This might be a good time to buy a new range, but there is a lot to consider. Happy to take advice and suggestions from Dopers. Here is what will affect my purchase:
Must be “slide-in.” I’m currently set up for propane, but will happily pay an electrician to install a 220 volt outlet for electric.
I would really like something backless. My current stove has an obtrusive back that hangs over the range, limiting the height of what pots you can use on the back burners.
On gas v. electric stove: as a traditional purist, I believe that gas stove is more responsive/faster. But the stoves they sell now have grates that are so high above the burner (for safety reasons, apparently) that any advantage is lost. Aftermarket grates may be available, though. But I also understand that gas has environmental and health issues. So I will grudgingly accept an electric stove if it is designed for maximum responsiveness.
I really, really hate those glass-top stoves that get incredibly scratched up unless you buy special cookware. Just no. I have cast iron and other pots/pans I love. I want to use them forever without fussing over scratching and breaking a sensitive glass-top stove.
On gas v. electric oven: I’ve always understood that an electric oven is better because the heat is more even. But over the past few decades, I’ve only used gas. So I don’t mind continuing with gas if necessary.
Size: the large the oven, the better. I like to put multiple cookie trays, or very large cake pans, or ginormous turkeys, into the oven. But multiple trays need air circulation, so it’s not enough to say, “well, my cookie trays measure 10” across, so a 21" across oven would let me put in two trays. Nope. Need space in between and on either side.
Service/availability: I live on Hawai’i Island, so something that Lowe’s or Home Depot can offer is best. I don’t want to import some rarified high-end brand that no local repairer can service when there is a problem.
Thoughts? Who has a range that they love that isn’t too esoteric?
Cheaper is obviously better, but I’d rather pay more for something that is high quality.
I would recommend getting an oven with a convection feature. Baked goods cook more evenly and foods are roasted better. I don’t really pack my oven super tightly, but the convection might help with air circulation when you have multiple trays.
If I were about to buy a new stove, I’d seriously consider an induction cook top. It should work fine with any cast iron cookware, but it may require replacing some other pots and pans, e.g., aluminum or copper. I believe it would answer your concerns about cooking responsiveness. It’s also much more energy efficient.
I haven’t done a lot of research on all the pros and cons, but I believe they tend to be more expensive than conventional gas or electric ranges.
Agree on the convection oven. It’s not exactly the same as an air fryer but it’s a reasonably close cousin. Every time my FOMO-afflicted wife sees some trendy new recipe that requires an air fryer, I check the details, and then I’m able to achieve basically the same thing in our convection oven. So far I’ve been able to keep us from buying a useless new appliance.
I cooked over gas for years when I lived in the US. Then I moved here to Europe, and we built a house and fitted our kitchen with an induction cooktop. It took a bit to adjust, but now I love it. It’s very fast and responsive. Water boils in minutes, even in large vessels. The only downside is that the cookware needs to be ferrous-responsive (no aluminum or stainless steel), but you mentioned cast iron, and that’s perfect. If you know anyone with an induction range or have any other way to test-drive one for yourself, I’d definitely recommend checking it out before purchase.
Regarding scratching the surface, I’ve been using ours daily for five years, and it’s still perfectly presentable with no special requirements for care. Maybe the Germans just use better materials, but I don’t hesitate to let my clumsy kids cook their own eggs and stuff on the stove.
On gas vs electric do you have both available in your kitchen?
Induction stoves are kinda best of both worlds but, as mentioned, limits the pots and pans you can use.
I’d really just look at the cost. Where I live, gas is much, much less expensive than electric to operate. But, that may be different where you live.
I find glass-top stoves end-up looking like a mess. I much prefer grates that can be removed and I can clean things and it always looks nice.
Personally, I prefer controls to be on the front of the stove and not on a panel rising at the back of the stove. When controls are on the back you need to reach over hot pans/pots to make adjustments. Not to mention steam and splatter can get on that back panel. Controls on the front just seem better to me.
Regarding convection: It seems like most newer models include convection, which I don’t care about one way or the other but will probably end up with because most models have them. So that’s not really an issue.
Induction is not for me - I owned a condo that had one, and hated it. The noisy hum, ease of scratching, need for special cookware, easy breaking (we had to replace it because it chipped when some vacation renter dropped something on it and cracked it), tendency toward scratching, and placement of the controls flush with the burners are all big negatives based on my preferences.
Sorry, I should have said this in the OP. I don’t want to be one of Those Posters who ask for advice and then reject all the well-meaning and legitimate suggestions people make. I appreciate all ideas, and if dozens of people say, “no, you are wrong, you really MUST look at induction,” I promise I will reconsider.
Heh, I was gonna say, based on your reply, it sounds like what you really want is to time-travel and use a kitchen that was state-of-the-art thirty years ago. I kid, I kid.
I do believe that an induction top really is where it’s at, but it does take significant adjustment (and the range of quality is bigger; it’s easier to get a bad one and you have to shop more carefully), so if you’re dead set against it, then, fine, that’s your preference. It’s your kitchen, ain’t our place to tell you you’re using it “wrong.”
In the “did you know this feature exists” category:
I think I’ve mentioned this in a past thread somewhere, but one thing I really like about my oven is that it functions as a dual oven when I want it to. It has a removable heat shield that separates the top two thirds and the bottom third. There are separate temperature controls for each zone. Most of the time I’m cooking for myself, and I only need the small bottom section. For Thanksgiving, I remove the barrier, and have a regular sized oven for my turkey.
It can be handy to cook two things at once, at different temperatures.
I believe the Samsung Flex Duel is the up-to-date version of it. My door is different.
Yup, I really wanted to get one of those when I replaced my oven a couple of yeas ago. Too spendy for me. I liked the idea of only heating up a smaller size when cooking something small.
I ended up with its less pricey brother. My one complaint is the burners are too hot. I can only simmer things on the 2 smaller ones, the big ones will not go low enough, even on a big pot of something like chili. But, with the grates as a continuous surface, sliding from one burner to another is dead easy.
Check out the newer induction burners. My friends who have it all love it. And if it’s true that gas ranges have been nerfed by “safety regulations”, they might be a lot better than what you can get for gas. You will need to replace most of your pots and pans.
One of the “safety features” of newer gas burners is that they have a sensor that turns them off if the power goes out. I like that my gas stove works (with the aid of a match) when the power is out. Maybe not a big issue for you.
Also, definitely get convection. I can’t tell you how much i love my convection oven. Roasts just roast better, and faster.
That’s definitely what I’d want. I’ve got a mid-range glasstop stove not 5 years old and already, one burner has lost the ability to adjust temperature – it’s On or Off, no in between. I’m getting so sick of appliances that have chips or motherboards that develop issues. These things used to routinely last 30 or 40 years with no problems at all.
If it’s what you’re used to cooking with and the space is already plumbed for it, that makes the most sense. Why re-learn everything and it already works with your cookware? As previously mentioned, it’s also nice to use when the power goes, if that’s an issue. Even without the electronic igniters working, you can use your burners with a match.
As noted, convection comes with most stoves nowadays. It’s a wonderful feature and is easy to learn to use.
I’m not familiar with the higher grates concern, but I’ll bet you can find a stove that isn’t horrible about this. If the issue causes the unit to be unable to fulfill its basic function of cooking, they couldn’t sell them.
I bake in an all-propane range with no issues with uneven heat of any kind.
Here’s a slide-in unit that seems to fit your needs from Home Depot rather well:
I understand the newer ones automatically cut off the gas if the power is off to prevent this. For safety. And also, maybe you can hack them to defeat this “feature”.
Agreed - and we have power outages/rolling blackouts on occasion. But we are trying to install solar panels so hopefully that’s not a long term issue. Hard to say for sure if we’ll ever get approved for solar, though - the permitting process here is Byzantine and our latest hold up is, I kid you not, a requirement that we provide the engineering design for the cesspool that was installed around 2014.
I did not know that and it sounds like a great feature to look for - thank you!
This, along with the possibility of cosmetic issues once the surface starts to scratch, is what really turns me away from induction. It would be different if I were 30, but I turn 66 in a few weeks and have settled on a set of cooking pots and pans of all sizes, shapes, and materials that I have owned for decades, cherish, and know exactly why I own them and what I use them for. On the other hand, the vast majority are flat-bottomed stainless steel, so maybe I wouldn’t have to replace very many. Further research required!
Will do - I think it’s pretty standard these days.
I kid, I kid.