Thanks, Chaac! I do appreciate your taking time to answer... even if you don't eat much cake. :>) Cakes are our weakness around here!

I saw a note where someone was using both an upper & lower rack laid with quarry tiles to give a nice even heat for baking; the thought was that it evened out the heat, and particularly helped against heat loss when opening oven door. I understand using ceramic for bread & pizza--for a crisp crust--but am dubious about its effect on a cake ...which we usually don't want crisp! :>)

Anyway, I will do some experimenting when I get the beast. If anyone wants info on this, I'll be happy to share my notes.

Initial Review:
I LOVE it! Such a huge leap from a single-burner induction plate to this dream-machine!
Looks great, has a very user-friendly control panel, the controls are responsive, (and the burners can maintain a steady & gentle warming heat, or simmer, or raucous boil), upper oven works very well (have not yet tried the lower oven). I'm looking forward to years of cooking & baking on this!
Thanks for all the help along the way to this decision.

Congratulations!

When ya get a chance, let us know how them cakes turned out, now, hear?

It's a promise!

Electrolux slide-in induction range & pizza stone inquiry:
I bought an Old Stone Oven rectangular pizza/baking stone, and now I wonder if it is OK to put this directly on the floor of the oven, or should I instead put it on an oven rack at the bottom of the oven... to leave a good air space between stone contacts and hidden element?
I don't know if it would damage oven's lower element to have this stone sitting directly on it all the time, or not? (The stone has "legs", so there is an air space under the central part of the stone, but not on the sides.) I plan to leave the stone in the oven 100% of the time-- even when not baking directly on the stone.

Reading my E'lux manual, it looks like "the lower oven rack must always be in place when cooking or warming" (pg. 23). That oven comes with its own oven rack, so I'm guessing you want to put the pizza stone on that rack if you can.

Not clear if your stone's legs will get in the way or not. They might fit through the slots in the rack, or maybe you can turn it upside down when its hanging out in that oven.

[BTW, according to Modernist Cuisine at Home, a pizza stone needs about 30 min. to preheat fully to temperature (before you put the pizza on it).]

I was suspicious that Elux advises to use rack on the lower oven to prevent bottom-burning of foods.... but I guess it is better to play it safe; I certainly don't want to cause damage or risk voiding the warranty.

Yup, the legs make it a bit more challenging to get it flat & steady on the oven rack. It would be so much easier to have it sit & sleep on the oven floor(s)! The depth of this stone is 14 inches, which doesn't leave a lot of air space at the front & back of the stone; I hope it doesn't block hot air flow or interfere with the overall bake.

Good to know about the 30-minute pre-heat....thanks!
I am interested in baking other things (besides pizza & bread) on the stone, to see what the difference might be... tea biscuits, for example.

I found the upper oven baked cookies a little less evenly than my old (& larger) oven... but it is still early days in the experimenting process. I haven't yet baked layer cakes in this new oven. :>)

I am very, very happy with this purchase! The induction cooktop is such a treat to use.

I have the E-lux Freestanding induction range and I too love love it! I had one for 10 months and due to water damage we are remodeling and replacing all appliances. Insurance paid for a new one and I like it well enough that I have ordered another one. Yes it takes longer than my old range (that had an exposed lower element) to pre-heat but I deal with it. I always use the rapid pre-heat setting and so its not too bad. I did remove one of the racks and stored it. No way to I ever need all those racks at once and I would rather have the room.

When I first got it I used the lower oven a few times, but because you can't do rapid pre-heat with the lower, I gradually stopped using it. I guess its nice to have the second oven if necessary, but I use the larger oven for the primary one.

Have not used the dehydration feature, but have used the bread proofing and it was great!

Have not used the perfect turkey feature because I always bake them in a bag - 4 hours for a 20-lb turkey. I doubt if the Perfect Turkey setting can beat that.

As far as the induction top - its the best thing I ever had! I absolutely love it. Have Emeril cookware (made by All-clad but cheaper) and some cast iron. When using a heavy cast iron dutch oven I sometimes put a paper towel or parchment paper beneath the pot so that I don't scratch the cooktop. I have also covered the cooktop with paper towels when frying bacon to make clean-up easier. Never have to worry about it catching fire. awesome.

I would've like the slide-in but after reading all the complaints about this plastic part separating in front, I'm tickled to death with my free-standing.

Mine is on a 50-A circuit which I thought was minimum required??

I can't wait until our remodel is done and to get moved back in! Been living in my father-in-law's house next door and dealing with coils again so burning stuff :(

Mountainnergirl "Have not used the perfect turkey feature because I always bake them in a bag - 4 hours for a 20-lb turkey. I doubt if the Perfect Turkey setting can beat that. "

I scoffed at the perfect turkey button when the salesperson told me about it because really it's not that hard to roast a turkey but I had to try it out. It made the best turkey I had ever made. I've made 5-6 since then (I've had my stove a year and half). Today I made a 22 pounder (the biggest I've ever made), it was done in less than 2 1/2 hours. I was shocked that it could cook that fast but the turkey was completely cooked, tender, juicy and easy to get off the bones. So try it without the bag once and see what you think of it. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Wow 2 and 1/2 hours?? well you can bet I'll try that next time. you better be right or I will have some hungry people pounding their forks on the table while waitig (JK!)

I just got hooked on those bags because the turkeys are always so moist I guess because its actually sitting there in its broth vs on a rack that sits and inch off bottom of roasting pan.

I wanted to say that I used the convection once baking cookies and cookies weren't good. flat and hard BUT using convection with a meatloaf was awesome! Perfectly brown/crusty on outside with the inside being moist, not dried out at all. But that may be the case with all convection ovens - I don't know because this is my first.

about the long pre-heat - sometimes might be a pain, but having the hidden element is great. No lifting element up to wipe up something spilled in the bottom. No worrying about something spilling directly on it and stinking the house up.

I bought the range for the induction cooktop - not for convection oven. I would still love the range if it didn't have the convection oven.

Thanks for your feedback mountaineergirl!

Like you, I suspect convection is best-suited to meat; that's where it will shine. While it may be fine to do traditional baking with convection, it does produce different results...I tried a batch of cookies on convection and some of the same batch on regular bake; I found I preferred those baked without the convection setting. However, it is early days and I am still learning about this setting on this new range!

I have the slide-in and luckily found no problems (so far!!) with that separating at the top that others have mentioned; I really think careful installation is key ... you can't have any weight from the stove pulling on the countertop.

What a GREAT thread this is. Thank you, Co-Co, for starting it, and to all of you who have continued to post such helpful information over the past year+. I hope you will keep it coming for the rest of us.

It is frustrating how few induction ranges are available in the US. After much study, I thought I'd settled on this one. But in hearing about the fit issues, I think it won't fit my granite cut-out. Currently have a KitchenAid smooth-top slide-in. E-lux's diagram shows this range is 28 5/16 from the cooktop's back lip to front lip/oven handle. That's going to stick out into my kitchen another inch and a half beyond what we currently have.

Did most of you have your counters cut to the stove? My kitchen guy says slide-ins are all the same, and that it WILL fit. I begin to wonder.

We will be fitting the counters to the El'ux slide-in... at the moment it is standing between our two old counters (with space to spare), awaiting the kitchen renovation completion.

I did not cut the notch into my counter (the inch or so at the front that E'lux recommends) as I thought if/when I ever change out the range a new one might not fit. Here is how far mine sticks out... some may say it's horrible, but honestly I never notice it being weird and the functionality of the cooktop is so worth it:

Here is a link that might be useful: link to properly notched e'lux range

Mine will be the same as Coco's. My cabinet maker will be making a counter depth strip that will stick out and hide the side of the range. I have a bit wider board between the drawer and the range than Coco seems to, so I have room for that.

Thank you, Bree2 and Co-Co. Co-Co, your stove installation looks great; better than my current KitchenAid which is out a little further than it should be. If I could get mine that far back, I'd be happy.

I think the problem is -- and has been -- my granite. The diagram from E-lux seems to recommend 1 1/8 inch but mine are 1 1/2 which must be beyond standard. At some point, the stove is going to "catch" on the granite, end of discussion. It can't go back any further from that. It will always stick out 1 1/2 inch, plus the area beyond the "catch" spots on the stove, right?

So, if Co-Co's overhang is, say 1 1/8, then best case scenario for me is that mine will stick out just like hers (which looks perfect to me) PLUS another 3/8 of an inch? I nearly failed math in HS so somebody help me out here . . . ;-)

I am kind of heartsick. I woke up at 2 AM thinking about it. (I know, First World Problems, right?) Still, I thought I had a plan . . . I guess I could have it delivered now, and if it didn't fit, have them take it away again?

Co-Co, could you so kindly tell me what your overhang is? And the actual depth, edge to edge of the cooktop? And back edge of cooktop to the edge of your granite? If you have time. I realize you didn't start this thread meaning to become the Dear Abby of range installation, so thanks.

No problem! My set up is a bit different; I designed my kitchen to have spacers beside the range, as my doors/drawers are full overlay and the specs recommend 1" IIRC between the range and functional openings. My spacers came as 1.5" wide , and installer was going to rip them down to 1" but since I had the room we left them at 1.5" wide.

So:
-overhang from the spacer depth is 1.5", however from the door/drawer fronts is actually ~5/8"
-actual depth of cooktop is 27-27.5" (it bows out a bit in the middle)
-my cabs are pulled out on this wall, so my countertop is 29"d making for a 5.5" bridge behind the rangetop
-back edge of the cooktop to the edge of my quartz is 23.5"

Aren't you glad Canadians understand inches as well as metric?! :) Took some pics, hope these help:

Co-Co, you are a peach. So, looks like your spacers are flush with the cabinet fronts, and you have a countertop overhang across there of 1.5. (Not the drawer/door fronts, I realize) So, that's what I have.

If I can get mine back as far as yours, I will be happy. Again, thanks to all for this thread. There being so few slide in inductions available here in the US, and so few people owning them, this information is invaluable.

Thanks again.

We did a kitchen re-model and had this Induction range installed in October. After a couple months, I have to echo some of the comments here, plus here are my impressions so far, hope they are helpful if you are looking at this unit:
1. Spend some time with the manual, there is a lot to understand about using this range. Once you get through it, it seems pretty intuitive- but at first it is complex.
2. Love the cooktop! I started a pound of ground beef to brown in a skillet in High (not boost) setting, it was almost instantly sizzling. Same thing with going from a boil to a simmer, it is an instant response. I cooked with gas a bunch of years ago, I think induction is even more responsive.
3. Cleanup is pretty quick, damp cloth or a spray of all purpose cleaner that is ok for cooktops and it looks like new.
4. The oven seems to take longer to warm to temp, I have used the rapid pre-heat feature as well. The temp seems accurate and baking three sheets of cookies at the same time I got consistent results regardless of shelf or position. I've used the convection part for some baking, no real +/- for me so far.
5. Used the broiler this weekend for the first time. It worked fine, but after the cooling fan (same as what cools the cooktop and range I think) was pretty noisy. I have not heard this noise otherwise. Will try it again and if it occurs, will call for service.
6. Last point, out countertop guys did notch the quartz as the specs stated, and the range does slide in a bit more.

Bottom line - if I had to do it over, I would buy this pricey but great range in a heartbeat. We'll see how long term reliability works out, but it is fun to cook on.

Thank you, wamba2000. What a great, helpful group this is. I hope you get your noise resolved.

I have had this range for over a month now and love it. Few questions to see if you all have the same experience.

1) Using two burners on the same side, the unit seems to fluctuate between the two. Sounds like really fast on / off. Still cooks fine, just made some new noises I was not used to.
2) for the oven, with in Bake mode, the internal fan still kicks on. I assumed the internal fan was only for convection mode.

Does it work the same on your units? Just making sure mine is not broken.

Thank you,

Didjit

When you use two hobs on the same side, power sharing comes on (see the manual, pg. 22). When power sharing happens (e.g., when using both left or both right hobs on higher settings), the last-selected hob will cook at the power setting you selected and the other hob on that side may decrease (e.g., to 5 or to 9, if you set it higher than that).

Its easy to use hobs on opposite sides, since the two rear hobs are similar and smaller than the two front hobs. [You can use both hobs on a side at lower settings without kicking power sharing on, and front hobs draw more power on high then either (smaller) rear hob.] Does it seem like these are the noises you're hearing?

When you turn on the larger oven in Bake mode, that oven's fan comes on to quickly preheat the oven. You're supposed to preheat before using the oven (see the manual, pg. 24).

Didjit,
I haven't noticed when the fan comes on during preheating & baking, but I have noticed "new" noises coming from pots placed on the one burner I use most often... I use the small one on the right, at the rear, numerous times a day to boil water for tea. The other burners have not had such a noticeable effect on my pots (yet!).

Whereas the pots made almost no noise at first, now they emit squeaks & pops. It is the pot & its contents (not the burner, itself) that produce the noises.
I wondered if it had anything to do with my using the "power boil" setting so frequently on this one burner... could the high setting affect something in the metal of the pot??

I'll let you know if I find out it is anything more serious.

PS
For those who might like to sit near the front of this stove, be forewarned that the cooling fan(s) blow quite cool air out the front of the range when any of the burners are in use; so you feel like you are sitting in front of a very windy doorway!

Bree, what sort of pots are making these noises? If you move the pot to the left rear hob, does the noise stop?

Is there water between that hob and the pot when you hear these squeaks and pops? Trapped water can make these sounds, which will be louder with higher power settings (like boost).

"Hi" chac mool.... The noise from a splash of water *underneath* the pot is a bit different than these noises. And, the noises can still occur when using a burner on the left side & a burner on the right side (no sharing). I suspect it is just the sounds of metal expanding & contracting... reacting to the high heat setting. I just wanted to reassure Didjit that there are others of us "hearing things". ;>)

I haven't noticed noises coming from the other burners probably because I rarely use those burners to boil a small pot of water... and that is the time I'm most likely to notice pot noises... not when cooking a mixture of foods that sizzle & simmer. I'd never hear these subtle noises over those more complex cooking sounds!

I'll have to pay more attention to see what noises occur when.

We have the freestanding version of this oven.We've had it for 2 weeks now and today was the first visit of the repairman. We anticipate more... good thing we bought the extended warranty...

Problems are all related to the oven - the induction works fine. But the oven does not...

1) Regular preheat indicates oven is at temperature - checking with an oven thermomoeter says it is 25 to 30 degrees lower than what it was set at.

2) Rapid preheat is much worse - we set it to 425 and the rapid preheat brought it to 300 then turned off, regular preheat continued - never got to 425.

3) Oven does not maintain a constant heat - will fluctuate 25 to 50 degrees down...

4) Oven does not seem to cool down - takes forever to 'lose' heat. We turned it off, went out for an hour, came back and it was still at 200 - but it was off. I opened the door wide open and it dropped to 80 so I closed it and then it went back up!! Is it possible that the insulation is that good that it does not lose heat??

Repairman is ordering various circuit boards for us. I am not happy and would not recommend. The repairman said it was a good thing we had an extended warranty...

How's that for making you feel good about the purchase?

NOT.

Hope others have better luck...

Shannon (in Canada).

It certainly sounds like you got the lemon on the production line! I've had this happen with a brand new refrigerator and had to replace electronics within days of its arrival, but it ran well thereafter.

My Electrolux slide-in range's oven does not fluctuate in temperature and has performed very well (so far!). I've tested it against a reliable stand alone oven thermometer, and it runs a consistent 10 degrees hotter; if this ever becomes a problem, I'll just adjust the oven's default setting.

The oven does stay warm after a baking session, but then again so did my other self-cleaning oven... can't say it that is due to the extra insulation they use in a self-cleaning oven or not.

I do wish I could turn the oven light off when having the oven door open to release the heat after a baking session; I'd like to make use of that heat in my kitchen on cool days --without burning out the oven lightbulbs prematurely!

Has anyone found that after a few months of use (on the Electrolux slide-in range) a thin line of light appears on the control deck?
Just to the right of the upper & lower oven icons, a thin line of white light runs (straight from top to bottom) alongside the icons... this isn't apparent when the range is not in use; it is only when the stove or oven is in use, or when you wave your hand over the deck.
It has only appeared this week, and seems content to stay! Do we know what it is or why it shows up now & not before?

Hi Bree,

I just looked at mine. To the right of the upper and lower oven icons, and just left of the two timer on-off lights, is a recessed rectangle with oven temp., clock, and timer digital displays.

Looking closely at mine now, I do see light escaping along the left and right sides of this rectangular digital display. Because the oven icons are brighter, this stray light is a little stronger on the left than on the right. Obviously, this only appears when the wave tough display is on. I didn't notice this before, even when cooking stuff last night, so its very subtle (on my range).

If the slightly recessed digital (temp & time) display has shifted slightly to the right for some reason, you may see more light on that side. As for why, the only thing I can think of is that you really shouldn't pick up your range and shake it so much, Bree. Don't do that.

Well, that's no fun if I can't pick it up and shake it! ;>)
I've attached a screenshot to show where the line is, and it sounds to me like it is much more visible on my range than on yours... enough that it shows up quite clearly, and only on the one side of that rectangle. I can't actually see that rectangle on mine, just the pronounced line of light on its left side.
Let's hope this isn't a sign of anything out of whack with the control panel.

This post was edited by Bree2 on Mon, Mar 4, 13 at 16:28

sorry.... on closer examination, I can indeed see the complete rectangle... not readily visible, but it is there.

Askkelly35:

I don't see a specific response to your post, so I'll chime in and maybe somebody with more direct experience can correct any errors.

1) Regular preheat:

Preheat indicators on most ovens are way off. Many comments here and elsewhere (such as Modernist Cusine) say that the pre-heat signals are way off. Most oven temp sensors are up near the top of the chamber and only measure the oven air. They do not account for the heating the walls, floor, etc. of the chamber, all of which play a big role in oven cooking. Often, the recommendation is to give the oven 20 minutes beyond the pre-heat signal.

So, not sure if anything is wrong on this item.

2) Rapid preheat

This definitely sounds like something is askew. Does sound like a bad controller board.

3) Oven does not maintain a constant heat - will fluctuate 25 to 50 degrees down...

Depending on when and where you are measuring, this may or may not be a defect. Does the temp go up above the set point as well as below or does it only go down?

All ovens cycle and they do more of it at the start of baking. Set a temp and the oven elements heat up. When they reach a certain point, the sensor signals and the elements shut off. (Maybe the preheat signal dings, too.) The temp settles a bit and when it goes low enough (which may be 25F on some stoves and as much as 50F lower on others) then the elements come on again and heat up. It takes a number of cycles for this to even out and the temperature swings to reduce.

In my experience, many ovens do a decent job of maintaining a pretty even temperature once they are fully preheated but fluctuate a lot before they get there.

Convection settings can complicate this. Many convection ovens are now programmed to automatically drop the baking temp by 25F. If you've got convection running and have not switched off the "auto adjust" then your temps can seem pretty weird.

But to me, it seems that if you are seeing a 25F or 50F downward swing right in the middle, and it only goes down, something sounds amiss with the controllers or the sensor or both. Again, if warranty service is replacing the boards, that is probably a good thing.

4) Oven does not seem to cool down
This can be a common complaint with newer ovens being better insulated than ovens used to be.

But, a defective board might be causing a problem, so you should see how things go after the boards get replaced. A friend off mine told me of a similar problem with a convection oven in her GE stove. Except that sometimes the oven would be very warm when it had not been used for hours. Turned out that something had gone wrong with the oven controller board. It was sort of randomly switching on the convection element (the third element in the back, the one around the convection fan). Of course, it "should not" and "could not" have been doing that but replacing the board ended the problem.

I've had this range for about 3 weeks.

A few observations:
Oven-Baking:
Pre-heat is indeed slow, and the lower oven is even slower! Not much use for that other than Thanksgiving. I wasn't expecting much from it anyway.
The oven light seems to turn on both ovens. Too bad I'm mostly using the lower drawer for storage and I get to see the "mess" down there instead of having the option to only light one oven. (Maybe there is a way and I haven't learned yet?)
The oven is a tad less deep than my old drop in, due to the convection fan. Large pans still fit, it's just tighter.

Cooktop:
Smaller hobs are in the back, and I would love a small one in the front. I didn't think I would notice so much, but I do.
Sometimes it takes awhile for the hob to recognize a pan and allow me to turn it on. Was so used to instant on!
Learned I had to clean it 1/4 of the cooktop at a time, otherwise the cleaner dries too quickly and is a pain to get off.

Hi Julie,

The lower oven is fine for warming plates; that's mostly what I use it for. You're wise to not expect much from the lower oven. People who expect a lot from that lower oven tend to be disappointed.

You're right that "the oven light seems to turn on both ovens." I never noticed, because I never put my head close enough to the floor to see the light in the lower oven before. You need to be at the height of a squirrel to look in there.

Can you say which pans (and/or hobs?) aren't recognized quickly, or if this problem is more likely when a pan doesn't closely match the hob size? I haven't noticed this with my pans (from Ikea, Marcus, Scan Pan, Le Creuset, and Staub), and the E'lux seems (to me) relatively tolerant when pans differ from the hob size.

Since you've only had your range a few weeks, this could be either learning to use your range or a problem from the factory. If its a range issue, it may be good to contact E'lux customer support about the pan recognition problem, so there is a clear report of problems early on.

I use Cerama Bryte only occasionally, about a quarter of the cooktop at a time. More often I just wipe stuff up with damp paper towels, though.

I guess I noticed the oven light because I can sit on the other side of the peninsula (my work location) and gaze into the oven! But without a line of sight, it's hard to see. In any other kitchen, it might not be an issue. And it's not an issue per se, just sorta weird.

As for pan recognition, I've experienced it with a Le Creuset (2.5 qt, maybe?) and an All Clad 1.5 qt on the back burners. Like we both theorized, it's most likely due to my learning curve. I'll keep using it. I'm sure it's just a fraction of a second.

Don't take my post of negativity to be that I don't love it, I do, I do, I do! The cook top is quite responsive- it's great to have the control over the cooking and the quick heating. The racks are wonderful in the oven, and I love having convection and reasonably even baking.

Confidential to bread bakers: The oven also does great job at retaining steam while baking- important for the artisan breads that I make. I had to back away the first time I opened the door 15 minutes after I put a cup of water in a hot pan with the oven at 475 degrees to avoid a steam burn because of the fan that runs even on non-convection....and that was good! So much better than some modern electrics I've used that do a terrible job with steam retention and turn out terrible crust. I know now to put the steam pan on the lowest rack away from the fan.

Today, I noticed the rubber flange (that runs around the perimeter of the control panel) has crept away ever so slightly from its housing on the front right corner of the panel. It isn't a big deal, but it does allow tiny crumbs to fall in the small crack where that rubber ring has shrunk away from the stainless steel corner.
The slight opening is only in the corner, not anywhere else along the length of the flange, and the other 3 corners are still sitting tight to the st. steel... although the one on the left front looks like it may not be quite as tight to the steel as the others.

Has anyone else noticed movement in the rubber flange?

Did I mention we love this range?!
We've used it for almost a year now and enjoy every minute of it! And, cleaning the cooking surface is such a breeze!

Why doesn't the cooling fan run when the lower oven is on?

The cooling fan runs when the upper oven is on and when the burners on the stove-top are on, but it does not run when the lower oven is on. Why is that?

I'm not complaining, I'm just curious. I do appreciate the complete quiet when the lower oven is on... not a sound is emitted... vs. the noise of the cooling fan when anything else is turned on! (There is also no chilly draft coming out the front of the oven when only the lower oven is running.)

Thanks in advance for the answer to my question.

Why doesn't the cooling fan run when the lower oven is on?

The cooling fan runs when the upper oven is on and when the burners on the stove-top are on, but it does not run when the lower oven is on. Why is that?

I'm not complaining, I'm just curious. I do appreciate the complete quiet when the lower oven is on... not a sound is emitted... vs. the noise of the cooling fan when anything else is turned on! (There is also no chilly draft coming out the front of the oven when only the lower oven is running.)

Thanks in advance for the answer to my question.

I have an old Bialetti Moka pot (for espresso) that is not magnetic, but it works just fine when sitting on an iron (Lodge) skillet for the 5 or so minutes it takes to produce the espresso.
It seems to me the iron pan can take the heat just fine-- after all, it can be oven-cured for a non-stick finish at a much higher heat. I'm guessing it is the same as using one of those relatively expensive magnetic "plates" that allow use of non-induction pots on induction. Any thought as to whether using an iron skillet for this purpose is a good or bad idea?

Not a problem. Only things to watch are:

(a) you probably are not cranking the heat to full boost and leaving there it there with the CI surface smoking, but the inexperienced will need to know that the smoke will be the seasoning burning off. A lesser setting should be suficient to boil the Moka pot without requiring you to re-season your CI whenever you have made coffee.

(b) Very old CI pans (say an antique Wagner or Griswold that you inherited or that you found at a garage sale), may have inclusions or cracks that could split the pan if it is brought to very high heat too quickly.. This is something that can happen with any high-power gas, electric or induction burners, as was discussed in a thread here a a couple of years ago (if somebody wants to search for it, I remember it being in the summer of 2012.).

For somebody who needs to use larger non-magnetic pans, too, a CI skillet's high sides may be a hinderance. Besides the expensive "adapter disks" that Bree mentioned, you also could look at Lodge's larger and less expensive 10.5-inch diameter pancake griddle (about $20) or the 14" pizza pan (about $30). Besides being much less expensive than the adapter disks, the Lodge pans will have other uses when not being employed as a hot plate. (Cooks Illustrated recently reported favorably on using the pizza pan rather than a pizza stone.)

Thank you for the reassuring information!
You are quite right, I am using a mid-level heat on the right front hob (the most powerful hob)... no higher than a 6.5 setting...and using a 9 or 10-inch round pancake griddle under the moka pot; no smoking occurs and the pan doesn't seem to mind. I do take the griddle off the burner right after the espresso is ready (with a protective mitt!) to avoid trapping high heat between the griddle & the hob surface... just in case that might not be good (but it probably doesn't hurt it).

Now, I'll have to try the same griddle as a pizza "stone"--a great suggestion, by the way--it should produce an excellent crust... a multi-functioning pan indeed! :>)

Bree2,

The purpose of the cooling fan is to keep the electronic controls from dying from heat exposure. The lower oven is remote from the electronics, so no need.

This post was edited by attofarad on Wed, Jan 29, 14 at 2:27

Thanks for that info attofarad... I had not thought about the electronics aspect. The fanned air is quite cool when it blows out the front when I am cooking at the stove, so it must be doing its job!

I have to stand well back from this oven when I open the door--the heat & steam released are quite intense!

There is a lot more steam & moisture released from this oven than with any other oven I have used. I have trouble with roasted vegetables crisping/drying out enough (soggier results than I'd like).

It doesn't have a negative effect on cakes & cookies, but it certainly does for high-heat roasting of potatoes wedges or tomatoes, cauliflower, etc.

Has anyone else found this a problem?

I wonder if using the convection setting all the time would solve this? I'm not very familiar with the convection option, so don't know if it maintains a drier oven environment or not... any thoughts on this?

Hi! Very new to this forum. How is your range holding up?

Thanks!

We love this range.... & would buy it again!
As with every new appliance, there are new things to become familiar with.... the induction cooktop is very straight-forward (and we had used an induction plate prior to buying this range, so induction wasn't a new concept to us), but the oven seems to maintain more humidity than my old one, but I have learned to use convection more since I last posted... so for things that i want a drier or crisper result, I use the convection option, or open the door a bit to let the extra moisture/steam out. I haven't found it takes noticeably longer to preheat than my old self-cleaning oven, but I see others have complained of this.
The oven interior is slightly smaller than my old one, but I've gotten used to that, too, now.
I recently used the bread-proof setting which worked like a charm.
If I had a wish list, I would put a small hob at the front, since I use the small hobs a lot, and if you are stirring or tending the pot, it is nice not to have to reach back quite so far for an extended period of time.

There weren't many choices available in my region when I bought this range. It was either this one or a GE cafe induction range. I'm sure there are more to choose from now, but I'm better with fewer choices, otherwise I'd never be able to make up my mind!

Wait for the big sales if you can... stores sells these for $1000 - $1500 off the regular price, & I've seen these big appliance sales more than once each year.

2 years in for mine, no major issues with the unit itself, no service calls have been required. I even use the self clean function about twice a year, albeit for the 2 hour "light" soil setting. Gasp!

My one complaint is the thermometer probe is non-functional. I was able to use it once for a turkey. Now, when I attempt to use it, it hits the the target temperature within 5 minutes of starting the cook; obviously the meat isn't done that fast. Then it turns off the oven. It was a surprise on Thanksgiving to realize I hadn't been cooking for a half hour. This to me is a minor function of the entire unit and I'm willing to let it slide.

Thanks for your feedback. My husband is the cook and he ordered it without me researching it. I finally googled it and i was shocked by all the bad reviews. i so hope i don't have that experience, won't be installed until around march, ill let y'all know!

Which range hood did folks choose to put over their electrolux induction range? Any recommendations would be appreciated.