# Advice for choosing new range (oven/stove)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 2, 2024, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368 "2024-10-02T03:49:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/61 "2025-01-21T06:34:06Z")

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> [@abcdefghij](#):
>
> it’s just badly implemented.

Interesting. The “badly implemented” comment seems to apply to my stovetop too, in a different way. If anyone reading this thread is researching a choice of an induction range, maybe part of the answer is: look at brands other than Frigidaire to see if the complaints here are dealt with.

Again, I’m really happy with my new appliance: it is so much faster/responsive than my gas stove, it’s far easier to clean, the physical design is better, and my concerns over having to replace most of my cookware seem unfounded. BUT I am surprised by how poorly designed the controls are, even if I can get used to dealing with the design.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/62 "2025-01-21T07:18:49Z")

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> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> ETA: second photo is squished, I don’t know why.

It’s because you linked to the album that contains the photo, not the photo itself. You have to click again on the photo so that you get a link that ends in “jpg”.

The new stove looks great!

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**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/63 "2025-01-21T15:31:09Z")

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The new stove and countertops looks great!! It really refreshed and brightened things up quite a bit.

While I’m not in the market for a new stove for the foreseeable future, I have learned a lot reading about your selection process. I far prefer a gas stove over electric, but have never used an induction range and had dismissed it for many of the same reasons you initially had as well. This thread has made me reconsider things.

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/64 "2025-01-21T16:56:49Z")

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Trying again

[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/IG2ovdq.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/IG2ovdq)

I guess it would be nice if I removed all the stuff around the stove before taking the photo, but that would be misrepresenting what life is really life in my kitchen. At the ready: knife block, small extra set of drawers so I can neatly divide certain cooking tool categories (plastic/silicone spatulas; whisks; tongs), olive oil, salt and pepper grinders. And moon-and-stars pattern crystal goblet, which I think I was drinking some wine out of when I took this photo.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/65 "2025-01-21T17:46:55Z")

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> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> small extra set of drawers so I can neatly divide certain cooking tool categories (plastic/silicone spatulas; whisks; tongs)

I like that idea. I need to check if I have enough counter space…

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/66 "2025-01-21T20:34:00Z")

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> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> I need to check if I have enough counter space

Ah yes - counter space is always an issue. The top of the drawer set provides some usable space, though obviously it’s only for storage, not cooking activity. We keep our vitamins and a small mortar and pestle on top of ours, plus random this and that (like the packages of candy from Trader Joes you can see in the photo).

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/67 "2025-01-22T02:18:31Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Or if you’re reaching capacity.

Thank you very much for the link to that Copper Charlie range, and to all for this thread!

We’ve been in our current house going on four years and my wife has been pushing for a kitchen redo. Full disclosure: I am and have been the main household cook for us for over four decades. I _like_ the kitchen. But she says she wants to cook more now and doesn’t like this kitchen to cook in. Spoiler - she won’t cook much after either. She really just doesn’t like cooking.

Old house and a fully tapped out electrical service, pushed beyond by wiring the garage to plug in one EV and one PHEV.

The centerpiece of the kitchen is a monster 36 inch six burner gas Wolf range that is at least 25 years old. Convection oven. One burner not working but otherwise it is old reliable. But we are just the two of us now. I use one to maybe two burners at a time. And almost all oven work is done in the Ninja countertop toaster/air fryer. Firing up a 36 inch Wolf for two baked potatoes, or even a one pound meatloaf, is overkill. Yes I take advantage of the capacity on occasion, but not often. And I’ve been Jonesing for induction. Plus we could use more counter and storage space …

When I can stall my wife no more that Copper Charlie may be just the thing!

The current monster:

[![](https://i.imgur.com/cfg1pKH.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/cfg1pKH.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/68 "2025-01-22T02:58:15Z")

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That looks like a fine gas stove you’ve got there! It’s a little hard to tell from the photo, but it seems that, perhaps because it’s older, the frame you set your pots and pans on is fairly close to the flame (closer than the stove I had, and much closer than anything I could buy now). Thus, you get the full benefit of what we all love about gas, which is rapid response to temperature adjustments.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/69 "2025-01-22T12:03:04Z")

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Your existing range sounds fine, except for the non working burner. Note that you can get a one burner plug in induction cooktop for about a hundred bucks. That might be enough to play with the idea.

Many of us would kill for your range.

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/70 "2025-01-22T13:59:40Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Your existing range sounds fine

The whole kitchen is more than fine, in my estimation, but if the redo happens (and I do not expect I will prevail on this) keeping that range doesn’t make much sense. At some point something significant will break and I suspect that parts on that old of a model will be hard to find. And that big of a beast is wonderful for making large amounts of food all at once, but overkill for the likes of us. Building it into a redesign commits us to the 36 inch size. Which besides being an oven too big for our usual needs, is space that could be used better.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/71 "2025-01-22T17:34:19Z")

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The old range is probably still usable for a while longer and that new one is $6,000. So a lot of money.

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/72 "2025-01-22T22:10:24Z")

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The whole kitchen is usable for quite a while longer but I’ve been married for four decades … I am stalling the redo as best as I can but I also am resigned to the fact that very likely it will happen sometime in the next year or two. Assume a kitchen redo. If I was starting from scratch I’d want a smaller range with induction burners. And that product would give me that without having to upgrade my electrical service, even more expensive. The other options would be: to upgrade electrical, which might make sense anyway; to design a redo around using this range and when it eventually needs repair that can’t be done for lack of parts, stay with the 36” size, and just continue to rarely actually use the oven (maybe upgrading electrical then or sticking with gas), or get one with two ovens, one small enough for every day use; or getting my wife to agree to not do the kitchen. I’d prefer the last but am preparing for other outcomes.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-choosing-new-range-oven-stove/1008368/73 "2025-01-22T22:31:05Z")

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You may be the right market for that induction range with battery storage.

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