I need a new 30-inch gas range

Looks like it's been a few years since this topic came up last. Prices are all over the map. Got a range you love? Or one you'd never buy again? Prefer sealed burners, or open?

We've been dawdling on this decision, since the stovetop and broiler still work, but it feels like baking season. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks.

Lot of questions there!

Open vs sealed - for home use, no question, sealed - great cooking yes, but the work of cleaning open -no way!

Other than that, what kind of range do you want ? Pro style like Wolf, Thermador, Jennair, or European Bertazzoni, Verona, Smeg, or "US" like GE?

To me it's about BTUs of burners and the oven and broiler something like a Bluestar or Capital Culinarian will be a champ, but at a cost of 2-5 times what a very decent GE or Frigidaire.

For baking you can't beat an electric oven (so a dual fuel range) with convection. For range top - gas.

and honestly, we buy based on looks, too! I think the Kitchenaid and Frigudaure Pro ranges Are about the best looking pro style ranges, at $2000 or less. Or if you love colors, choose a Bertazzoni.

Lastly, wolf & Viking are tres chic and tres expensive. There are quite a few alternatives that actually are more capable but cost less (Bluestar, Capital, NXR, Thor). If you're a Costco member, they have stunning deals on NXR.

Best!

Thank you—that's very helpful. It feels like the more energy I put into this, the more confused I get, despite that I know that my 26-year-old Magic Chef has been just fine, thank you, and likely so will whatever replaces it.

The Bertazzoni seems nice but the oven is super small. I'd go for the Costco NXR, but my husband doesn't like that it's made in China. People seem to be unloading new Capital Connoisseurians for well under retail, which is puzzling.

I had thought dual fuel was important, but I've been told that if you have convection, gas (which I've had thus far) is okay. And there's a difference between convection and true convection?

Know anything about Tecnogas? New to the US market but not new in general.

Thanks for the info about the sealed burners. That helps. Also, I'm thinking four burners would be better than five, as five would be pretty crowded on a small range.

I'm so ready to have this decision behind me.

I'm no expert, but it seems that you are paying for a brand, or to show off with a lot of those high end ranges. We have a 4 year old Kenmore with a double oven, convection, and 5 burners. My wife does a lot of holiday baking and cooking, and it works very well.

I get what you're saying, @FilmCarp. I haven't had too many issues with what was probably a $300 range in its day. But there's lots of cooking going on around here, so it would be great to get something the primary chef will enjoy. I went to check out ranges at Sears. I'm sure many are great, but every single floor model was in such disrepair that it was hard to get excited about them. And it was a great lesson in not buying a floor model!

Your choice, but of course that is a separate issue. I wouldn't buy a floor model of anything.

I'm in the market right now, too. Will be keeping a very close eye on this thread.

You might want to check Consumer Reports. I think you can subscribe for only a month. Reliability is also important. Also I read reviews on Amazon and believe it or not, Home Depot. You can't get too caught up in specifics, but it gives you an idea. I, too, am looking at ranges. I've had wall oven and cook top and am changing for more space. Hope I don't regret my choice. I am considering either GE or Samsung. Maybe dual fuel. Maybe double oven. Dual fuel means you need hook up for both gas and electric. And they are definitely more expensive. But not as expensive as the pro style models.

I like the idea of dual fuel, but I've heard that if your electric isn't set up for that already, it's not necessarily a trivial fix.

Any idea which one you're interested in, @BrickPig? I'm not finding the sales-floor folks to be too helpful. And opinions seem to be all over the map; for most things there seems to be more consensus.

to be clear, a majority of appliances are now built in Asia - so that may not be a realistic selection criteria. And even if assembled in US, most parts are imported.

Once I had a convection oven, I would not want to do without! I've only had gas convection -so great for roasting meats, turkey, etc. and a gas oven doesn't dry out things like an electric can. For my baking of cakes, brownies, and Christmas cookies it's been fine. But for true bakers, an electric is far more even and controlled.

In terms of wiring a dual fuel, you'd need to be sure your electric panel has capacity for 30-40 amps it will take fir the oven, or you'd need to upgrade service /panel, which would be $1500-2000 range.

So... I'm going to get a 36" Bertazzoni, all gas. Why? To me the price premium of a Wolf/Thermidor/ Viking / capital etc just not worth it. The 'Berta is not self cleaning - which originally ruled it out. That said, self cleaning ovens are no longer the beasts they once were. The current generation don't get hot enough to burn off the dirt (EPA energy requirements ), instead they half heartedly steam the dirt - which so far reviewers say isn't worth it. To me range top performance is key - I want burners that can melt butter without separating and burning, as well as high power for fast boiling and wok cooking. I use range top far more than oven.

Are you just getting the range? Seems nearly every appliance manufacturer is offering great package discounts on multiple items.

I got a battery ignition ---so i can use it when the power goes out for an extended period...which of course will probably never happen again during the lifespan of the stove..just because I got that stove

My husband really likes the Bertazzoni too, though the oven is comparatively very small. Master Series or Professional? My son made us a huge spread sheet, but I think that only complicated matters. I really don't want to spend in the 4s (or 24s! alas, La Cornue). Bumping up to the 3s gives a lot more options, but possibly unnecessary.

Pretty sure we'll stay with all gas, as I haven't minded gas for baking thus far, and I'm sure we'd otherwise have to update the electric. And agreed: simmer-ability is important. My mom's cooktop cycles on and off to maintain the simmer, and I'd rather not have that.

We could be in the market for a fridge as well, but it seems like mostly these companies want to throw in dishwashers, and we're not in need of one of those.

Do NOT get a Jenn-Air. Please. I can maybe post vids (if I can still find them) of flaws with a series of panels over two different ranges that would cause you to run screaming from them. Suffice it to say only when I threatened to post them all over YouTube did they come to the table, not even after their own repair guys begged them to make me go away for their own good. They're crap.

zucca said:

Any idea which one you're interested in, @BrickPig? I'm not finding the sales-floor folks to be too helpful. And opinions seem to be all over the map; for most things there seems to be more consensus.

I'm only in the very early stages of my research. Just started looking online on Monday afternoon. Haven't been to any brick-and-mortars yet, and probably won't go until I have it narrowed down to two or three choices.

I'd love to go with one of the professional models, and I haven't completely ruled it out, but I'm expecting to go with something more modest. My logical mind tells me that virtually anything I buy will be a significant improvement over the relic I'm using now, and I turn out some pretty great meals on it. So even though I lust after the Vikings and Wolfs and such, it's going to be hard to justify paying those prices.

Thoughts on this deal? I'd prefer 4 burners to 5, and it sounds like the simmer isn't great, which would probably drive me nuts. But the oven is big, and it's a good price, even though it's maybe not quite the deal they say (typical price is lower than posted there): https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/NX58H9500WS.html

I'm pretty sure the appliance guy steered me away from Samsung, though.

Also, thanks for the heads-up on Jenn-Air. For some reason, I hadn't really been looking at those, but now I won't!

zucca said:

Thoughts on this deal? I'd prefer 4 burners to 5, and it sounds like the simmer isn't great, which would probably drive me nuts. But the oven is big, and it's a good price, even though it's maybe not quite the deal they say (typical price is lower than posted there): https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/NX58H9500WS.html

I'm pretty sure the appliance guy steered me away from Samsung, though.

Also, thanks for the heads-up on Jenn-Air. For some reason, I hadn't really been looking at those, but now I won't!

The current issue of CR (Nov. 2016) has ratings for gas and electric ranges. For 30-inch gas single ovens Samsung has three out of the top four. The price seems to be very good, since I usually compare prices to abt.com. The reviews on abt.com are excellent.

http://www.abt.com/product/81578/Samsung-30-Stainless-Steel-Slide-In-Convection-Gas-Range-NX58H9500WS.html

btw - I use Karl's and they use abt.com for price comaprison. You might want to check with Karl's to see if they'll give you a better price. You'll at least save money on sales tax since Orange is in an enterprise zone and the sales tax is 3.5% vs. 7%,

I have not been a fan of the two GE's I have owned over the past 15 years. The grates have little rubber feet which fall off (pretty soon after purchase) and leave wobbly grates. You can buy replacements but they Juliet keep coming off (despite glue). They are hard to clean and the burners have interlocking pieces I find hard to put together if I take them apart. Also the self clean feature can screw up the door lock mechanism which now causes my oven to turn off randomly in the middle of cooking. I have heard that the self clean cycle of a lot of ovens causes issues and to avoid using it. And my range burner ignitions now don't work and I have to light manually. My oven is 10-15 years old, so they may have fixed some of these issues but it was the top rated range in consumer reports at the time.

Fortunately I am soon going to have a new kitchen with a rangetop and double ovens (which I have vowed not to clean with the self cleaning function). Yay!

Jenn- Air -- I had the pro version in my other South Orange house -- absolute gem of a range -- never a problem in 6 years. Stunning range and oven performance. If the buyers didn't want it I'd have taken it with me! So don't reject outright. Their new pro 30" looks great. What I didn't like about that range, and quite a few others out there since I've been shopping again, the touchscreen faces front and its just below counter level. You do get used to to -- but its awkward enough, I don't want that again.

For info and pricing around here -- try

plessers.com

ajmadison.com

and while I got a great deal last time on some things at Karls in Orange (low sales tax), these guys had excellent prices on other appliances and I'd shop them, too - but you need to call to get the "real" prices:

http://www.appliancesbuyphone.com/

How bad is the heat with a range that vents the oven's hot air out the front? This seems to be the no. 1 complaint in the reviews.

1. Some ranges with front control panels and no back panel vent the oven’s air out the front. Not
only does that heat up the kitchen but it also may make you feel
uncomfortable while you’re stirring your gravy. When shopping for a
front-control range, including pro-styles, see how it vents the oven’s
warm air and how it keeps the controls cool during baking and cooktop
use.

http://www.consumerreports.org/ranges/whats-cooking-in-kitchen-stoves/

We got a Wolf bc my spouse really wanted it and does most of the cooking. Its pretty and all but I HATE how much smaller the oven is than our old regular, un-fancy stove was and I also hate that it isn't self-cleaning. I would go with some brand that has a big oven and is self cleaning. Some of the fancy brands just put form over function and it isn't worth it.

zucca said:

Thoughts on this deal? I'd prefer 4 burners to 5, and it sounds like the simmer isn't great, which would probably drive me nuts. But the oven is big, and it's a good price, even though it's maybe not quite the deal they say (typical price is lower than posted there): https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/NX58H9500WS.html

I'm pretty sure the appliance guy steered me away from Samsung, though.

Also, thanks for the heads-up on Jenn-Air. For some reason, I hadn't really been looking at those, but now I won't!

We put this Samsung in the new remodeled kitchen so I can only speak to the first three months or so of use. I like it a lot--love that the oven is large enough for my upcoming Thanksgiving turkey and I plan to use the heck out of the warming drawers, too. I have never had those before. The heavy duty burners in the front are awesome. I broke out the griddle this past weekend for pancakes--it could be a little larger as I had fantasized about making 6 at once. It is easy to keep clean and I like the look. I finally used the convection a couple of days ago to do some baking. No complaints there. So far, so good.

Recently bought this Kitchen Aid model: https://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-[KSGB900ESS]-408406/KSGB900ESS/

Looked at a number of the models you listed and others listed above. I was particularly interested in a slide-in without anything against the backsplash. This allows me to use large braising dishes such as a 10qt dutch oven on low on the back burner and still have full access to the front burners.

I was considering the Samsung, but two sales guys we talked to at different stores said they had concerns about parts availablity for repairs.

Regardless of what you buy, I can highly recommend Reno's in Patterson. Awesome buying experience from sales to order status to delivery.

ctrzaska said:

Do NOT get a Jenn-Air. Please. I can maybe post vids (if I can still find them) of flaws with a series of panels over two different ranges that would cause you to run screaming from them. Suffice it to say only when I threatened to post them all over YouTube did they come to the table, not even after their own repair guys begged them to make me go away for their own good. They're crap.

Agreed with this

catch22 said:

Recently bought this Kitchen Aid model: https://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-[KSGB900ESS]-408406/KSGB900ESS/

Looked at a number of the models you listed and others listed above. I was particularly interested in a slide-in without anything against the backsplash. This allows me to use large braising dishes such as a 10qt dutch oven on low on the back burner and still have full access to the front burners.

I was considering the Samsung, but two sales guys we talked to at different stores said they had concerns about parts availablity for repairs.

Regardless of what you buy, I can highly recommend Reno's in Patterson. Awesome buying experience from sales to order status to delivery.

I have access to the Whirlpool Inside Pass which offers many of these appliances at a nice discount. This one for example is listed for less than 2K. How much did you pay at Reno's? Just wondering if it is worth it to use this site once I check them out at the store.

We still haven't bought a range! My husband seems to have his heart set on a Capitol somethingorother, but I think I'll direct him to the Samsung and Kitchenaid reviews above. Thanks!

pmartinezv said:

catch22 said:

Recently bought this Kitchen Aid model: https://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-[KSGB900ESS]-408406/KSGB900ESS/

Looked at a number of the models you listed and others listed above. I was particularly interested in a slide-in without anything against the backsplash. This allows me to use large braising dishes such as a 10qt dutch oven on low on the back burner and still have full access to the front burners.

I was considering the Samsung, but two sales guys we talked to at different stores said they had concerns about parts availablity for repairs.

Regardless of what you buy, I can highly recommend Reno's in Patterson. Awesome buying experience from sales to order status to delivery.

I have access to the Whirlpool Inside Pass which offers many of these appliances at a nice discount. This one for example is listed for less than 2K. How much did you pay at Reno's? Just wondering if it is worth it to use this site once I check them out at the store.

Whirlpool is Jenn-aire. Stay away.

Here is some helpful info:

http://www.remodelista.com/posts/10-easy-pieces-favorite-appliances-for-small-kitchens/

I have had my eye on this one as well:

http://www.fagoramerica.com/appliances/ranges/24_inch_dual_fuel_range_rfa_244df

jimmurphy said:

pmartinezv said:

catch22 said:

Recently bought this Kitchen Aid model: https://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-[KSGB900ESS]-408406/KSGB900ESS/

Looked at a number of the models you listed and others listed above. I was particularly interested in a slide-in without anything against the backsplash. This allows me to use large braising dishes such as a 10qt dutch oven on low on the back burner and still have full access to the front burners.

I was considering the Samsung, but two sales guys we talked to at different stores said they had concerns about parts availablity for repairs.

Regardless of what you buy, I can highly recommend Reno's in Patterson. Awesome buying experience from sales to order status to delivery.

I have access to the Whirlpool Inside Pass which offers many of these appliances at a nice discount. This one for example is listed for less than 2K. How much did you pay at Reno's? Just wondering if it is worth it to use this site once I check them out at the store.

Whirlpool is Jenn-aire. Stay away.

But they also have Maytag and KitchenAid so I guess those are out of the question as well? I see some reviews here for some of their ranges.

pmartinezv said:


I have access to the Whirlpool Inside Pass which offers many of these appliances at a nice discount. This one for example is listed for less than 2K. How much did you pay at Reno's? Just wondering if it is worth it to use this site once I check them out at the store.

$1929. Plus, because it's in Patterson, sales tax is only 3.5%.

Whatever you do, once you know exactly the model you want, call Reno Appliances in Paterson and get their price. Don't go there because the price you get in the store will be more than they will quote you on the phone. And their phone quote will be much less than you'll get anywhere else, including online.