If you are in the market for a professional-style range chances are you are a serious home chef, looking for an upscale industrial-style range. Whether it's looks or function, you have many options in the professional range market.
There are two kinds of professional ranges or pro ranges. Residential brands have designed their pro ranges with more features, whereas commercial companies have stayed true to the fewer features, more power of a commercial range.
Yale Appliance Slide-In Range Display - Boston Showroom
It's a bit confusing, so let me describe the difference more fully.
Residential Ranges
The biggest name brands in this category are Wolf (residential Wolf owned by Sub-Zero), Miele, Thermador, GE Monogram, Jenn-Air, Kitchen Aid, and Viking. These manufacturers currently direct their focus toward making residential ranges. What do these ranges have in common? Although these features are not present on all of the products made by these brands, here is usually what they feature:
- Self-cleaning (on all dual-fuel and some all-gas models)
- Temperature probe (on dual fuel models)
- Sealed burners for easy cleaning
- Continuous grates to slide pots and pans across
- Other appliances that match the range such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and microwaves
- Residential focused brands are usually more focused on promotion based packaging than commercial focused brands. Again, this is a generalization.
(For comparisons and features on all the major brands get our free Pro Cooking Buying Guide)
Commercial Ranges
The biggest brand names in this category are BlueStar, Capital, and American Range. These manufacturers, for the most part, direct their focus toward making commercial ranges yet offer residential lines as well. (BlueStar is an exception here; they make ranges for residential use however their features are consistent with the commercial platform).
What do these ranges have in common? Although these features are not consistent on all of the models in every brand, here are common features for commercial ranges:
- Manual cleaning
- No temperature probe
- Open burners for relatively higher BTU output
- Continuous grates to slide pots and pans across
- Relatively larger oven capacity
- fewer electronics, more knob controls
BlueStar All-Gas Range BSP304B - $6,195
BlueStar is a commercial appliance manufacturer that carries an extensive line of residential products.
Burners:
- Continuous grates for sliding pots and pans across cooking surface
- Interchangeable griddle,charbroiler included with range
- Grate can be modified to fit a round bottom wok pan
- Open burner design with drip tray for easy cleanup
- Four burners with dual-flame (sear to simmer capability)
- 1 x 25,000 BTU
- 1 x 18,000 BTU
- 1 x 15,000 BTU
- 1 x 9,000 BTU
- Grate can be modified to reach 130-degree simmer
- You can customize burner power to accommodate your cooking needs
Oven:
- Manual Cleaning
- Convection Power oven provides 40% faster preheating and 30% faster cook time
- Infrared Broiler to 1850 degrees
- Hidden bake element
- Can accommodate a full-size commercial baking sheet
- Available in 750+ colors and finishes
GE Monogram All-Gas Range ZGP304NRSS - $4,699
GE is a big name appliance brand in the residential appliance market. The Monogram series is their premium line. GE Monogram ranges are professional-style.
Burners:
- Continuous grates for sliding pots and pans across cooking surface
- Reversible burner grate can accommodate a round bottom wok
- Electronic ignition with automatic reignition
- Sealed burner design
- Four burners with dual-flame (sear to simmer capability)
- 1 x 18,000 BTU
- 3 x 10,000 BTU
- 140 degrees simmer
Oven:
- Self-Cleaning
- Reverse-air convection, fan forced heat for more even temperature
- Infrared Broiler
- Hidden bake element
- 5.7 cubic ft. capacity
- Star-K certification
Which should you buy?
This is an interesting comparison because aesthetically they look very similar; however these ranges are exceedingly different. The only similarities I can think of is both ranges can accommodate a round bottom wok burner, and both have infrared broilers.
The GE range looks like it lines up with other ranges in its residential category in terms of its price, for example Jenn-Air and Kitchen Aid. The GE Monogram is lacking on BTU power with only 1 pro burner and three undersized burners. (Your current range has more power).
I like that GE offers an infrared broiler, large oven capacity, self-cleaning, (which is rare for an all-gas range) and a Sabbath Mode.
To some extent, the BlueStar is in its own category because it is one of the most customizable ranges out there in color, trim, and burner output.
BlueStar definitely has more cooktop power than the GE Monogram. In fact, it is the highest in a residential burner at 25,000, which could be double what you have now. They also give you a reversible grill and griddle, which work (especially the griddle) with high output from the burners.
(See how BlueStar and GE compare to other major brands in our free Pro Cooking Buying Guide)
However, BlueStar has an open burner, so you would have to clean underneath. GE is sealed like a regular range.
There is a difference in BlueStar's pure convection versus the straight convection of the GE. BlueStar is more even than the Monogram unit because the heat is blown from the rear versus the bottom in Monogram.
I think the only edge the GE might have over the BlueStar Platinum Series is in terms of cleaning. Manually cleaning the oven and open burners can be more time consuming than a sealed burner self-cleaning range. Your decision will likely come down to what you value.
If you are a serious home chef or love to stir fry, or use a wok, the BlueStar is the better product for you. The oven is better, especially for roasting.
So it depends. Do you want power and a better oven versus something a bit more easy to clean?
Additional Resources
Want more information on Pro Ranges? Get the Yale Pro Cooking Buying Guide with features, specs and detailed profiles of all the major brands. Well over 210,000 people have read a Yale Guide.
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