Even if you watch your spending in most areas of your life, sometimes, if you want the best, you’re going to need to pay for it. When you want the best vacuum on Earth, you’ll probably buy a Miele Complete C3 Brilliant or Complete C3 Marin. When you want the best kitchen floor, there’s a good chance your top choices will include ceramic or porcelain tile. And if you want a freestanding range, whether because you want to take your cooking to the next level or because you simply want the best-looking range on the market, you’re probably going to search for a Viking range. You’ll spend a lot to bring one home, but if you want quality, they have very few competitors aside from the likes of Wolf, Blue Star, Thermador, La Cornue, and Vulcan.
We recently reviewed one of their 48″ double oven gas ranges–the VGCC5488BSS from their Professional 5 Series–and loved it. Today we’ll review a sibling, the Viking VDSC5488BSS Stainless Steel 48″ Sealed Burner Dual Fuel Range to see which offers more value when you’re about to spend $9,000 on a high-end range. To sum up our thoughts, buy the VGCC5488BSS if you want an all gas experience and buy the VDSC5488BSS if you want a dual fuel setup with a gas range and an electric oven for greater precision in setting and holding baking temperatures. Besides their power sources, for all intents and purposes, the ranges are identical and two of the best 48″ double oven ranges on the market. We fully review it below, and you can buy the Viking VDSC5488BSS here in the United States.
Pros, cons, and key features of the Viking 48″ VDSC5488BSS Dual Fuel Range
The VDSC5488BSS 48″ stainless steel dual fuel range, like the VGCC5488BSS 48″ gas range, is proudly made in the United States–in Leflore County, Mississippi, in fact–and is part of their Professional 5 Series line. It’s a double oven range with a full and half-sized oven. Both ovens are electric while all burners are powered by natural gas, although liquid propane conversion kits are also available.The primary oven, which you’ll find on the right, is 30″ wide, has 4.1 cubic feet of internal capacity, while the secondary oven on the left is 18″ wide with a 2.2 cubic foot capacity. An infrared broiler is also included.
Because the electrical components of the range don’t use a standard 120V electrical supply, you may need to modify your electrical system to properly power it. The entire range requires either 240 or 208 volts AC with a 50 amp circuit breaker, although max amp usage peaks at 37 amps with the 240V model and 32 amps with the 208V model. The ovens do include a self-cleaning feature and interior halogen lighting, as well as 5 racks. The total oven capacity is 6.3 cubic feet.
Above the ovens are 8 burners arranged in 4 front-back pairs. The front right burner is the primary cooking tool, generating up to 18,500 BTUs; the remaining 7 burners can generate up to 15,000 BTUs each. All burners feature automatic re-ignition systems so gas doesn’t flow without fire if the flames are extinguished accidentally. The VariSimmer setting lets you lower burner power to a few hundred BTUs for barely-there simmering. The entire range is made from heavy-gauge stainless steel with the exception of the cast iron grates and porcelain interior. Viking offers 2 years of full warranty coverage and extends limited coverage for the gas burners to 5 years. The unit is 47-7/8″ wide when installed, 37″ tall, and 28-11/16″ deep from the back to the door handle in the front. It weighs 575 pounds when shipped. This is a professionally-sized range for professional-level work.
How easy is it to use, control, and cook with the VDSC5488BSS?
Cooking with the VDSC5488BSS is a pleasure. The knobs grip easily, turn smoothly, light quickly. When cooking, you can lose yourself for hours in the process. There are nearly no electronic distractions to speak of; nearly every feature on the range can be controlled through the shining metal knobs. There are no clocks to set, timers to program, or anything to sync with your smart phone. All that’s left to do is cook. And cook you will!
The lack of electrical and screen-based distractions also allows you to enjoy a nearly unbreakable appliance. There are no electronic circuit boards to break down, meaning your Viking is unlikely to stop working someday due to planned obsolescence and cheap parts. When cooking or baking, nothing will stand between you and your vision aside from the time you spend in front of the range.
Whatever you cook will be cooked quickly and evenly; the electric ovens provide an unparalleled level of temperature control that no gas ovens, not even Vikings, can match. To put it simply, this is a professional machine for professional cooking.
What’s the difference between the Viking VDSC5488BSS and the VGCC5488BSS 48″ ranges?
The main difference between the VDSC5488BSS 48″ dual fuel range and the VGCC5488BSS double oven range is the power supply: the VDSC uses natural gas for the stovetop (i.e., the burners on the range) and electricity to power the ovens, resulting in greater levels of precision in setting and holding oven temperatures than what’s possible in gas powered ovens. The VGCC uses natural gas in both the burners and the oven. The VDSC also features a slightly larger oven capacity at 6.3 cubic feet vs 6.1 cubic feet in the VGCC, but practically speaking, this is unlikely to make a difference in the effective amount of cooking you’re able to accomplish with either appliance. Both feature the same configuration of burners–8–with the same maximum BTU power outputs. Both are made to the same exceptionally high standards, and both will take up the same amount of space in your kitchen.
Is it worth paying extra for Amazon’s professional expert installation with the Viking VDSC5488BSS?
Finally, no matter whether you buy the Viking VDSC5488BSS or VGCC5488BSS ranges, we strongly suggest choosing Amazon’s “include installation” option. We recommend buying the range from Amazon due to the fact that they’ll ship you a 600-pound appliance for free in a matter of days and allow you to choose when they deliver it. Adding the expert installation on top of the regular delivery will cost a few hundred dollars extra, but it’ll also allow you to have an error-free, safe, and professional installation job done. This is essential for keeping your warranty coverage intact. Beyond the pro installation, they’ll also remove and responsibly dispose of your current range. When you buy a multi-thousand dollar appliance that you want to last for decades in beautiful condition, the last thing you want to do is drop or dent it–or worse, incorrectly install it–simply to save a few dollars. Get the job done well and enjoy your Viking for the rest of your life.
You can buy the Viking VGCC5488BSS 8-burner 48″ professional gas range here on Amazon or buy the VDSC5488BSS 48″ range if you want a dual fuel setup and slightly larger ovens instead.
Canadians, unfortunately, neither Viking range is readily available. However, you can buy a substitute 48″ range, the Thor Kitchen HRG4804U 6-burner range with double oven, here.
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