I can’t get over the difference in price between commercial ranges ($1,200-2,500), and so called “professional” ranges ($3,000-9,000) that look like commercial, but probably act more like residential. I worked in several restaurant kitchens in my younger days and I want some serious high/low BTUs for my cook top. Polite enquiries about commercial ranges, yields recommendations to get ridiculously expensive alternatives. Besides, the commercial variety comes on legs that allows for easy cleaning of the floor.
Any advice about safety & comfort with installing a commercial range? I plan on placing it at the end of a run of cabinets, with a ceramic tile or stainless steel alcove housing the ventilation. My kitchen is going to be about 19′ X 14′ – no open plan, it has a table and chairs in the middle so petite ladies like myself have a lower work surface to sit and prep food.
By the way – I have browsed a lot of magazines lately – what is the deal with installing faucets over the cooktop, but nowherenear a sink? I can carry a big pot of cold water, but you need a sink real close to safely empty it!
Replies
Two items to consider ...
True commercial ranges come with uninsulated ovens. They can get powerfully hot, and create a fire hazard when installed in a residential kitchen. If you don't get a fire right up front, the heat can cause surrounding cabinetry to super-dry to the point where it's almost explosive tinder.
Secondly, you will almost certinly have to spend a great deal more venting it, as they produce significanly more heat than the residential look-a-likes. This alone could offset any savings from purchasing a commercial model.
We have a 4-burner Viking (residential model, 30" wide, single conventional oven, about $2200 5 years ago), and it required no additional venting than the wimpy little hood that came with our house. The burners are all the same size, but they go from a serious flame to a throttled down simmer really well.
Same deal with buying a commercial fridge or freezer. You can save up front, but the trade-off might be plain wire racks, no automatic defrost, no produce bins or storage in the door, etc. Could be OK if you plan to live there forever and are happy with it, but it might not suit anyone else.
Edited 11/23/2002 11:51:08 AM ET by BEMW
Thanks for the info - I do plan on living there forever, so resale and what other people like isn't of much conern. However, dried up cabinets could be - I can leave a certain amount of room around the range, and I cook much more up top than in the oven. However, excess heat in a house in Oklahoma doesn't sound too smart.
I guess I'll have to keep shopping around :-)
90% of the "professional" appliances out there offer the same BTU output. Generally, 15000BTU burners on high, 2000 on low, and 1000 on simmer. I may be mistaken, but I believe Wolf expands the range (no pun intended) a bit...up to 16000BTU for the burners, and 500 on the simmer.
I've always preferred a cooktop separate from the wall ovens. Then again, I'm in a multi-cook household.
Not sure how you cook or what yu cook, but Wolf also has...I think it's called a "french top" or something francais. It's a top with a graduated temperature, similar to an AGA. Not quite the same in execution, but in theory.
Vikings uppermost (cha-ching) line looks more commercial than most, with the legs vs toekick.
Most of the ovens are similar, too, in terms of broiler BTU...around 18000 to 20000. Again, Wolf is on the upper end of the BTU echelon.
For the most part, a cooktop burner is a cooktop burner. 15K? 16K? They all pump out pretty much the same on the high end, but you'll notice those unwanted extra BTUs on the low end when you have a delicate sauce or chocolate on simmer.
Oven technology has evolved over the past few years. Again, get what you need to cook. Will an 18K broiler suffice? 20K? Infrared? A salamander? You make the call.
Figure out your BTU requirements, then figure out your threshold for bells and whistles. These upper-end ranges to ring and toot a lot, even though, fo rthe most part, they cook just like their sloven low-end-of-the-upper-end siblings.
That said, I've a basic 6-burner Viking cooktop and a separate 30" Dacor convetion wall oven, both bought back in '96. I think the upper end BTU range on the Viking is fine, but the lower was inadequate...too high...so I tweaked two of the burners down myself. Much better low-end performance now.
The highest BTU's are probably needed for wok cooking. Your overhead ventilation requirments can not be an afterthought. I think Vent-a-Hood's vents are far superior to anything else out there when it comes to moving air. When removing that much air, think of adding some back in so you don't depressurize the house...think "makeup air."
Yes, the faucets near the cooktops are for filling pots in place. They are usefull, and they are a waste of money, and when your friends see it they'll chuckle and wink at your extravagance and simultaneously yearn for one in their own house. Still, when the cooking is done, like the rest of the indentured cooks in the world you'll have to drag the pot with the scalding water in it over to the regular sink to empty it.
"The highest BTU's are probably needed for wok cooking. " I worked in a Cantonese and a general Chinese restaurant in my poorer days. I love cooking with a wok, and my family likes the result. They are unaware of how fine a meal I could serve up (or how quickly!) if I had fierce burners. I'd also like to have a griddle, because my man can sit down to a dozen pancakes at one sitting. However, I haven't used one before - does anyone have experience with these?
Since my kitchen is rather long, I plan on having a sink at both ends - the one near the range will be a big, single bowl, with something for composting underneath. If I ever decide that its too much trouble to fill a pot at the sink, I could probably upgrade the faucet to one that would reach the oven anyhow!
As for 2 cooks, my husband cooks, but rarely at the same time as me. I get my 11 year old son involved, but I mostly sit him at the table with a prep job. This is why a friendly, pine table in the middle of the kitchen is so important to me - I'm not sold on the island, there are plenty of counters for taller people around the perimeter of the kitchen. I pretty much use the oven just to roast meat and bake cheesecake, so I don't need to bend down & peek alot.
I have seen quite a few derisory comments about homeowners being willing to spend a fortune on ranges, but I'm hoping that one good investment will last me the rest of my days (and I will use it at least once a day!) I'm taking the $3,500 clean-up fee, doing the cleaning myself, and hope spend that on the range (I hope $3,500 is going to be enough!)
Griddle...
We have one that we place over two burners. It straddles the spiders. Off the top of my head I'd guess the surface is about 12" by 24". When we need it...which is maybe twice a week...we pop it into place. My 12 yo daughter uses it most for pancakes and french toast, she places and removes it easily.
We thought about the integral griddle, but we felt the burners would be used more often. And they are.
I think the Viking griddle went for a little over $100...but they screwed up the delivery of our cooktop, so they threw the griddle in as a freebie.
I'd pay $100 to do all my pancakes without trying to squeeze 3 skillets on the stove top.
Thanks for the info.