Electric ranges

[torifile]

My wife is getting sick and tired of burning cookies and I want to buy her a range for Christmas. It's going to be a total surprise and she'll probably get mad at me for buying one, but I'm as sick of burning my pizza as she is of burning her pastries, so....

I've looked at consumer reports, but they all are in a pretty tight range, score wise, and it's impossible to match up the model #'s at Home Depot or Lowe's with the ones on the site.

Looking to end up in the $500-$700 range, if possible. Thanks. :)

[DMBand0026]

I'm a little confused about what exactly you're looking for? A range would lead me to believe "cooktop" but I think you'd have an extraordinarily hard time cooking a pizza or cookies on your stove.

You're in the market for an electric oven? All I can really tell you is that electric is the absolute best way to go, great choice. :)

I work in a bakery part time and dealing with our enormous gas oven is a nightmare, believe it or not, it's worse on a small scale like a consumer gas oven.

I'd say that going off of what looks good in Consumer Reports will be best. I realize that it's difficult to match specific model numbers but if you can get pretty close or at least stick with a brand with a good repair history you should be on the right track.

Pay attention to the warranty too and stay away from replacement plans, they're generally a waste of money.

[torifile]

yeah. you know, one of those things with burners for boiling water and an oven for burning pizza. whtever they're called. :lol:

[Mugge]

Don't they have some sort of environmental certification in the US?

In Europe we have this grade system that tells consumers which products are most friendly to the environment. Usually there is also a somewhat correlation between quality and green.

[bender0069]

I didn't buy it at Best Buy, but this is the stove that I recently bought, and I love it LINK (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d3031 2d3031~~cabcat0900000%23%230%23%2322p~~cabcat09040 00%23%230%23%23st~~cabcat0904003%23%230%23%23cd~~f 126%7C%7C5768697465~~nf398%7C%7C4c47&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abHomeAppSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0900000&sp=&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime%3A%3E1900-01-01)
I lived for 6 months without a range before I finally decided on one and I have not regretted it. I've had it about a year now.

It's the last one on the page

[Chinney]

We bought a GE range a couple of years ago and have been very happy with it. (Although our GE fridge, that we bought the same time, has caused us many problems)

[Windswept]

This page might be helpful.

http://shop.consumersearch.com/ranges/linkin_id-8028054/SF-7/BEFID-1896/keyword-Ranges/dnatrs-price_range_490_760/NM-30/ND-30/VA-5/OP-w29

My advice is to NOT skimp on convenience features. Some of those features make life SO much easier.

I'd make sure to get a range with a 'large' oven window to look through, so you can see how brown the cookies are *without* opening the oven door.

Make sure the range has a self-cleaning feature, with timers, so that the self-cleaning turns off automatically when finished.

Make sure the range has a good clock, with on/off automatic oven baking timers. Again, don't skimp on convenience features. Skimping on those is false economy, imo.

Chefs always choose gas ranges, because they can control the flame level instantly. But, in my opinion, I think electric is just *much* safer in a home. You'll *never* have to worry about gas leaks and gas explosions, if you get an electric stove.

Also, I'd get a top-rated *smooth* cooktop, i.e. one with no burners to clean when something boils over.

You'll also have to decide between a regular oven and an oven that has a convection feature. I don't know what to tell you wrt the merits of convection heating. I think, on the whole, it would be nice to have, as long as you could *choose* to use the convection feature, or *not*, depending on the recipe at hand.

[Souflay123]

I would go for something with a name brand, liek if you buy it at sears there brand they stand behind. but if you go to HD or Lowes, i would go for a kitchen aid, we have built ins (fridge, micro, stove, and dishwasher) and they are very veyr nice. I know they have some thing to fit. I am on my way to HD... :)

[judeobscure]

Stick with a Whirlpool, Hotpoint, GE or Sears.
Whirlpool makes KitchenAid and some Sears models as well as other brands and is reliable.
Hotpoint is made by GE and has good reliability ratings according to CR.
Avoid touch pad controls. I have a KitchenAid smooth top stove which does work well and is reliable but the touch pad controls for the oven are extremely temperamental. One minute I can't start the oven and the next I can't turn the damn thing off!

[Luca]

I've actually heard that it's better to get a low end, simple oven. We've had endless problems with ours after just a few years and the service guy who fixed it said that new ones are just built badly. He also said that the higher end you go, the more likely you are to have problems, because of all the delicate electronic components.

Next time my family buys an oven, we're getting a simple one with less things that might possibly fail. If there's no computer built in, then that's one less thing that could fail and bring down the entire appliance.

[Partial]

Sears is overpriced but it is fairly good quality with a large support network for parts or a repair if necessary.

[torifile]

I just bought a middle of the road GE. Consumer reports has GE as the most problem free. It has a big window, self-cleaning and 2 expandable burners. Smooth top, of course. It should be here Friday. :) Thanks for the advice, all.

[Windswept]

I just bought a middle of the road GE. Consumer reports has GE as the most problem free. It has a big window, self-cleaning and 2 expandable burners. Smooth top, of course. It should be here Friday. :) Thanks for the advice, all.Do they deliver *and* install? :)

(I hope. ;) )

[cosus]

Screw the open, just get an induction stove-top because they are so cool. :P

[Brave Ulysses]

I've actually heard that it's better to get a low end, simple oven. We've had endless problems with ours after just a few years and the service guy who fixed it said that new ones are just built badly. He also said that the higher end you go, the more likely you are to have problems, because of all the delicate electronic components.

Next time my family buys an oven, we're getting a simple one with less things that might possibly fail. If there's no computer built in, then that's one less thing that could fail and bring down the entire appliance.

By that theory though we should just stick to calculators and not use personal computers.

At some point you have to trust that the manufacturer is making a good product, and perhaps this service guy has noticed this in a specific brand or something but I find it hard to believe that across the board, modern oven ranges have poor quality.

[zippy]

By that theory though we should just stick to calculators and not use personal computers.

At some point you have to trust that the manufacturer is making a good product, and perhaps this service guy has noticed this in a specific brand or something but I find it hard to believe that across the board, modern oven ranges have poor quality.

I see your point, except that there is a VAST difference in what a calculator and a computer are supposed to do for you.

All ovens pretty much just heat things up (convection capability would be the one major thing that sets some apart from others).

For my own use, I'd like to get a convection oven (electric) the next time around with a gas stove top.

Our current oven is a Jenn-Aire with all sorts of whizbang features: grill unit for the stove top, internal grease trap, griddle unit, etc.. Of course we rarely use these extras, they take up space to store, are a bitch to clean, and end up causing sacrifices in basic functionality - like a smaller oven because of the grease trap taking up space. Plus, it's got so many different edges and angles on top that it is a pain in the ass to keep clean.

[Luca]

Yeah, I tend to agree with zippy. I know where you're coming from, BU, but if you don't have complex cooking requirements, why pay extra for a more complicated oven? I mean, my family has had two relatively new ovens in the last ten years (that is, ones that are new enough not to be harvest gold or avocado green), and both of them have had electrical failures. On the other hand, our really old oven never had trouble, and the ancient gas oven I had in my old duplex during college was totally reliable as well.

At the very least, you could look at it this way: modern appliances aren't made to be as reliable as they used to be. Therefore, you may as well spend as little as possible on one so that when it does break, it's not so big of a loss.