30" range question

A Dacor 30" discontinued model range and hood is being offered to me. I don't know everything about it yet, but here's what I do know:

Black, 30" Dacor
Gas top, with one high output burner
Electric oven
5-1/2 years old
$1800 when new

Black, 30" Vent-a-Hood

I haven't seen it yet, but it's supposedly in good shape. I don't know the model number yet.
Any comments about either or both? How much should I offer?

[Jenise]

Larry, I have friends with Dacor which I've cooked on when at their homes, and they're very good ranges. Not Wolf or Viking, perhaps, but way WAY above average. You'll love that high output burner. And there are no better hoods made than Vent-a-Hood--that piece alone, even if it's just the one blower-300 CFM model, starts at about $700. Pending a visual inspection to confirm mint condition, I'd offer half. A little less if it looks worn.

A Dacor 30" discontinued model range and hood is being offered to me. I don't know everything about it yet, but here's what I do know:

Black, 30" Dacor
Gas top, with one high output burner
Electric oven
5-1/2 years old
$1800 when new

Black, 30" Vent-a-Hood

I haven't seen it yet, but it's supposedly in good shape. I don't know the model number yet.
Any comments about either or both? How much should I offer?

I can't comment on the brand, but I love my mixed-fuel 30" range (mine's a Thermidor) and the high output burner is a great feature (how many BTU? how much for the others?). The hood is an essential, too, as you need to vent the heat output. I hope that you've already got the duct work for the hood in your kitchen.

Mark Lipton

I have an existing hood I was going to rid of, anyway. But one main question I have: I use a gas oven mainly for baking bread and pizza. I have a large baking stone I keep in the bottom of the oven. Will an electric oven work okay for bread and pizza? I think it's also convection, but like I said, I haven't seen it yet.

I have an existing hood I was going to rid of, anyway. But one main question I have: I use a gas oven mainly for baking bread and pizza. I have a large baking stone I keep in the bottom of the oven. Will an electric oven work okay for bread and pizza? I think it's also convection, but like I said, I haven't seen it yet.

Larry, I've had both and if my experience is any guide, you won't notice any difference in baking bread or pizza - or anything else - between gas and eletric ovens. In the particular case of pizza, the only thing that really matters is how hot you can run the oven.

I have an existing hood I was going to rid of, anyway. But one main question I have: I use a gas oven mainly for baking bread and pizza. I have a large baking stone I keep in the bottom of the oven. Will an electric oven work okay for bread and pizza? I think it's also convection, but like I said, I haven't seen it yet.

I'll go along with what Mark says on this. I've never used anything but an electric oven for making bread and pizza and it's worked very well for me. Some people claim there's a difference between gas and electric in terms of moisture and in terms of how much temperature fluctuation you get but I've certainly never had a problem with it myself. And our electric oven is about as crappy a unit as you'll find. A Dacor would only do better.

Larry, I have a 90cm fan forced Smeg (electric) and bake all my loaves and pizzas in it. It heats surprisingly quickly, and I usually bake on FF setting (despite much debate with Pete, who thinks we should use the non-FF settings for baking). Our oven has five elements, two top, one bottom, and two at the back where the fans are. When the FF is on, it uses the back two elements, regular baking uses the top and bottom ones, and there is a separate one on top for grilling. It does give us a lot of flexibility to play with.

The big size is fantastic - I used to refer to our Smeg as a four fruitcake oven. In terms of capacity, I've been able to bake up to 8 x 600g batons in there at the one time (laid out on four round pizza stones - I'm pretty sure you'd get more in if you've got the whole shelf covered with a stone. It also does an entire batch of cookies (42) in one hit.

I had an electrician install a 220v outlet a couple of days ago so I could install the stove I bought. I got both the stove and hood for $400 plus an additional $100 for the 220, so I think I got a good deal. I'll be picking them up this weekend. I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be okay. I'm just not used to a electric oven, even if it is a convection. No doubt I'll have to relearn some stuff.

[Jenise]

I had an electrician install a 220v outlet a couple of days ago so I could install the stove I bought. I got both the stove and hood for $400 plus an additional $100 for the 220, so I think I got a good deal. I'll be picking them up this weekend. I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be okay. I'm just not used to a electric oven, even if it is a convection. No doubt I'll have to relearn some stuff.

Larry, I would presume, based on the Jenn-Air I now use and the Viking (both electric) I installed in Huntington Beach that the convection aspect is a setting, a choice, not mandatary, and that the oven has a regular mode that won't be much different from what you were used to with gas. Just cleaner! Congrats on the great price.

I had an electrician install a 220v outlet a couple of days ago so I could install the stove I bought. I got both the stove and hood for $400 plus an additional $100 for the 220, so I think I got a good deal. I'll be picking them up this weekend. I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be okay. I'm just not used to a electric oven, even if it is a convection. No doubt I'll have to relearn some stuff.

That's a great deal, Larry! I also had to adapt from a gas oven to an electric convection oven. Here are my thoughts:

1. The temperatures will be more constant and reliable
2. Cooking with convection reduces cooking times by 10-20%
3. Convection works well for non-delicate things like meats and potatoes
4. I am leery of using convection with my baking, probably unnecessarily (as Jenise says, it's an option on mine)
5. The self-cleaning feature rocks!
6. Broiling isn't as nice: if you broil close to the element (on top) you get a lot of spatter from fats

Have fun with your new toy!
Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Additional to what Mark said about speeding up the cooking times, this is great for some things, less so for others, but that all depends on your cooking style. As someone who tries to go low and slow, I rarely used convection. However, for drying herbs, tomatoes, or making your own jerky? FANTASTIC!

according to the august issue of consumer reports - even a 36" dacor should be less than that. near the top in quality but near the bottom in repair frequency.