer

Here's my Southbend - I got it and the hood for $800 in 1997.  I had to tear it down, clean it and reassemble, but that did not take that long.  It was already set up for propane so it was an easy install.  It hasn't given me a bit of trouble all these years. 

This is a Southland commercial series and in my opinion Very Good. Theay always built top of the line heavy duty. things. Many hotels in N.Y have them

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefedb 

 Viking is an old trusted commercial brand but for the home no. In many cases they have same name but are buit by differnt companies. One for commercial and one for home models  Wolf is one of therse. You will pay a little more but buy the stuff you want at a restaurant supply house over a retailer.

 

There must be some brand confusion here. Viking is not an old trusted commercial brand. Until just a few years ago Viking never produced a single commercial range. Those they did produce were not at all popular. Wolf did indeed produce a home brand and a very trusted commercial product. Those products were made by different companies. The only thing they had in common was the name. No one other than Viking has ever produced Viking ranges.

Most commercial ranges are not suitable for residential use and they are often less expensive than home ranges. Commercial oven walls are not insulated and they often require larger gas lines etc. Not really a viable option for most home owners.

 I've had a Viking for 12 years now and it's served me well. There are a lot of commercial style ranges for home use so it shouldn't be hard to find a product that fits your needs no matter what your brand preference is. When it comes to ignition systems nearly every manufacturer uses ignition modules produced by the same company.

Their cheap and easy to replace.

Dave

Viking Range Corp. is in the news today- it was just bought by Middleby Corp., described by the Wall Street  Journal as "a maker of high-end cooking ranges and related equipment...betting on a continuing recovery in the U.S. housing market."

"Along with commercial equipment, Middleby sells residential appliances under the Jade and Turbochef brands."

Maybe  some of you pros can give us some reaction to this.

Mike