Kitchen Appliance Recommendations

My BIL is building a house and has asked me for some advice. He’s not a gourmand, but does a fair amount of cooking - especially in large groups. I want to give him recommendations that are very good performers, rock solid reliability, and ideally easy clean up where it’s applicable. Money isn’t a huge constraint, but where’s there’s a huge jump to the highest end, that won’t be necessary. He doesn’t need exotic. Appearance is important, but not the #1 consideration.

My first advice on refrigerator is to go ahead and spend the money on Sub-Zero. Ours is 20 years old and performs great.

Need advice on stove top and ovens (double). Is Blue star worth it?

Thanks!

We went with a Thermador double oven, electric and have been very happy with it.

The cooktop is a 36” five burner Thermador also, good heat output

Sub-Zero fridge and Wolf 6-burner range top in last years kitchen remodel. I love the precise heat control and the classic red knob look of the Wolf.

I just checked his preliminary floor plans and FWIW he has 40" allocated for his stovetop. The ovens are side by side. And, his main refrigerator and freezer are separated, so individual units.

I’ll also take any negative comments about brands. It seems like I’ve read some “all show and no go” comments about some of the high ends like Viking.

Blue Star is excellent; we switched away from them to Thermador when we moved and I’ve always regretted it. Their heat output is amazing

I’ve had bad experiences with older Wolf units where the burners don’t light reliably. Also the knobs get hot if you’ve been cooking for a while, which is a trivial issue but I find it disturbing

Blue Star Platinum is the only range we’d ever consider, and worth every penny to us for solid, non-appearance reasons, though they are attractive for sure. I’d say there are several other brands in the same quality level. I don’t think one is better than the other, when you’ve reached that level, they are just different. Whether it’s worth it to your BIL is, of course, a matter of personal value.

Not appliances, but I would recommend for anyone designing a kitchen - put in a pot filler and two sinks, if you can.

Hard to go wrong with sub zero and wolf if they are in the “correct” price range.

We have a double sink where the divide comes about 2/3 way up so you can get extra wide stuff in across both sinks. Franke Fragranite Peak Onyx matte black (PGK1600N iirc). Tones with Caesarstone Jet Black counters. Of course that likely isn’t in your palette! But thought I’d mention the idea. Very happy with the sink,it’s very affordable even when you add the extras (steel roller bar drainer is great idea.

Sounds like your budget for stove and fridge is way above what mine was so my recommendations there likely not relevant.

Pot filler - a related idea would be one that runs boiling water for tea etc. Would depend on where things are, appliance garage, sink, kettle etc. If I had a larger budget I likely would have done that.

Richard, I wouldn’t be so sure about your budget assumptions. His budget will allow him to do whatever is important to him but I know he doesn’t want to blow money unnecessarily if there are items that perform well at a lower cost and still have a nice appearance. Think of it as being smart with a nice budget. Where things matter, spend the money and where things are less expensive but do a great job, consider those.

I kind of want to present him with a top end choice and a good, but less expensive alternative.

Probably most importantly, I want to tell him to avoid brands that may be popular with decorators but don’t deliver at their price point.

We landed this counter depth Whirlpool for $1,000 less than it’s currently selling for. Home Depot had a crazy sale on its release a year ago. I would put this fridge on the consideration list. Never had a fridge that makes it so easy to access everything. (Note all the colors except black or white are on sale NOW for ~$2500)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-24-cu-ft-French-Door-Refrigerator-in-Black-Counter-Depth-WRF954CIHB/301751944

For dishwasher, Bosch of course

If the blue star cooktops are made to the same standard as the range then it’s worth it. I have some issues with the oven but nothing but praise for the burners.

Hi Brian - We also had oven issues with our old Blue Star, but the company claimed, and reviews supported, that those heating problems (evenness and time) had been addressed in the newer Platinum series. We bought one when did the new kitchen, and have been very happy - no perceivable oven problems anymore. I don’t know which models of Blue Star oven you have tried, so apologies if this comment is irrelevant and you are still finding problems with the Platinum. It made us very happy to find that the oven was now performing at the level of the burners!

It’s a platinum 48 inch and purchased this spring. It is an evenness problem that isn’t a reason to avoid the product but is bad enough to require turning of sheet pans when baking. Same issue with the broiler.

Ugh, very sorry to hear that. We have the 36 inch model, and have noted a vast improvement in the Platinum series over our old one, where we also had to rotate sheet pans. That’s a shame.

Any ideas about a vent hood? Can you place the motor near the exhaust so as to minimize the noise?

I’m hoping our experience will be more like Sarah’s. We have a 36" Platinum on order. Should be installed by the middle of next month.

Remote mount fans are an option on many hoods. I know the blue stars offer it and whatever my brother has does as well. We didn’t go that way due to where we duct out and my hesitation of mounting the fan on the side of the house. If we vented straight up, I would have done it. Our hood is 1200CFMs when on full and it does sound like a small jet. Luckily it’s only used on full very rarely.

Also note that if pushing 1200 CFMs your looking at a 10 inch diameter duct which can pose problems depending on what the current duct size is and how it’s routed.

Take a look at Vent-a-hood, which seems to be in the price/performance sweet spot. Ours is 900cfm but actually sounds tolerable at full blast despite the blowers being located right in the hood

Edit: iirc also made in the USA, which is nice

Ours is 2600 CFM or thereabouts, due to the wok burner, with separate intake and outtake. I’m not sure the diameter of the duct. It’s not nearly as loud as you’d think because the motor is on the roof (kitchen is on the 2nd floor)

Holy cow! What brand? I don’t think he’ll need anything close to that because he may have a wok burner with the outside stuff, but not inside (unless it’s included with one of the ranges). I’m just curious about the brand. I guess there are commercial vents that can move massive amounts of air. Definitely beyond his needs.