Looking for a new Kitchen Stove/Range

[iamshack]

So my wife is a very avid cook/baker. The home we purchased a few years ago, while perfect in many ways, is not so perfect in the kitchen. The kitchen is nice, but the cooktop is an old thermador electric unit, and the oven is a 24 inch thing from the 60's or 70's. She somewhat non-affectionately refers to it as her "easy-bake oven."

 

She has been pestering me about replacing these old things since about the 2nd week we moved in, and so I would like to get this done for her prior to July, when our son will be born

 

I am looking at some fairly high-end brands, professional style but not necessarily commercial, either gas or duel fuel.

 

Want at least 4 burners with perhaps a griddle and/or charbroiler.

 

Anyone done this recently? Have any experience with certain brands?

 

 

[RockRaines]

The best ones are super pricey and usually need custom installation so I have gone with the higher end models of basic brands like Kenmore Elites and GE. If you want to go all out, you are looking at Wolf and Viking

[iamshack]

The best ones are super pricey and usually need custom installation so I have gone with the higher end models of basic brands like Kenmore Elites and GE. If you want to go all out, you are looking at Wolf and Viking

Yeah, a lot of times the "professional" models utilize normal residential-rated electric and gas, but the commercial grades require upgrades beyond that.

 

I want to get her a really nice setup, because she really does love to cook and bake, but jesus, some of the Wolf ranges are $11-15k...that's crazy.

[shipps]

The best ones are super pricey and usually need custom installation so I have gone with the higher end models of basic brands like Kenmore Elites and GE. If you want to go all out, you are looking at Wolf and Viking

 

OOOOhhh that Viking is a beast. I would love one of those.

[JPN366]

So my wife is a very avid cook/baker. The home we purchased a few years ago, while perfect in many ways, is not so perfect in the kitchen. The kitchen is nice, but the cooktop is an old thermador electric unit, and the oven is a 24 inch thing from the 60's or 70's. She somewhat non-affectionately refers to it as her "easy-bake oven."

 

She has been pestering me about replacing these old things since about the 2nd week we moved in, and so I would like to get this done for her prior to July, when our son will be born

 

I am looking at some fairly high-end brands, professional style but not necessarily commercial, either gas or duel fuel.

 

Want at least 4 burners with perhaps a griddle and/or charbroiler.

 

Anyone done this recently? Have any experience with certain brands?

 

She won't want to cook after the baby is born.

[iamshack]

She won't want to cook after the baby is born.

Well maybe not immediately, but I am hoping she is not going to give up cooking forever.

[JPN366]

Well maybe not immediately, but I am hoping she is not going to give up cooking forever.

 

Babies change EVERYTHING.

[iamshack]

Babies change EVERYTHING.

You don't know my wife...

[StrangeSox]

It's not high end but we got a fridigaire gallery gas range with four burners and a central griddle burner last year (about $900). We've been happy with it so far.

 

Electric stoves are terrible, a propane camp stove would be an upgrade over that.

Edited March 4, 2015 by StrangeSox

[StrangeSox]

Yeah, a lot of times the "professional" models utilize normal residential-rated electric and gas, but the commercial grades require upgrades beyond that.

 

I want to get her a really nice setup, because she really does love to cook and bake, but jesus, some of the Wolf ranges are $11-15k...that's crazy.

Abt had some ridiculous range that was $50k! It was a 60" or something like that but looked vintage. edit: here it is, looks awesome in the right home but jesus that price

 

I've got a friend who found a "broken" Viking 48" on Craigslist for $1000. One of the burners wasn't working, but it took a buddy of his less than an hour to fix it ( I think the ignitor had gone out). So while "used" might be a hard sell, if you can get what's essentially a $10k stove for $1k it might be worth it.

 

edit: have you thought about induction? cooks as well as gas supposedly but the stovetop stays cool to the touch, and it can boil a pot of water in 60-90 seconds.

Edited March 4, 2015 by StrangeSox

[JPN366]

You don't know my wife...

 

Quotes from the future...

 

"Remember when I cooked all of the time, honey? We hardly ever use that fancy stove you installed a few months before junior was born. Are you still having phantom pain where your pinky finger used to be? There was so much blood when you accidentally dropped the stove on it."

[iamshack]

Abt had some ridiculous range that was $50k! It was a 60" or something like that but looked vintage.

 

I've got a friend who found a "broken" Viking 48" on Craigslist for $1000. One of the burners wasn't working, but it took a buddy of his less than an hour to fix it ( I think the ignitor had gone out). So while "used" might be a hard sell, if you can get what's essentially a $10k stove for $1k it might be worth it.

Agreed. I've been on craigslist and ebay looking every day.

[iamshack]

Quotes from the future...

 

"Remember when I cooked all of the time, honey? We hardly ever use that fancy stove you installed a few months before junior was born. Are you still having phantom pain where your pinky finger used to be? There was so much blood when you accidentally dropped the stove on it."

Funny...who knows, you might be right...but she honestly cooks almost every night and bakes all the time on the weekends. Cooking and cleaning are her stress relievers.

 

Mine are sex and gambling.

 

We make a great team

[iamshack]

Abt had some ridiculous range that was $50k! It was a 60" or something like that but looked vintage. edit: here it is, looks awesome in the right home but jesus that price

 

I've got a friend who found a "broken" Viking 48" on Craigslist for $1000. One of the burners wasn't working, but it took a buddy of his less than an hour to fix it ( I think the ignitor had gone out). So while "used" might be a hard sell, if you can get what's essentially a $10k stove for $1k it might be worth it.

 

edit: have you thought about induction? cooks as well as gas supposedly but the stovetop stays cool to the touch, and it can boil a pot of water in 60-90 seconds.

I haven't...I'll look into it...

 

I was confused enough by Wolf's "infrared" charbroiler and griddle.

[StrangeSox]

Agreed. I've been on craigslist and ebay looking every day.

lol, looking back through the thread he posted about it on another forum, he was looking for four years. Might not want to wait that long to find that kind of deal.

[StrangeSox]

I haven't...I'll look into it...

 

I was confused enough by Wolf's "infrared" charbroiler and griddle.

 

The one caveat with induction is that you need pans with high ferrous content e.g. cast iron, some stainless steel. There's a coil underneath the cooktop that has current passing through it, which induces a magnetic field in the pot above. Since it's an AC current, the magnetic field switches back and forth and heats the pot through induced electrical resistance in the pot itself. So the pot warms up rapidly, but the glass cooktop itself stays cool. Plus, since it's one single, smooth cooking surface, it's super easy to clean. From an engineering standpoint, it's pretty cool.

[iamshack]

The one caveat with induction is that you need pans with high ferrous content e.g. cast iron, some stainless steel. There's a coil underneath the cooktop that has current passing through it, which induces a magnetic field in the pot above. Since it's an AC current, the magnetic field switches back and forth and heats the pot through induced electrical resistance in the pot itself. So the pot warms up rapidly, but the glass cooktop itself stays cool. Plus, since it's one single, smooth cooking surface, it's super easy to clean. From an engineering standpoint, it's pretty cool.

Interesting.

 

I have to get a plumber out to let me know whether I need to move a gas line or not. I suppose if it is too expensive to deal with that, perhaps I could go that route. Good to know.

[LittleHurt05]

We just picked out all new appliances for our new kitchen a weeks ago. We went with mostly all Whirlpool appliances, the higher end of their models. Except for the drawer microwave, which they don't make yet I believe. That's gonna be a great space saver, but man are they expensive.

 

Unfortunately, this weather has delayed our construction and they can't seem to finish the framing, so I don't have any reviews for you. Hopefully we can start using these by summer.

[JPN366]

Funny...who knows, you might be right...but she honestly cooks almost every night and bakes all the time on the weekends. Cooking and cleaning are her stress relievers.

 

Mine are sex and gambling.

 

We make a great team

 

A child will eat up all of that time. ALL OF IT.

[RockRaines]

It's not high end but we got a fridigaire gallery gas range with four burners and a central griddle burner last year (about $900). We've been happy with it so far.

 

Electric stoves are terrible, a propane camp stove would be an upgrade over that.

My stove is like that one, as long as its gas I can cook with it. I was more worried about having a nice oven as part of it. When we renovate I'll get serious.

[RockRaines]

Funny...who knows, you might be right...but she honestly cooks almost every night and bakes all the time on the weekends. Cooking and cleaning are her stress relievers.

 

Mine are sex and gambling.

 

We make a great team

Babies go to sleep at 6pm, I cook right after.

[LittleHurt05]

Abt had some ridiculous range that was $50k! It was a 60" or something like that but looked vintage. edit: here it is, looks awesome in the right home but jesus that price

 

I've got a friend who found a "broken" Viking 48" on Craigslist for $1000. One of the burners wasn't working, but it took a buddy of his less than an hour to fix it ( I think the ignitor had gone out). So while "used" might be a hard sell, if you can get what's essentially a $10k stove for $1k it might be worth it.

 

edit: have you thought about induction? cooks as well as gas supposedly but the stovetop stays cool to the touch, and it can boil a pot of water in 60-90 seconds.

 

I saw that thing at ABT, that's just crazy.

 

It doesn't help shack much, but in Chicago, ABT is the only way to go with appliances.

[Texsox]

It's not high end but we got a fridigaire gallery gas range with four burners and a central griddle burner last year (about $900). We've been happy with it so far.

 

Electric stoves are terrible, a propane camp stove would be an upgrade over that.

 

After cooking 20 years on gas and then switching to electric, I thought that electrics were terrible. Once we put in a better electric, without the coils, and adjustable burners, etc. I've starting to enjoy electric much more. I also have used a propane camp stove for hundreds of meals, propane camp stoves are not even close to a good electric, especially as the propane starts dropping.

 

I especially now prefer baking in an electric compared to the gas.

[StrangeSox]

Electric ovens are better (more consistent temperature), which is why many (all?) of the higher end ranges are dual fuel. On the stove top side, though, you don't have that instant temperature control that you get with gas or induction.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'll say this - I cannot recommend Jenn-Air. We're on our second, and this one is having issues (fortunately Abt has been really good about handling with no charge). We have an unusual slide-in island arrangement for the oven/stovetop, with a down-draft vent system. Our only choices were Jenn Air, or a super-high-end brand like Viking or I think Bosch. The latter were twice as much money.