Was just talking to someone about GE Monogram ranges and it reminded me what a great deal they are.
- Built to last
- Recent design changes make the GE Monogram pro ranges look more like something that belongs in a kitchen as opposed to a tank.
- Porcelain racks in the oven are a great idea – this way you don’t have to remove them during self-clean mode as you would with stainless racks.
- Double stacked burners. Each burner allows you to go from 15k btu’s down to 140 btu’s (natural gas version).
All we need from Monogram is a gas-on-gas range, then…watch out.
- Availability in colors such as stainless, anthracite, ivory, burgundy and blue
You’ve just read the main selling points of Fratelli Onofri’s 36″ dual fuel ranges. They’ve been available in the US for over a year now but seemed to have been overshadowed by Bertazzoni, the other Italian manufacturer to have made recent inroads to the US market. Fratelli Onofri products look very similar to Bertazzoni’s, but an important factor differentiating them is price – Fratelli Onofri’s are less expensive.
Case in point: Let’s compare a 36″ dual fuel range in stainless, with 5 sealed burners and convection ovens.
Fratelli Onofri FREV905S - $2499
Bertazzoni X365PIRX – $4799
The big discernible difference? Bertazzoni offers self clean function and a meat probe. Is that worth $2300 to you?
Check out some of the colors that Fratelli Onofri offers….
I am not going to tell you that the decision on what riser to use on your Wolf range is mission critical to acing the design on your kitchen. What I will say is that the questions “what’s a riser?”, or “why do I need a riser?” are asked of me so often that I thought we might as well knock this topic off early.
The first thing to discuss is what exactly is a riser?
Your gas range will come with a hole in the back portion, right behind the back burners.
This should be filled with either “island trim” or a “riser”. The dual fuel ranges ship with island trim on them already.
Island trim is going to be slightly over an inch high.
Risers will literally “rise” off the back of the range and come in increments of 5″, 10″ and 20″.
The 20″ version has a shelf.
Top to Bottom - Wolf 5" riser, Wolf 10" riser, Wolf 20" riser with shelf - Curtos.com
For the gas ranges a 5″ riser is the minimum requirement for the R366 – 6 burners – installed against a combustible surface.
If you are using a 36″ with a griddle R364G or charbroiler R364C against a combustible surface, the minimum is a 10″ riser.
Most of the time, the riser decision boils down to what treatment you are using behind the range. If it’s a beautiful tile pattern or you have a pot filler, you go with either the island trim or 5″ riser.
So the long and short of it is, yes you need one because at the least your range will look ridiculous with a gaping hole behind it!
I get so many questions from people shopping for Wolf ranges that I figured I would try and get some info on the screen here to help facilitate your research.
What I’m going to do is chunk this down to a multi-part series with each one tackling key questions that I keep getting hit with by customers. I’ll also drum up a few facts that you may be overlooking in your quest for a Wolf. Some of these are going to be very, very straightforward – “What’s the difference between a Wolf gas and Wolf dual fuel range”, while others will focus on some very narrow and rarely touched upon subjects. Hopefully this will help you in your shopping quest.
Even though the economy is in the tank, this is a great opportunity to buy high-end or pro appliances because the manufacturers are tossing so many incentives out there. Wolf is doing this as well, and it’s not a practice that they are typically involved with…so take advantage of it!
Buying something like a Wolf gas or Wolf dual fuel range is an investment in your home. It’s not cheap, so due diligence has to be done to see if this is the right purchase for you, but I will say that in all of the Wolf ranges I have sold in the last 4-5 years, I have NEVER received a complaint. And I’ve sold alot of them folks.
Well maybe not so new as they hit showroom floors late last fall, but this line has definitely got customers talking. With the economy all banged-up, the high-end appliance space is truly taking beating, so the customer who may have dropped $25,000 – $35,000 on kitchen appliances are now trying to get it done in the $12,000 – $20,000 space. That would point to brands like Icon, KitchenAid Architect and Jenn Air on the low side, and Miele, Monogram, Thermador on the high side. From what I’m seeing, Monogram is grabbing many of these sales.
The new line debuted last fall. They softened it up a little, bringing more rounded features into the mix but still boasting that testosterone-laden heavy metal look. Handles are still thick, door feels as strong as a tank, and the BTU’s are straight out of Hades.
GE Monogram zdp484ngpss - Curtos.com
Here’s a quick comparison of one of the new Monogram ranges against it’s Viking counterpart
Monogram: ZDP484NGPSS – 48″ dual fuel range, 4 burners with griddle, natural gas
Viking: VDSC4874GQ
Monogram offers:
- Dual stacked burners (Viking: No)
- Adjustable simmer as low as 140 degrees F
- Max burner output 18K BTU (Viking offers 15K)
- Max rangetop output 104K BTU (Viking offers 93K)
- Oven capacity 8.25 cu ft, large oven fits catering tray (Viking offers 5.3 cu ft)
