Time to start shopping for a new oven...any suggestions?
I hope to get a new oven in the next 6 mos or so. It needs to be an electric range (would love gas, but not an option) and work in the confines of my kitchen (would also love a new kitchen, but not an option). Any suggestions? I want something that will bake bread well. Glass/ceramic top? Convection vs conventional?
This will be my first time actually picking out an oven so I want to do it right! Thanks for any suggestions.
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11 Comments:
we just bought a new stove, an electrolux pro gas range, they do have some electric ranges as well, they're very basic (no selfcleaning, few extraneous parts) but well made and powerful, you might want to check them out.
avryan at 8:02PM on 12/30/07
Does it have to be a range? Or can you fit a cooktop over an oven? When we remodeled our previous kitchen we did a gas cooktop installed above a convection oven -- the best of both worlds for me. It took up about the same amount of space as a range would.
Then we moved into a new house and I was devastated by the size of the wall ovens. 27"! We had a 36" oven in the previous kitchen. I had to give away pans that no longer fit. I still hate it but the cabinets were built custom by the man who built the house (who had obviously NEVER baked) and we cannot install a larger oven without a major rebuild.
So, my suggestion is whatever you get, make it the biggest you can install, or at least big enough to accommodate your biggest pans.
kjgibson at 8:59PM on 12/30/07
I'm headed back to the 19th century - learning to cook on a woodstove. It's an all-in-one deal - heats the house, heats the water, and cooks the food! So, I can only suggest that bread probably needs radiant heat to from a good crust, and very even heat; look for an oven that provides the most even heat, and can get the crust just right - placement of heating elements could be important. Are you baking flat breads, yeast breads, or quick breads?
Chuck Kottke at 4:38AM on 12/31/07
mrsmoosie,
I have a gas range myself but have recently used the glass ceramic top range on vacation. I've got to say, they heat FAST and work very well indeed. Water boiled before I had gotten the teapot ready. If I had to have electric and not gas, I would definitely investigate this option.
MaryColeman at 8:33AM on 12/31/07
Maytag Gemini if you like to bake bread consider the double oven.
Double you pleasure.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Maytag-Gemini-30-Electric-Range-Self-Clean_W0QQitemZ370005508714QQihZ024QQcategoryZ71251QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem?refid=store
Purenvy at 10:10AM on 12/31/07
I've been using a convection oven with a glass ceramic range for the past several years (it's a standard issue item in most rentals, here), and they work quite nicely. Cleaning the range is easy (a good thing, since they really do show dirt), although I miss the flames of a gas stove for peeling tomatoes and stir-frying.
I bake bread at least twice a week, and the crust browns nicely; convection and radiant heat aren't mutually exclusive.
Given complete freedom of choice, I'd go for a hybrid range (glass ceramic 4-place + two gas burners) over a convection oven, but for second choice I'd go with the arrangement I've actually got. A look through Consumer Reports or Cook's Illustrated might be useful for actually pinpointing a good brand.
mongoose at 10:24AM on 12/31/07
mongoose is right, the glass/ceramic top ovens show dirt really easily. And they do take a bit of elbow grease and Bar Keeper's Friend to clean, but they are a billion times better than the old electric coil varieties. I recently got a new unit just like mongoose's and I love it. It's not gas, but it's certainly the next best thing. Oh, and go for the five burner variety if you can -- I never thought having a fifth burner would be so handy, but I use them all constantly. :)
sheeats at 10:59AM on 12/31/07
My last range was an electric with convection and ceramic top. I loved it, despite it's having a smaller oven cavity than its predecessors. It was a KitchenAid, purchased about 4 years ago for around $1500. Unfortunately, I had to part with it because I need to have a gas range in my new home. Also, if you're on a budget, craigslist often has great bargains listed by homeowners remodeling.
beth1 at 12:44PM on 12/31/07
So, what size will fit? What's your budget? At the higher end, Viking and Dacor both make a 30-in electric glass-top model. Bosch claims the oven on its electric range is the widest in its class. LG products usually get great ratings, but I'm no expert.
Also, go to Consumer Search for consolidated reviews of ranges. Scroll about halfway down the page for electrics.
Two caveats about smooth-top ranges:
1. My sis-in-law has one, and whenever my mom-in-law uses it, she complains that the burners cycle on and off to maintain a steady temp. She finds this incredibly aggravating, as she is accustomed to cooking on an element that's constantly on. I have virtually no experience with electric, so I don't know if this is peculiar to sis' range, or if it's typical.
2. If you decide to go with an induction top, you'll need compatible, magnetic cookware. This means stainless or cast iron. And, my understanding is that not all stainless will work well. If most of your existing cookware is aluminum or copper, you'd have to buy new stuff. Of course, that could be a good thing... ;-)
Kenmore is well-recommended in the reviews. But, personally, I've never had good luck with Kenmore-labeled products. Instead, I've done better finding out which manufacturer is currently making Sears' products and buying the manufacturer's equivalent. For some reason, they usually cost less than the equivalent Sears private label product (Kenmore), which is kind of bizarre.
Good luck, and enjoy whatever you get!
LoCo at 1:45PM on 12/31/07
I hate to say this, because in my dreams I would like to own a fantastic, high-end, lovely oven, but in reality, the best oven that I have ever had is from Hot Point. In fact, my parents just bought one about a month ago, and love it. It's basic, and I mean basic. It has a flat-top, which are becoming a lot more reliable and easier to clean nowadays, but other than that, it's just a basic electric (they still refuse, much to my dismay, to get a gas stove), oven and will do what you ask and do it well for years.
For the record, I also happen to work for a very large retail company that sells all of the brands, from low-end to high-end, and these have been far and away the best for reliability and maintenance. They just don't die, and need very little service. My theory is usually, unless you really want to have a major stove/oven, with which you plan to cook and bake an amazing array of different things, then I would go with something like that. The fewer bells and whistles that it has, the fewer things that can (and do) go wrong.
Ideally, however, if you are like and want to do all of the fancy stuff, try a convection oven with a gas range....nothing beats it. And I dream of owning a high-end one someday....I suppose that I should have my own place first, though, huh?
Traveller at 3:12PM on 12/31/07
We purchased a new oven last year, and after much research settled on a Kitchen Aid Architect gas and convection oven. So far we have been very pleased with it. We were not sure how often we would be using the convection feature, but we use it all the time. The 100 degree bread proof setting is also very handy. The other thing that it has that we weren't sure we would use that often was the thermometer probe. You enter a temperature and the oven alerts you when the desired temperature is reached. While we have only used it a handful of times it is actually pretty nice to have.
smorgen at 3:33PM on 01/01/08