GE profile double oven gas range vs. GE cafe double oven range

12 years ago

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping you can help...

I am trying to decide between the GE Profile Slide-In Double Oven Gas Range PGS950SEFSS and the GE Cafe Double Oven Gas Range CGS990SETSS.

As far as I can tell from side-by-side comparisons, they aren't very different. There are some differences in the grates and oven racks, and the Profile has two convection ovens while in the Cafe only one oven is convection. I've found them for prices around 2500-2700, and I'm wondering why the Cafe is ~200 more expensive. Is it really just the looks?

I'd really love it if someone could help me understand if there are performance differences or reliability differences that I'm missing!

I've read a lot on this forum (thank you!!), and though I really would love to have a higher end stove, we're just not yet willing to drop more than 3k on a range. I love to cook and do cook most every night, and I want something that looks nice but that performs very well. We did also look at Verona and Bertazzoni a little bit because we liked the idea of a "focal piece" in the kitchen, but in the end it seemed silly to me to pay more for something that might not perform quite as well and that might be a bit less reliable. Do tell if I'm making a terrible error of logic!!

One note that might be helpful: We're doing a complete gutting and redo on the kitchen. In an ideal world, I'd probably choose a gas cooktop and double electric wall ovens BUT we have to buy the appliances now and won't do the demo for a year (long story). I'm not restricted by size, though I can't see going smaller than 30, and larger than 36 might be too big for this kitchen.

Many thanks in advance for your help!

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Comments (5)

deeageaux
12 years ago
My advice

Get the floor model Bluestar RCS linked below.

It has a small scratch on side that won't be seen once installed between cabinets.

It is $2600 plus $300 for shipping.

It has very even open burners and the oven will take full size professional baking sheets.

In a year when remodeling the kitchen put in a single electric wall oven.

Therefore you have the best of both world a gas oven for roasting and an electric oven for baking. And neither oven on the floor like GE. Ergonomically horrible.

BTW This ebay store also has a more powerful RNB model for $3300.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestar
GenX-Luddite
12 years ago
I went with the Profile double-oven gas: here are my reasons.

I like the smaller-size top oven for daily use, and the lower oven will only be used on occasion, so I'm ok with its location. (There's no room for a wall oven in my tiny kitchen -- and I have no plans to tear out cabinets and rearrange.) I'm a good cook, and I honed my skills on low-end domestic ranges because that's what was available: I don't need a commercial range to cook what I like, and I'm too busy with other aspects of my life to change my cooking style now. I also prefer not to deal with "pro" level BTUS and the ventilation complications they might add. I also am not willing to give up self-cleaning ovens -- which puts many pro-style ranges out of contention.

I liked the slide-in setup and the angled control-knob location on the Profile, so that, and the price advantage, led me to choose it over the Cafe.

Re: price, I bought mine from a local dealer, and I got the price down a bit by asking them to meet the ajmadison.com price. They didn't quite get there, but I was willing to pay a little extra for local sales/delivery/service reliability.

Everyone's situation is a little different, but I found that the Profile slide-in fits best with my kitchen and the way I use it.
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mlovestocook
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks GenX and Deeageaux!

Deeageaux, I've read on this forum that the Blue Stars get pretty darn hot. I've got a little one, so I'm not super keen on that, but I do like the idea of getting a single oven now and putting in a wall oven later. Hadn't thought about that!

GenX, do you have a vent hood? I definitely want one when we redo the kitchen, but I'm wondering if I can get away with not having one for the next year or so...
GenX-Luddite
12 years ago
Good morning! Yes, I have an undercabinet hood that vents straight through the wall. I believe its max capacity is about 300 CFM; I rarely use it at top speed, but that's probably because I don't do much frying. This hood replaces a 180 CFM hood from the 80s, which seemed to do a decent job for me, but was noisy and the wrong color.

Without a hood in place I think there are two issues (correct me if I'm wrong, all!) First -- more of a safety thing -- protecting any cabinet above the cooking surface from heat; and second -- more of a convenience thing -- dealing with odors/steam/grease. If you have no upper cabinet or (according to the GE profile installation spec, others will likely differ) 30" of vertical space between stovetop and cabinet, you have issue #1 covered. Issue #2 involves more personal preference, having to do with how you cook and what you can deal with in your own kitchen. If you're already used to cooking without a hood, then IMHO putting it off a year is no big deal.

Edited to add a verb where I left one out! :)

This post was edited by GenX-Luddite on Sat, Apr 5, 14 at 10:06
my3cents
12 years ago
I have a 2 year old GE cafÃÂ© range (CGS980SEM6SS). I bought it because it had one of the largest capacity ovens plus it has the small oven on the bottom, which is like having a second oven (just need to let it heat up properly first). Overall, it's been a great appliance. I had the repair guy out right after we bought it to tweak the height of the flames, but all is fine now. The only issue is that each of the 4 burners is a different size and/or wattage and the location of the burners does not make sense. The largest and hottest is in the front right, which means if you have a microwave above the stove, the handle will get hot if you have a big pot on that burner. And I would prefer 2 medium sized burners rather than the 2 large. We are a family of 4 and don't use enormous pots that often, so the large burners send flames around the edges of our med. sized pots if turned up too high. Overall though, I like the stove and would buy it again. Grates are nice and heavy and the stove cleans easily. Just be careful not to drop the grate on the stainless or it will dent/scratch.