You can now buy a 48-inch dual fuel professional (pro) range with a steam oven and a warming drawer.
You can operate it from your phone and download recipes directly from a Gourmet app.
Just not from a BlueStar professional range.
In the modern world of cleanability, functionality, and connectivity, BlueStar is a throwback to a more basic era.
That's not to say basic performs poorly.
Simplicity can be the reason you may want to buy a BlueStar professional range.
In this article, you will learn about the best features of a BlueStar range and then a few problems.
We will also compare BlueStar to some other brands like Wolf, Thermador, Hestan, and Miele, including reliability based on 37,061 service calls logged by our service team last year.
There is no single "best" brand of pro ranges.
After reading this article, you will know whether BlueStar is suitable for the way you cook.
This article is an update from last year with two new developments for Bluestar, one good and the other not so much.
Let's start there.
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"BlueStar by Design" is a new customized way to buy a BlueStar range or refrigerator.
Any high-quality picture can now be the front of your BlueStar Range.
My daughter (on a good day) can be my new range.
Hey, sports fans. How about this range below (when BlueStar pays for licensing)?
You can customize anything like your wallpaper, flooring, or a photograph.
It's an exciting idea but it depends on the execution.
If it's like Black Steel, an oxide coating, then the front will peel off.
Still, it's a great idea.
For years, BlueStar was the most powerful range you can buy at a 25,000 BTU max burner until Hestan became available with its 30,000 BTU burner.
Hestan also has multiple 23,000 BTU burners and their power 30,000 BTU for more overall higher BTU.
Unlike BlueStar, the burner is also sealed.
That said, let's look at BlueStar ranges.
First, there are five series of BlueStar Ranges:
Let's look at the primary differences between each series.
At the time of this writing, BlueStar is only available in all gas, not dual fuel with a gas top and electric oven.
The Platinum is their best range, with 25,000 BTU "Ultra Nova" max output per burner. It also features their PowR convection oven.
PowR is the only professional European convection oven, so the burner is on the oven's back rather than the bottom.
BlueStar claims 40% faster preheat times and more even baking due to the heat source being on the back.
The Platinum is an all-burner range. You do not have a choice of the grill, griddle, and French top.
They do have a reversible grill and griddle equipped with the range.
The griddle can work because you will be placing it over a 25 and 22,000 BTU burner.
However, you won't be grilling on an open flame, so it more griddling even on the reversed side.
It is not integrated like most other pro ranges, so it not as effective.
The Platinum is available in 24-60 inch sizes.
The RNB (Residential Nova Burner) offers the grill, griddle, and French top slightly less than 22,000 BTU max output.
The RNB has regular convection as well, not the European PowR of the Platinum.
Like the Platinum, the RNB is offered in sizes from 24-60 inches.
The BTU profile is different, with the Platinum being slightly more powerful. Nova still has high output with a 23,000 BTU burner.
Platinum has the pure convection (PowR) oven with the element behind more even cooking and faster preheat.
The Nova has the better-integrated grill and griddle, whereas the Platinum has a portable grill griddle accessory.
It depends on how much you use a griddle or grill on whether you buy either range.
Precious Metals is available only in 30 and 36 inches width with the RNB 22,000 BTU burner.
The doors are split French style like many restaurant ranges in a regular convection oven.
Many restaurants use French doors because it saves space in a crowded kitchen.
It's a good consideration if you have an island in the middle of your kitchen. You may also like French doors because you don't have to lift a heavy bird over the door.
The larger sizes are not available in the Precious Metals as well as a grill or griddle.
or.
Culinary is their lower-priced range with only 15,000 BTU burners. It is available in a sealed burner from 24-48 inches with 20, 18,000, and 15,000 BTU burners.
The open burner is available in 30 and 36 inches only.
The Culinary series is a lower-priced pro without the output of the other series.
In a world with mostly stainless steel appliances, you have 1000 different color choices and ten other trim and knob styles.
If that is not enough, they will customize a color for you or create a high-resolution picture of your choice as your new front.
The average pro range burner is 18,000-20,000 BTU.
BlueStar has a 25,000 or 22,000 BTU output on their two best series.
Other than the sealed Culinary series, BlueStar features an open burner, not a sealed burner.
You have to clean underneath the top of the range, but the top is removable to clean at your sink.
A sealed burner keeps the spill on the top, but you cannot remove the top to clean.
The open burner allows more oxygen to flow to the flame for higher output.
It may have a faster preheat, but pure convection is more even.
The heat is blown across from an element behind the fan rather than radiating from the bottom and blown from the fan's back.
You can have an all-burner range up to 60 inches for ten burners.
Most brands do not have all burner ranges in 48 and 60-inch sizes. Wolf and Viking have a 48-inch range all burner range.
BlueStar has two all burner ranges as well as the only 60 inches all burner range as well.
French tops look like griddles but are the opposite. It's made of rolled steel and has one large burner in the middle.
A French top has a hot center and varying temperatures away from it to cook multiple items.
Griddles have a consistent temperature. French tops start hot and then vary the temperature.
You also cook directly on a griddle, while with a Frenchtop, your food cooks in pans.
The French door is a cool concept.
BlueStar is the only range offering a French door in a range. Other brands offer the door in wall ovens.
You are probably not looking for a 24-inch range.
However, BlueStar offers 24-inch ranges in every configuration like all griddles, grill, burner, and even French top.
You can add this as a companion piece or place it somewhere else in your kitchen.
BlueStar is all gas only. Electric heat has a drier, more consistent heat better suited for baking. All gas, however, is moister and better for roasting and especially broiling.
BlueStar does not offer self-cleaning. How many times do you self-clean an oven? You shouldn't use a self-cleaning mode more than twice a year.
JennAir and Thermador can be operated through an app on your phone. Miele has their MasterChef controls. You input the weight and type of food. The range calculates time and temperature. The new Wolf will have screen functionality in their dual fuel as well. BlueStar does not have a clock and a timer.
Thermador has a steam oven for cooking meals. Miele has a steam assist to bake bread or caramelize and harden tops of food like lasagna.
Claiming an 1850 degree broiler as BlueStar does is a distraction from their broiler at 15,000 BTU. Most are around 20,000 BTU, while Miele is the hottest at 23,000 BTU.
BlueStar uses regular gas. Infrared is intense direct heat, whereas gas diffuses the heat. Grilling is faster than all gas. It's easier to clean as well as the element burns the dripping.
Professional Gas Range Reliability December 2019 - November 2020
| Service Ratio | |
| Thermador | 13.41% |
| Wolf | 13.67% |
| JennAir | 13.08% |
| BlueStar | 16.33% |
| Miele | 9.38% |
| Grand Total | 13.46% |
The figures above are based on a minimum of 20 products sold and over 1000 total pieces.
Pro ranges need more service than your average appliance, especially because of the ignitors.
It's not a huge problem because you will have the other working burners
BlueStar is average when compared to the other manufacturers.
Many of their ranges are sold in the larger 48 and 60-inch sizes versus 30 and 36 for other brands.
Read More: Most Reliable Professional Ranges
With two years of data, the following are the most popular BlueStar ranges. It’s pretty interesting. BlueStar skews to all burners more than any other brands.
Seventy-five percent of BlueStar’s sold (at Yale) are in custom colors.
If you are looking for a finish other than stainless, then BlueStar is your best option.
Features:
Features:
Features:
Features:
Features:
| Platinum Series Ranges | Nova RNB Series Ranges | Precious Metal Series Ranges | RCS Open Burner Series Ranges | RCS - Sealed Burner Series Ranges | |
| Power Burner output | 25,000 BTU | 22,000 BTU | 22,000 BTU | 15,000 BTU | 21,000 |
| Sealed/Open burner | Open | Open | Open | Open | Sealed |
| Color options | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | Stainless Steel Only | 1000 |
| Custom Knob/Trim options | Yes | Yes | Yes | Knobs only | Yes |
| Size options | 24", 30", 36", 48", 60" | 24", 30", 36", 48", 60" | 30", 36" | 30", 36" | 24", 30", 36", 48" |
| French door option | No | No | French Door only | No | No |
| PowR Oven Technology (40% faster preheat) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Interchangeable Grill/Griddle | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Built-in grill option | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Built-in griddle option | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Precise Simmer Burner | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Convection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared Broiler | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrated Wok Cooking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
The following are brief comparisons. Most of these other brands have two series, one being gas and the other being dual-fuel versus five series of all gas for BlueStar.
BlueStar will be more powerful in every series except the Culinary at 22,000 and 25,000 BTU output versus the 15,000 for the Wolf gas pro ranges.
The Platinum has pure convection in the oven.
However, Wolf uses infrared grills and griddles on their tops versus regular gas for the BlueStar. Wolf's infrared on the oven has better output as well.
Infrared is a more direct heat and easier to clean than straight gas.
Read More: BlueStar RNB Series Vs. Wolf 36-Inch All Gas Pro Ranges
BlueStar is still more powerful than the Wolf dual fuel series at 22,000 or 25,000 BTU output versus a 20,000 max output for the Wolf.
Wolf's new dual-fuel will have their Gourmet settings to automatically determine time and temperature based on your inputs.
They will introduce their Verticrosee blower convection for more even heat later this year, as well as a touch screen operation.
BlueStar is gas only. They offer straight convection and European convection in their PowR oven.
Many people automatically think dual fuel is better than all gas.
Dual fuel is a drier, more even heat for better baking.
Gas is moister and better for roasting. It's especially better for broiling, especially with the infrared element against a standard electric broiler.
Manufacturers like Wolf, Miele, and Thermador add features for their dual fuel ranges as well.
BlueStar's standout competitive advantages are output, the ability to be customized, and the PowR oven on the Platinum series.
If you are interested in a French top, then only Wolf and La Cornue, along with BlueStar, offer that feature.
For an eight-burner range, Wolf, La Cornue, and BlueStar are your only choices.
Miele's oven is self-cleaning with twin convection in their gas models along with a clock and timer.
Like Wolf, their grill and griddle are infrared.
In electric, Miele offers its MasterChef controls. You input the type of food and how you want it cooked, and Miele automatically sets time and temperature.
You also have steam assist functionality for baking bread and caramelizing the tops of food like lasagna.
Their 48 inch includes a speed oven and warming drawer.
BlueStar is significantly more powerful than Miele at 22-25,000 BTU versus 19,000 for Miele. As I have written, BlueStar has European convection as well.
Read More: Miele vs. BlueStar 48 Inch Professional Ranges
Thermador has two series, the Pro Grand and Pro Harmony, offered in both gas and electric.
Thermador's main feature is their Star Burner and their Ultra-Low simmer at just 100 degrees on two burners.
The Pro Grand has a clock and timer along with one higher output burner at 22,000 BTU. It is slightly deeper, as well, and self-cleaning in gas as well.
The Pro Grand also has the steam oven and warming drawer on their bigger 48 and 60-inch sizes.
That said, the Thermador Pro Harmony pro gas range is far more popular. It's a combination of 18,000 and 15,000 BTU burners.
Thermador is electric on the grill and griddle, not gas or infrared gas. The oven is straight convection with no self-cleaning in all gas.
BlueStar is again more powerful, and their gas grill and griddle will be better than the Thermador electric. Thermador will have a better simmer.
Read More: Thermador Pro Steam vs. BlueStar 48-Inch Ranges
Hestan is similar to BlueStar in many ways and the only range on this list with more power at 30,000 BTU center burner along with the 23,000 and 15,000 BTU burners.
You can choose burners or a combination with griddle and burners. The griddle is excellent.
It's infrared and adjustable to temperature, unlike every other griddle on the market.
Their "Purevection" oven is single convection but changes time and temperature to keep a better main temperature.
Their dual fuel is self-cleaning and has their slide-controlled clock, timer, and mode readout on the handle.
That depends.
Unlike most of the other brands, BlueStar is truly different.
Of course, if you are looking for self-cleaning, sealed burners, and a clock and timer, then BlueStar is not the right range for you.
If special features like Wi-Fi, steam ovens, warming drawers, and more intuitive interfaces are important, BlueStar is again not a good choice.
If you enjoy baking in an electric oven, then BlueStar can't be for you. It's only offered in all gas.
However, this range is unique.
If your desired color is anything but stainless, BlueStar is the only range that allows you to customize with 1000 colors and eight trim packages.
Their new ability to personalize is exciting and is incredibly unique.
Also, BlueStar is one of the most powerful gas ranges on the market, so if you use your burners, then BlueStar could be the right range for you.
However, in a sea of stainless, sealed burner ranges, BlueStar does stand out.
Whether it is right for you depends on how you use it.
Looking for more information on pro ranges? Get the Yale Pro Cooking Buying Guide with features, specs, BTU Outputs, and detailed profiles of the major brands. Well over 900,000 people have read a Yale Guide.