New Range Needed. Dacor?

A survey of friends has me leaning towards Dacor, but the praise is not unanimous. Would be grateful for any experiences with Dacor or other quality brand to help me make a final decision. Reliability is a major consideration since my current Viking has failed at the worst possible times (like last night in the middle of preparing New Year's Eve dinner party.

Looking at 36" dual-fuel model.

Bill/SFNM

As I've previously noted, I always start my research on this sort of topic at Consumer Reports. They rate the Dacor third from the bottom of their dual fuel ranges, beaten out for the bottom ranking only by two Viking models. Ahead of it were a Kitchenaid, a GE Profile, a Jenn-Air, a Kenmore Elite, a Wolf, and another Jenn-Air. Here's the summary of the Dacor review.

Very good, dual-fuel stainless-steel model has convection option, simmer plate, and continuous grates. Cooktop burners auto reignite. Baking performance very good in pure convection mode; results in regular bake mode were poor. Dacor dual-fuel ranges have been more repair-prone than all other brands of gas or dual-fuel ranges.

i bought a dynasty range about 2 years ago. the reason i decided i wanted a dynasty was because it is the only pro-style home range that features open burners.

what this means is that the burners don't have those little metal drip pans surrounding them. the advantage of this is that oxygen gets into the mix much more readily. the result is that you get more btu's and more efficient use of gas.

the disadvantage? well, supposedly, it's messier. but i've always hated cleaning those stupid drip pans and have always preferred what i work with in restaurants, where you simply line a big tray with foil and it's down below the whole cooktop and catches anything that drops through. you just change the foil every week or so and that's it. no cleaning required.

so that's what led me to dynasty. they are the same company that makes jade ranges for professional kitchens.

two years later, i'm super happy with my dynasty. it's a four-burner model, with three of the burners supplying an ample 15k btu's, and the right back smaller one used for simmering. the oven works beautifully, features a convection fan that you can switch on or off, and a very powerful infrared broiler at the top of the oven that is the closest home version of a restaurant salamander that i've ever used.

the bonus? way cheaper than a viking or thermador! i shopped around here in chicago, then ordered my dynasty from a company in san francisco for around $1000 cheaper than the Great Indoors in Deerfield where i checked it out in person. free shipping and no sales tax too.

highly recommended!

HI,

Jade Appliances, which makes the Dynasty, dual fuel 36 inch wide range has the option to come with 6 burners. The oven is a pretty decent 5.3 cubic feet.

I hadn't heard of this brand before. I am in the kicking tires mode of looking for a new cooktop. Until maybe 4 years ago, I was a electric glass cooktop owner where most problems were settled with a single blade razor. When I switched to gas, which I really like, I started a new maintenance routine trying to keep the area under the burners clean. So your 'messy' comments above ring a bell with me. I was looking at Jade's cooktops, one seems to have that open arrangement you were discussing. I will be looking for this open feature going into the future. Lining an area with foil for a weekly change out is a great time saver.

Thanks!

Elakin,

Where in California did you purchase your range? I've poked around on the net and have found Jade ranges made by Maytag. The information on the Jade web site is a little sparse. Looks like the closest showroom is in California.

Bill/SFNM

This is partly a snarky question, but partly a genuine one. Why would anyone want one of these designer-type stoves, especially when they're given to breaking down on New Year's Eve? No "regular" stove I've ever owned (and no "regular" stove in any apartment I ever rented) ever once failed to work. And every single stove did what it was required to do, i.e., make food hot to the point where it, you know, cooked.

Similarly, even though I've never owned a Sub-Zero, every refrigerator I've ever owned has actually kept food cold.

There must be a reason for these things. I'd love to be enlightened as to what that reason is.

Fair question - not snarky. The Viking that failed was installed by the builder before I purchased the house - not my selection. I am an avid baker and use my ovens almost daily. I need ones that give me accurate control of the temperature and perfectly even heat distribution, something that "standard" ovens I have owned could not deliver.

I don't care whether it is "designer" or "standard" or "no-name" brand as long as it meets my needs which may be a bit more demanding than cooking food until it's hot.

Bill/SFNM

Where in California did you purchase your range?

hi bill. i purchased my range online from http://www.selectappliance.com/. my experience with this purchase was just so-so. the customer service was kind of a hassle. they charged my credit card twice during the process and i had to get on the phone with a manager to get one of the charges taken off my bill.

also, the delivery (free) only went to the curb, so i was responsible for getting the range inside my house and having it installed.

the whole process took a bit longer than i would've liked. they also shipped me the wrong chimney piece and one of the knobs was cracked.

but...as i said, i saved like $1400 by buying it online. and everything was eventually worked out. chimney piece arrived. knob was fixed by a service guy under warranty. oh, that's another benefit of buying a dynasty or jade--they are serviced by the maytag warranty servicepeople.

here's a link to universal appliance (a great website). it looks like jade is no longer marketing this range as a dynasty and is now using the jade brand for it's home ranges as well as its restaurant line. besides the nameplate, though, this is my exact range;

http://www.universal-akb.com/30jagasrawi4.html

Why would anyone want one of these designer-type stoves

riddle--i wanted a range with high-output burners. i'm a professional chef and am used to cooking on restaurant equipment which has burners that put out 2-4 times the heat that normal home ranges can offer. your statement "every single stove did what it was required to do, i.e., make food hot to the point where it, you know, cooked. " indicates that you believe there is no qualitative difference from one piece of cooking equipment to the next.

you could not be more wrong about this. every try to do a stir-fry at home and wonder why it just doesn't taste the same as it does at a chinese restaurant? you simply CANNOT generate enough heat at home to stir-fry so your food ends up stewing rather than frying. huge difference in the finished dish.


that's just one example.

i mean--think about it. you could cook food until it's hot and cooked with a hotplate. or a toaster oven. or a microwave. so, using your logic, why would you even own a range at all?

conventional home ranges are designed for home cooks. which is fine. for most people, including you, it sounds like, those ranges do the job you need them to do.

for me, cooking on a conventional home range would be a constant disappointment. i simply would not be able to cook the way i wanted to.

although i sense that your question was more of a judgement than a genuine question, i hope this helps you understand why people would opt for the more expensive 'pro-style' ranges.

how much is a dynasty?

HI,

The link to the Chef's model has pricing. Suggested retail is $2649.

BTW - Thanks on the service comments via Maytag. Orphan products can be very unpleasant to be serviced.

Regards,

I've had my DCS 30 inch 5 burner (all 16,000 BTU except the center which is 17,500) all gas convection oven two years ago. Love it, love it, love it! The convection oven is fab; the cooktop (which is why I bought it) is awesome. Simmer feature can't be beat.

Here's a link to the 36" model at DCS website:

http://www.dcsappliances.com/indoor/detail.php?id=8

I can't help out with costs but am guessing it's close to Dacor's price.

dees_1,

Thanks. You are the only one I've have contact with who owns a DCS. The DCS, Dacor, and Wolf are all about the same price.

Do you have much experience with temp distribution (e.g., bake cakes in three 9" round pans on the same rack. Do they cook evenly?)

The simmer option sounds good - similar to Wolf's 2-stage burners. I will take a closer look at DCS since it is sold and serviced locally.

Bill/SFNM

Bill:

I make tons of cookies (three half sheets; rotate and shift during cooking), cheesecakes (no waterbath), roasts, casseroles (made turkey en mole for Thanksgiving) and found the temperature to be even (convection or not) and consistent. I'm never trusting of the gauge so there's an oven thermometer planted in the oven. Accurate down to 200 over several hours!

The 30" stove's oven capacity is nice; If you had it, you probably wouldn't have to bake three pans on the same rack. Couldn't imagine 9 pans going at the same time (wait....yes I can!). I've baked two cheesecakes at the same time and increased the time only by 15 minutes. They turned out fabu!

Only negative thing I have to say is I have it in black (it's sexy!!) - e-mail me if you want pics and I'll send them (don't know how to post here and don't have a pic site). Don't get it in the enamel. Granted, I use the oven a lot but some of the enamel is cracking. Strangely enough, on the outside; not the inside.

Oooh....the simmer feature IS TO DIE FOR. It's a constant low flame; so low you can place a piece of paper on the burner and melt chocolate on the paper. My gumbo has *never* been better....crank up the heat and get the roux dark dark dark. Set it on simmer for a couple days (yes, a couple days) and serve up! The burner controls are smooth and easy; so much power! Then again, I went from a late 70s Kenmore to this. Did a lot of research before making the purchase and am pleased!

I'm hungry!

edited to add this information:

One place that I used for my research is GardenWeb Forums. You have to register to post but the forums are searchable. Lots of good information. As like any other message board, they are personal opinions and should be taken as such. There are a ton of *bashers* of various brands on the board but you should be able to gather decent data. I'm linking to the Appliances forum.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/appl/

Bill, I've had Viking, Dacor, Wolf, and Gaggenau (ovens only from G). I like the Wolf cooktop the best, but I have it with the French top, so I don't worry about the burners not going quite low enough (they don't). I was completely happy with the Dacor, especially its ease of clean-up and it's low temp. Hated the Viking all around.

I had the Gaggenau ovens in two houses (but not now) and miss them every time I bake. They were accurate to within a degree or two. The ovens on my current Wolf (gas) are fine, but not up to the Gs in temp control, ease of use, and cleaning. (When I got the Wolf, they didn't have a dual fuel out yet.)

I've had no reliability problems with any product from Viking, Dacor, Wolf, Gaggenau, Bosch, or Northland (my current refrig and freezer). Both of my Sub Zs required service, though the first one only after 9 years (and it went through a deinstall/reinstall during a remodeling).