viking stove review

hello everyone.  i hope your weekend was nice.  ours was very wet and cold which was a nice change.
we need rain here!



i thought i'd do a little review of what if think of my overpriced,  no frills cooking machine, aka my viking range.

i have cooked professsionally on viking ranges so i was pretty familiar with them.  it is a powerful range, each burner has 15k btu's.  in comparison, the average range has 7k btu's per burner. for me the best part of a high btu range is the way it sears food really fast and evenly, giving great color to whatever you are making. 

my only complaint with the burners is that when you are on the lowest heat, an annoying clicking sound is made.  i'm guessing this is so you don't walk away thinking that whatever it is you are making is safe b/c you have it on low heat.  low heat on this range is still very hot.

another thing to consider is that you cannot use lightweight cookware on this range.  you need something heavy.  i use an old, heavy set of calphalon w/o teflon.

nice, heavy cookware and this range is a beautiful thing.

oh and one more thing, there is no built in timer or clock.  whatever, you'll get used to it.

i ordered a high shelf for my range.  that's the stainless steel backsplash and shelf.

i know a lot of people store their oils and spices up there but that is a mistake.

i think most people just style their photographs that way but that shelf is really a warming shelf.

when you get 2 or 3 of those burners going at once, that heat is quite hot and the shelf is designed to capture that heat.  it is intended to keep dishes and food warm up there while cooking.

that high heat will cook your oil and spices.

the convection oven is large and spacious. 

again, very powerful fans that cut 1/3 cooking/baking time off a recipe.

you have to get the hang of that too.  i swear the oven is almost as fast as the microwave.



 

this is the 24" stove i originally wanted.  so cute.

i thought it would be so perfect for my small kitchen.

i changed my mind when i found out that the burners were not sealed.

i'm a pretty messy cook and i need/love sealed burners.

there isn't much not to love about this range except things can burn quickly, there are no trendy gadgets (like timers) oh and the price.
this was the one splurge in our house renovation.
i believe with tax it was $5200.
almost 1/2 the entire cost of the kitchen renovation!

i would say that if you love to cook it's worth it.  if not, i think it would be a frustrating range to own.
anyone can get the hang of it though, it's just a question of whether you want to or not.


i hope you all have a spectacular monday b/c why not?!

xo
janet