Don’t settle for anything less than this professional rangetop
Written: Mar 10 '02 (Updated Mar 20 '02)
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Pros: Constant heat, automatic re-ignition, easy to clean, professional look
Cons: Knobs a bit too easy to turn on
The Bottom Line: Perfectly designed and built to meet the highest standards. Comes packed with features that mainstream products lack, yet the 30" version of the line is affordable.
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| transgenik's Full Review: Viking VGRT Gas 30", 36", 42", 48" and 60" Wide Ra... |
When my boyfriend and I decided to buy our first house, one thing was obvious: the kitchen was going to be the central attraction, and we were willing to invest in it to make it as perfect as my cooking is ;-)
Long before moving in, we started looking for the perfect kitchen appliances, which involved months of comparison and shopping (we’re not exactly what you might call “impulsive buyers”). We focused on the cooktop first, because that’s what I use most in the kitchen.
We considered KitchenAid, Frigidaire and Jenn-Air, which were referred to as good “quality/price” deals last year. But we soon realised that these mainstream products came with a few problems we were not willing to deal with and that you’ll discover by reading this review further…
Then we discovered the professional brands: Viking (called “Ultraline” in Canada, because Sears owns the Viking trademark here) and DCS cooktops; Thermador also offers a “professional line” of its products.
As only Viking offered a 30” model (we couldn’t afford anything bigger), we settled for that one, a stainless steel VGRT300-4B - 30" wide, with four burners. Viking calls that a “rangetop” instead of a “cooktop”, because the knobs are in front of the unit, as they are on a full range.
How low can you go? All about BTUs part I
With gas, you calculate the power in “BTUs”. It is important to look at the lowest BTUs settings as much as the highest. With mainstream products, some will say they go as low as 350, but beware: this may not be a constant heat. The 350 BTUs is sometimes reached by the burner constantly activating and de-activating. This means that your precious sauce will get a high heat, then nothing, then a high heat, then nothing… and end up sticking and burning at the bottom. Other devices are built with a “small center”; the lowest setting is reached by switching to the small center, which concentrates the heat in the middle only (leaving the sides completely cold).
The VGRT300 goes down to 2,000 BTUs, but this is a real, constant 2,000 BTUs. You have a “simmer” option that is very low (1,000 BTUs) and always constant, but that I still find a little too high for a few meals (cream sauces, for example). Also, I sometimes put the simmer so low that the flame shuts off just because of me moving air by going around the kitchen…
The lowest cost units don’t have automatic re-ignition built-in (you may still add it as an option on some models). This is a must to prevent gas to invade the house in case of your flame accidentally shutting off. As you can guess, with my flame often shutting off because of my “simmer” usage, the automatic re-ignition is quite useful for me.
Let’s fly high! All about BTUs part II
Unfortunately, the local natural gas company doesn’t supply our house, so we had to settle for propane. One surprising thing we learned while shopping was that converting a range to propane will lessen its power. But if you go with a model that is has the propane option “built-in”, such as this Viking line, you shouldn’t lose any power. Please see the_gas_man's explanations about this in the comments section :-)
The VGRT300 goes up to 15,000 BTUs, which will let you bring water to boil in just a few minutes. It is also perfect to brown the meat on its sides without cooking the interior, to sauté vegetables. I have yet to see something to cook that would necessitate higher BTUs.
Functional and enjoyable cooking experience
My previous 24’ electrical cooktop necessitated a lot of planning, because the elements were so near that the choice of a particular big casserole on one could prevent the use of the two nearest elements. I usually ended up planning my meals to use only two elements in diagonal.
In comparison, using this Viking is a charm. The 30’ model has extra space in the middle that facilitates the use of the four burners at the same moment, with no trouble at all manoeuvring. This extra space comes with cast iron grill on the top, so it can be used as a safe surface to put down something hot from the oven.
Some may like the new designer series that Viking offers, but I really prefer the “professional look and feel” attained by the knobs put on the front of the unit (to mimic a range). The knobs have a solidity feel, and you set it easily. They have what Viking calls a “childproof, push-to-turn safety feature”, but I personally think that any child could accidentally light a burner. Flintstones vitamins are harder to get out of the bottle than a flame out of these burner!
Finally, even if the Viking has an automatic electric spark ignition, you still can light the burners up with a match in case of electricity outage. I’ve had a use for it this very winter, when we lacked electricity for 24 hours.
Cleaning me softly
The Viking line has been well designed to facilitate its cleaning. It has porcelain grate supports that you easily remove. It also has separately removable, porcelain bowls that catch most of the drippings and that are dishwasher-safe. There is also a stainless steel pull-out drip tray that will catch everything the bowls may have let through.
Be careful that citrus is stainless steel’s worst enemy. If you like to add a few drops of lime or citrus in your recipes, keep a moist cloth near and clean the stainless steel finish as soon as you see a drop.
The porcelain is easy to clean with soapy water. The stainless steel parts too, but if they get very dirty, prefer a stainless steel cleaner (such as Blancoclean). This simple maintenance kept mine as new day after day since I bought it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1400
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Epinions.com ID:
transgenik
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Member: Martine Gingras
Location: Rosemère, Québec, Canada
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 28 members
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Let's talk about things. Real things.
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