Viking appliances - that bad?!

[sml2181]

New home, new kitchen.

We thought we decided on a Viking range including a char grill, but then I read some reviews. I think I may have read 2 reviews from happy Viking users.
I am seriously reconsidering.

I called Viking here in the Netherlands, and they tried to convince me; they said that the ranges exported to Europe are different and better. Installation is being done by them, as well as all other service issues. I am not convinced. The warranty is only 2 years.

Family of 6, but usually having at least 12 for dinner and at least 2 times a week I cook for at least 50 persons. I need something very durable, and I thought Viking would be exactly that.

My instinct now tells me to just stick with induction, get the 2 additional gas burners for additional space and 20K BTU per burner, and stick with Miele for my ovens and other appliances.

So, any Viking users here? Are they really that bad, or are there many happy Viking users as well?

Thanks!

 

[Passepartout]

I've had mine, a 30" stand-alone dual-fuel for over 10 years without a single issue. The oven isn't the fastest to pre-heat, but I've gotten used to it. Temperature is accurate.

That said, there are lots more 'commercial-look' ranges built for residential use than there were. Sealed burners (which my Viking doesn't have) would make for easier cleaning and a sleeker look, but if and when I want to replace it, I'd consider another Viking.

Jim

 

[wackymother]

The oven isn't the fastest to pre-heat, but I've gotten used to it.

Jim

Has it always been like that? Ours (not a Viking) had that problem for a couple of years before we realized that it had not always been that way and called the repair guy. It turned out to need a new...something. Can't remember what it was called, but it was an expensive little devil that we would not have gotten if we hadn't had a service contract on the stove. No problems since then.

 

[stmartinfan]

When we were buying new appliances for our kitchen, I read many different reviews. One of my observations is that the people who generally take the time to post on those sites tend to be people who are unhappy with their appliance. They are the ones angry and disappointed, and thus have the incentive to post. The satisfied people don't generally have the motivation - they are busy just going about their daily routine, enjoying their purchase!

Of course, that's a gross oversimplification - there were positive reviews as well, but usually they were people who posted in the excitement of their new purchase, not after using the item for 6-12 months, which is when you really decide how it works!

So I didn't place too much weight on misc. critical posts - because I found them for every appliance I was looking at. What I did look for were trends - was there one issue that seemed to surface in several places, that might indicate a flaw in design or manufacturing. I did see that sometimes, and tried to avoid those items. And based on reviews about the issues with ice makers and electronics in refrigerators now, I did purchase an extended warranty for that item, knowing it was more likely to cause a problem.

 

[hibbeln]

I agree with Stmartinfan, that most people that post tend to be the ones that are angry, especially for products!

We have a Viking stove (the big one, 2 ovens, 6 burners plus griddle top) that we bought in 1999. I cook every single night for a family of 4. We have the big holidays and family get togethers where we cook for many. Love my stove. Love the BTU's for the stove top.
The only quirk I've had (a few times) is that the ignitor on a burner will want to keep trying to ignite after the burner is lit, so it keeps going click click click for awhile. I don't think it's a big deal, but it drives me (engineer) husband crazy. I had one burner ignitor fixed probably 5 years ago. Another one is doing it right now, but isn't a burner I use a lot, so.....
MINOR issue!

I think Viking, Wolf and Thermidor are probably the top ones out there?
Pick the one you love.

 

[sml2181]

Thank you for your reactions.
It's good to know that at least there are some happy owners.

I too think that one will find mostly bad reviews online. But, when I searched for gas grills a few years ago, I found hundreds of happy Weber users, and only a few unhappy ones. (I bought Weber and love it) I expected to find something similar about Viking I guess.

The top American brands here are indeed Viking Wolf and Thermador. Of course we have La Cornue, Lacanche, Boretti and some others. I love La Cornue (construction and such), but the configuration I would like is MUCH more expensive than the Viking version.

I found out today that I can get the Wolf with charbroiler (thought I couldn't), but I am still waiting to hear what it would cost.

Well, I guess I need a little more time to make a decision...

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Do you like cooking on induction? I'm sad to say I don't know what it is. So, I would buy what you prefer to cook on. Anyways, we have a Thermadator and I like it. I has 6 burners with a gas stove top and electric oven. The oven is self-cleaning which is one reason I picked it over Viking. We bought our stove/oven unit about 11 years ago so, I don't know if Viking now has self-cleaning. The only issue with my oven is heating it up. I think that is a universal problem and I've had it serviced so there isn't anything wrong with it. I cry everytime I go to a timeshare and I have to use an electric stove. I overcook the eggs every single time.

 

[winnipiseogee]

Although its not my day job for about 8 years I was building higher end waterfront homes (we built one every couple years). Viking was typically one of our "sponsors" and each was outfitted with the newest and best viking equipment.

Here is my take - Viking is a cooks dream. I LOVE using their stuff and its amazing what you can cook with professional grade equipment like that. The problem is that after 2 to 4 years the appliances seem to have more problems than "regular" appliances and the problems can be very expensive to fix. We are friends with the 5 families who bought the homes we built and they all have a love/hate relationship with viking now.

Personally, when we renovated our own kitchen 2 years ago (its neither high end nor waterfront!) I decided to use regular appliances. Viking offered to give us all of our appliances at cost which meant they only cost a bit more than home depot appliances but I just didn't want the headaches down the road.

So... If you love to cook you've got to decide if its worth cooking with awesome equipment knowing that it will cost you $700 when one of the knobs breaks in a few years???

 

[Glynda]

Stove

When we purchased our house and began remodeling a year ago, I had planned to go Viking or Wolf but upon inspection, and even the dealers admitting Viking had been having service problems, I went with Thermador. I am not a professional cook but the stove is used a lot. What I liked most about Thermador was how much easier it is to clean. The bottom of the stove is black, not stainless, and the star shaped burners sit up higher than the others'. It is sooooo much easier to clean under and around them than any gas stove I've had.

 

[Conan]

We looked at Wolf and Viking, ended up with Wolf. Six burners and double oven. Gas top (liquid propane because there's no piped gas in our area) and electric ovens.

No problems in two years. I think we chose the wrong insert though (between the double row of burners and single row of burners). We chose the grill over the griddle, and we never use it because we don't want to have to clean it.

We chose the black knobs; otherwise ours looks like this (there's a cover over the insert in the picture)

 

[Kal]

Last summer I did ENDLESS research on a new gas cooktop. I looked carefully at induction, but did not want to replace all my cookware with non-magnetic designs. Cost was a minor consideration. The reviews included Viking, Wolf, Thermidor and others.

I found that any design will provide ample heat at the high setting, but all were different with the low or simmer settings. Thermidor was probably the worse in how it achieved low BTU output. In my estimation every manufacturer but one could not achieve an acceptable simmer setting. The one was DCS by Fisher & Paykel. In their simmer design I can melt chocolate on a paper plate without harm to the paper. Incredible!

As I use the cooktop I find that I almost never use a setting higher than MEDIUM, but very frequently use the SIMMER setting. I never before realized that value because it wasn't available.

 

[e.bram]

Go to restaurant of commercial kitchen supply store. You can get a REAL heavy duty high output(btu) commercial stove for a lot less than a Viking or Wolf.

 

[MichaelColey]

When we built our house 10 years ago, we looked at many different stovetops. What we chose was a Thermador 6 burner unit. It has worked flawlessly. We LOVE cooking with gas, and that's the one hard thing to get used to when we timeshare (since very few properties have gas stoves).

On ours, there are two types of burners, and one of them works better than the other if you're wanting just a very low heat. It alternates the lowest flame on and off at an interval that you set with the dial.

 

[LisaH]

When we built our house 5 years ago, I also considered Viking, Thermador, and Wolf. We ended up getting a 6 burner Wolf. I liked Thermodor but did not care for the star shaped burner which seems to be difficult to clean. My friend has Viking and she complains about cleaning as well. For Wolf, there is a plate inserted underneath and if I boil over something, it's easier to just take the insert out and clean it that way. We love our Wolf burners. BTW, I did not get the Grill or Griddle. My neighbor has one with the Grill and it's difficult to clean...

 

[MichaelColey]

The Thermador is very easy to clean. The grate lifts right off and the top lifts right off the burners. All of that can be cleaned in the sink or dishwasher and the surface of the stove is pretty easy to clean.

We didn't get a grill or griddle on the stovetop, either. The grill goes outside. Similarly, I didn't get a side burner with the grill.

 

[SDKath]

Just don't get GE Monogram.

2 new homes now in the past 10 years that we have had GE Monogram appliances in and we are now on a first name basis with our local GE repair guy. Not that he isn't nice, but really? He comes to our home at least once every couple of months and even brings treats to our dogs.

I'd prefer something just a little more reliable...

Kath

 

[Kal]

....if you're wanting just a very low heat. It alternates the lowest flame on and off at an interval that you set with the dial.

I saw that feature, but when I talked to owners of the unit they detest the constant click-click-click on restarting the burner to achieve that very low BTU outbut.

 

[MichaelColey]

I saw that feature, but when I talked to owners of the unit they detest the constant click-click-click on restarting the burner to achieve that very low BTU outbut.

It really isn't that annoying to me, but I have three noise-generators running around the house so it's not all that noticeable.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

It really isn't that annoying to me, but I have three noise-generators running around the house so it's not all that noticeable.

I have the same thing on my Thermador stove too. I think we bought ours at the same time. Also, the BTUs on my stove is less on the burners to the right and higher on the burners to the left. So, if I'm cooking something that needs less BTUs I use the burner to the far right. The ones the left run high. I also, learned to start on low and not really go much higher than that. I also found it makes a huge difference on the kind of pan you use. For example if I use my cast iron or Le Crueset I know it will retain its heat and to start out slow and low. But I love how these things do retain their heat. I make soup in the winter when I know the kids will all be on different dinner schedules because of sports and activities. I can keep the soup in these pots on the stove and they will stay warm for several hours. Almost too warm. I'm sure it has to do with the pans more than the stove but I love it. I've had my stove 11 years in October. The only thing that I've had to repair was when my ding dong husband accidentally turned on the self-cleaning oven part instead of Bake. Then, in an effort to get the door open he turned it off and tried to hit bake. I think, he hit all the buttons and then, fired the motherboard. I had no clue it had one until $500 later. Funny thing is that I goggled it because the chicken nuggets were still in the oven and I didn't want them to rot. There were tons of stories about how people did the same thing he did.

 

[sml2181]

Thank you all, for giving more food for thoughts. I love it that people here always try to help!

As of now, Thermador is out of the question as it is too unknown here. I can get it, but there is not a single person here who seems to know anything about it.

Viking is still in the running (since the dealer will extend warranty and promised in writing that they will take it back if I change my mind within 2 years after purchase), as is Wolf - which comes with 2 years warranty. (I am used to Miele 10 years warranty, but otoh, I have never needed it other than for my coffee machine which has been abused heavily since the minute it was installed)

I have been using induction for almost 20 years. I cannot come up with a single negative comment, other than that my cooktop has only 5 burners and I need more. It's quick (but I use boiling water from the boiling water tap so that isn't a concern), it's punctual, cleaning takes only a few seconds and I love having a seperate timer for each burner.
I understand that induction is not so popular in the US, but, I don't know anyone else here who uses induction either, except for my neighbour. I read somewhere that it is the number 1 in Europe. Well, not in Holland, at least not that I know of.

After 20 years, we just thought it would be nice to have a little change! And DH definately loves the sturdy look of these American ranges. He had sort of set his mind on the Viking, but after reading all the complaints, he agrees that maybe Wolf would be a smarter choice. With the black knobs.

The one feature I thought I would love to have is the chargrill. Having read here twice that the Wolf grill is hard to clean is a real concern. Viking seems to be easier though.

The 2 large ovens would also be nice, but I could add any 2 large ovens as well. (I'll keep my convection steam ovens and combi-ovens, but they are smaller.)

I love using griddles, but I have 2 large cast iron griddles and they can be placed on both gas and induction tops. I also have an electric griddle which works fine as well. It would be nice to have it built in, but that built-in size is smaller than the ones I have - so definately not a deciding factor.

I don't feel I would need a better simmer; never had any problems simmering, but in all honesty, I melt things as butter and chocolate in the microwave , or I do it the au-bain-marie way, depending on how much time I have and what it is used for. I am not a professional cook by any means, I just happen to cook a lot for many people.

I totally agree with the Le Creuset pans - I use them a lot too! I also have such a pan (another brand though), which belonged to DH's grandmother - these things will never die.

So, in the end, what should be the deciding factor?

I just want to put an end on all this; I need to watch flights for our Christmas ski vacaction!!!! (And I need to decide whether to have an outdoor spa... or not. And if so, which brand. Forgot the names, but they're American. Anyone...? )

Thanks again everyone!