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That is because those brands are just better...we opted for a Wolf in our current home due to the fact is has amazing simmer settings, is very durable and reliable and my wife and I both love to cook. A lot of it also has to do with the size pots and pans you have in relation to burner location and spacing, as well as burner intensity. Not to mention the added features of griddles and grills on some models...IMHO, there is no fad, just home cooks that know what they want in a cooktop.
Consumer reports would strongly disagree, Sub-zero and Wolf both show up with very low marks for long-term reliability.
Consumer reports would strongly disagree, Sub-zero and Wolf both show up with very low marks for long-term reliability.
I'll take the opinion of local appliance repairmen and current owners to be worth more than Consumer Reports...just my $.02. Some people base all their life's decisions based on ratings from a sponsored magazine. I'd rather base my decision from reviews on appliance forums by owners of Wolf, Capital Culinarian, Gagneau, Thermador, Bluestar, etc. IMHO, CR is more "consumer grade" or stuff that you would find in big box stores, so I take their reviews with a grain of salt.
I'll take the opinion of local appliance repairmen and current owners to be worth more than Consumer Reports...just my $.02. Some people base all their life's decisions based on ratings from a sponsored magazine. I'd rather base my decision from reviews on appliance forums by owners of Wolf, Capital Culinarian, Gagneau, Thermador, Bluestar, etc. IMHO, CR is more "consumer grade" or stuff that you would find in big box stores, so I take their reviews with a grain of salt.
Who exactly is CR sponsored by? You do realize that they do not accept advertising dollars and pay out of pocket for appliances, cars and all goods tested by the magazine. Reliability and survey results ARE generated by current owners so that refutes your premise.
Who exactly is CR sponsored by? You do realize that they do not accept advertising dollars and pay out of pocket for appliances, cars and all goods tested by the magazine. Reliability and survey results ARE generated by current owners so that refutes your premise.
I don't know about their advertising, but I guess "biased" would be a better description. I have always found them to be biased towards certain brands over the years, while totally excluding other higher end brands from their testing. This has always made me think they must be getting paid from those larger sub-par companies. If consumers choose to use CR for their purchases, that is fine, but I wouldn't base my purchases solely on what CR has to say.
I would think the trend isn't gas, it's the 36 inch stainless restaurant Viking ranges that are the trend. Seems all the houses of a certain price range have that style range. No one has the standard 30 inch Frigidaire or Kenmore -- gotta be the Viking or Wolf or Fisher Paykel ....
Tallysmom, I think you hit the nail on the head! It's not gas, it's professional grade gas ranges in homes where you know people mostly eat microwave dinners, eat out or take out. That's where I got my notion of people who don't cook preferring gas . Of course, I'm wrong, and not all who uses/prefers gas are clueless about cooking, I just happened to run into several people who were like that.
Personally, I think people ought to mind their own kitchen and what's cooking (or not cooking) on their own stove, rather than passing judgment on why others choose certain appliances. It's their own money and their own house, for pete's sake.
Now when I replace my electric flat stove top with a gas range, I'll have to worry about how others are judging me....errrrr, NOT. If I want to use my gas range to do nothing more than heat up water for hot tea, it's my own money and my own kitchen. Sheeze!
Tallysmom, I think you hit the nail on the head! It's not gas, it's professional grade gas ranges in homes where you know people mostly eat microwave dinners, eat out or take out. That's where I got my notion of people who don't cook preferring gas . Of course, I'm wrong, and not all who uses/prefers gas are clueless about cooking, I just happened to run into several people who were like that.
I cook with gas -- but on a white Frigidaire. I like white appliances. And I do cook. And bake. (And bake!!)
The whole not cooking thing is rampant. My sister went to a flooring place for new flooring for her kitchen and they were recommending products that were NOT water friendly. And she finally had to explain that she cooked, and washed dishes in the sink, and rinses veggies and salad stuff and water gets on the floor.
The guy looked at her and said -- Wait -- you actually USE your kitchen?
I have a a couple of pans that have curved bottoms. Cooking in it on the gas stove is far easier. We had electric in our apartment and cooking on the curved pans was not fun.
Absolutely! And I hope the OP has been disabused of the idea that Somehow, I think that people who prefer gas ranges don't cook as much
In my experience, both as a personal chef and as a real estate agent, it's the people who DO cook a lot, for whom cooking is a passion, that gas is preferable or, in some cases, something that's a deal breaker in a house they're considering buying. When one or both of a couple are foodies, for example, I've been asked not to even show them houses that don't have gas ranges because it's just that important to them.
You mean hubby and I aren't the only ones where an electric range would be a deal breaker?! Mom tried to get a gas line run to the kitchen in my current house (she owned it before me) and she found out that gas simply isn't available at all in our neighborhood. I guess 30 years ago when the house was built, electric must have been all the rage.
I grew up with (mostly) gas stoves. I remember being 9 or 10 and using the gas burner to cook a hot dog. I haven't had electric in many years and while it is certainly not going to be a deal breaker for us, I know I will be sad if we end up not getting another gas stove when we move soon (we will be renting). We tend to rent older places and they usually don't have electric but when we move we'll be limited on rental choices so we might end up with electric after all.
I will admit that I was always afraid of gas though, and I don't like to light the pilot if it goes out. I also seem to have a ridiculously strong ability to smell gas... when the pilot was out recently on the stove I was the only one who noticed the odor. Years ago we had a water heater put in to the house where we were living (replacement) and I kept smelling gas all that afternoon, but no one else did. I got worried and called our local gas & electric emergency number to check it out. Turns out the Sears guys had put in a propane water heater when we had a natural gas connection and YES, gas was leaking horribly! They had us get out for the night in fact!
So while I like having a gas stove and gas water heater and gas winter heaters I am also a bit paranoid and I always own more than one carbon monoxide detector!
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I'd rather base my decision from reviews on appliance forums by owners of Wolf, Capital Culinarian, Gagneau, Thermador, Bluestar, etc. IMHO, CR is more "consumer grade" or stuff that you would find in big box stores, so I take their reviews with a grain of salt.
. Of course, I'm wrong, and not all who uses/prefers gas are clueless about cooking, I just happened to run into several people who were like that.
I haven't had electric in many years and while it is certainly not going to be a deal breaker for us, I know I will be sad if we end up not getting another gas stove when we move soon (we will be renting). We tend to rent older places and they usually don't have electric but when we move we'll be limited on rental choices so we might end up with electric after all. 
