When it comes to appliances, there are the ones you use weekly and the ones you use daily. For anyone who cooks at home vs ordering in, the range/stove is going to be one you use daily. Therefore, it is important to make sure you get a quality and reliable range. It’s common knowledge that gas ranges are better for cooking than electric, but what about induction? I’ll go over how I chose my latest range and my current reviews after a few months of use.
Gas vs Induction
Induction is the current favourite for control and specific temperature holding. Gas is the old standby for quick reaction times and a range of heat options. Which should you choose? In my research, I quickly determined that it’s going to be determined in most cases by what you already have. If you’ve got a propane range you’re replacing, hooking up another propane range will be easier than getting the right electricity plug wired in. Your regular pots and pans will work with gas also. For induction, you’ll either be buying “heat plate” “adapters” or getting new cookware that is induction ready. Induction also isn’t something I’d pay extra for in a range – you can get inexpensive induction hobs for ~$100 for the rare times you need that exacting control of temperature. Otherwise replacing like with like is generally going to be more cost effective. In my case, I stayed with propane.
Type of Range
This is going to be determined by where you’re installing it. If you have a cut-out – slide in ranges are a great choice, otherwise, you’ll probably need free-standing. I happened to have a free-standing range in a cut out, so I could go either way. This is a common design in kitchens, so if you’ve got the choice look at both styles. The nice thing is there are a lot of slide-ins that are designed to fit in the traditional free-standing cut-outs so you don’t need additional molding or counter to fill the gap anymore – there isn’t a gap.
Functions
The most common functions for the range are going to be how many burners, what style of burners, and what style of grates for the burners. In the oven, it’s going to be shelves, oven size, convection, broiler, and temperature. Finally, there’s the warming drawer, second oven, or storage space.
A range is necessarily a set of compromises as it’s a combined stove, oven and often broiler or warming drawer. You need to determine if you have a stand out requirement – Do you bake 99% of the time, or do you simmer all the time. Maybe you’re always using a griddle. I tend to try and find the best “do everything” I can, but that does mean it’s got compromises. If you need a specific function more than you need a “best possible jack of all trades” range, you’ll end up somewhere else.
Price
So, there are prices ranging from $300 to over $10,000 for ranges. I started with fixing the American standard of a 30” range and immediately dropped out the 36” or 48” ranges that were very expensive. I then focused on build quality and expected longevity and reliability as I do in most of my appliances. I also went with one oven. I find the second oven overrated in a range. Usually I need more space in the primary oven, not 2 different oven temperatures in 2 smallish ovens. In the event I need a second oven, I find the NuWave often serves excellently (see previous review) at a great price compared to the second oven in many of these ranges. Alternatively I can often cook in series. If you do need 2 ovens, you’ll necessarily be looking at a different sort of product.
Top of the line:
Blue Star came up as made in the USA and very heavy duty. After much research – some reviews of issues with the actual builds, some from talking to local appliance repair services, and the availability of actual service technicians locally, I ended up dropping Blue Star from my list. It also didn’t help that their prices are higher than most people, including me, want to pay. They were competitive in pricing to Wolf and Thermador.
I did also cross shop Thermador locally. Their ultra-low simmer was interesting, but the oven was extremely small in height compared to pretty much anyone else, and the value for money wasn’t there in my opinion. They are good if you need an ultra-low simmer in a gas range, but I find that is rare, and if you do need it occasionally, get an induction hob for the $100 and a “low simmer” induction pot and save thousands of dollars.
Value products:
Then there are the value products, which I find go for ~$500-$1,000. There are a lot of good choices in this segment, but you’re not going to get any special functionality and the build quality tended to feel cheap. I was replacing a 17-year-old GE entry level range. Comparing these in this category, I found that there were several good ones, specifically, if I recall correctly LG had a huge 5.8 cubic foot oven and a 5-burner top. However, I expected that heat would likely be uneven given the size of the oven and the lack of insulation.
In terms of cheap feel – the metal was very flimsy – you could easily dent it with a pan accidentally where the splashguard was. I also found that the oven grates would deflect surprisingly easily – I’d be afraid of them bending badly under a heavy turkey or the like.
Recommended:
There is expensive, but the middle of the road products that I would recommend looking at. Specifically, CGS985SETSS GE Cafe™ Series 30″, and Bosch 800 series HGI8054UC. Both are slide-in and I fully expect a higher quality GE to last like my entry level one from 17 years ago. That said, there’s a couple of distinctions that led me away from GE this time.
First, the GE was significantly more expensive. There are some reviews that the knobs aren’t metal and can melt if you use the self-cleaning oven feature. It also is flat at the edges with the counter. However, it does have a “second oven” feature – the warming drawer can go up to 450 degrees.
I ended up going with the Bosch. The history I’ve had with Bosch appliances has been exemplary. The quality tends to be top notch, and the functionality is often amazing. For me, the benefits are as follows:
The oven is big enough at 4.8cu ft. I wish it was bigger, but it fits what I need, has good convection, strong enough oven racks and quick heat up. Its controls are good – you can use the proof mode and set it to 85 degrees (this is rare) to rise your bread dough, yet it easily gets to over 400 degrees for baking, and I have no reason to think it wouldn’t go to the maximum setting. It has a nice indicator for preheat and notifies you with a tone when it reaches temperature. It has an auto off timer function you can set to turn off the oven when the count-down is done. The oven light comes on when you open the door and turns off when you close it. Using the oven is easy – it has convection which helps keep the temperature even. I had to remove the 3rd grate though for space reasons. I can’t imagine baking with 3 racks except for cookies.
The stove has 5 burners and a continuous grate. The middle burner is a “wok” burner rather than a “fish” burner, which is good for me – more power to stir-fry or boil a big pot of water – something I do more often and use a griddle. The burners get hot, though the controls are a bit weird in that “low” isn’t much of a simmer. You can achieve a simmer by turning the knob between off and “high”, and as I said, I intend to use an induction hob if that isn’t good enough. The burners will re-light if they go out somehow.
There’s a nice overhang on the edges that help block crumbs or other spills from falling between the range and the counters. This is a great feature that I didn’t see in any competitor. The burners have a nice deep spill catcher built into the top of the stove that is stainless steel and not difficult to clean.
One thing to keep in mind is that you’ll need some sort of splashguard with a slide in you didn’t need with a free-standing range. I got an inexpensive 30”x 30” stainless steel wall piece from Amazon. However, gluing it in place was not easy – I’d recommend seeing if you can live with 4 screws around the outside of the piece – I used broad head screws that hold it in place at bottom and top vs screwing through the metal, but that would work as well.
The expected quality from Bosch is there – the knobs are metal and solid, the grates are chunky and the oven grates are strong with a cutout for grabbing with a pot holder. The oven holds in heat easily and doesn’t “blast” you with hot air when you open it. I didn’t find any use for the warming drawer and instead store a large frying pan in there.
Finally, the pricing was very competitive for the features – you can easily find this oven online for less than $2,000. I recommend using the savings for professional install and extended service contract – I don’t expect to need it, but at that price, it makes sense to me compared to a bare GE Profile price. You might save the contract price too for more savings. In the Ithaca area, I’d consider Olums or Thayers myself – they have great delivery and install teams, and do repair work as well.