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mommabearof5

range top or range??

8 years ago

We are building and have a nice, big kitchen. We are putting in a corner cupboard with a wall oven and a TV above it. The dilemma is whether to do a 36" rangetop and double wall oven, or a single wall oven and a full 36" gas range? I have never used a gas oven, so don't really know whether I will like cooking with it or not. I do, however, LOVE to cook and do a lot of it.

I think I like the look of the full range better than a rangetop, but could go either way so just wondered what practical considerations there might be that I haven't thought of.


THis is the range I was considering - the Costco NXR: Costco range

Thanks!

Comments (4)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Many here will suggest you explore an induction cooktop. 36" Miele or Bosch Benchmark or 800 Series. Many positives. A second oven is often a Combi Steam oven- Miele offers a good plumbed model.

    E K thanked dan1888
  • 8 years ago

    I find the difference between electric and gas oven is smaller than most people make it out to be. I wouldn't base my decision solely on the fuel source.

    I do agree though that a second smaller oven is awesome. I find, in practice, I rarely do need a full size often (but when I do, then I really do). I do appreciate faster pre-heat times though. And if that smaller oven is a CSO then that's even better. Having different ovens with different features is nice.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I agree with what M just said. I'll add that six years ago, I bought an NXR (30" model) to replace a defunct GE dual fuel range (i.e., electric oven and gas stove-top.) I do a lot of cooking, a lot of baking, and occasionally use the broiler. Friends have had a 36" NXR for about nine years, now. I'll offer the following thoughts based on our experiences.

    My impressions of the NXR gas oven are as follows. Very good temperature accuracy. As with most ranges, it takes about 20 minutes to fully preheat. (Ignore the pre-heat indicators --- on almost all ranges, those indicators only measure air temperature for bragging rights about speed rather than actual preheating. Actual preheating requires fully heating the cavity/walls/enclosure to give steady radiant heat. That will take 20 to 30 minutes on pretty much all ovens except tiny ones.) If you search out past threads on the NXR you find comments here on the oven's accuracy.

    My old GE range's oven was very good and mostly very accurate. It had multiple convection modes, various convection features, and was self cleaning. NXR ovens are "myself cleaning" rather than self-cleaning. IME, my NXR range's oven does better than the electric predecessor on some tasks, does not do quite as well on others, and is mostly indistinguishable in results from the GE on most things. Basically, the NXR does a better job with breads but does not do as well with large quantities of small things. With, say, sheet pans of biscuits or cookies, the GE was pretty much fire and forget til the timer rang whereas I have to rotate pans with the NXR to get fully evenly browned items. OTOH, the NXR's oven can do low and slow like nobody's business. It will hold a steady 130°F in contrast to my previous electric ovens which would hold temps only down to 170° and those lower temps were not particularly stable below 225°. Whether this matters to you is a personal preference. If, for example, you have a lot of garden tomatoes you want to dry or if you are into Heston Blumentthal's 18 hour roast beef, that low and slow oven will be useful. If you don't do those things, the low and slow functions won't matter to you.

    I'll offer a couple of cautions on NXR ranges. One is that the brand has a small market share, so customer support can be hit and miss. The products are best suited to self reliant and handy homeowners who can do their own work if and when when work is needed. As I've said in other posts on the NXR here over the years. getting an NXR is a bit like buying a manual-everything, high-lift 4-wheel-drive pickup. Great if you live on a ranch, will regularly use the off-road capabilities, and are comfortable servicing the thing yourself. Rather a pain if you really want a comfortable daily driver for a highway commute to school and work.

    The other caution is to buy from a vendor like Costco with a full staisfaction guarantee and no-questions/full refund return policy.

    As for choosing between a rangetop with electric wall ovens and a 36" wide range and single wall oven (with a tv above it), there are trade offs.

    Putting a tv over the wall oven seems problematic to me. Heat kiils electronics. I'd worry that the oven could radiate a lot of it up to the tv.

    OTOH, a rangetop with electric ovens on the side will likely be somewhat less oppressively hot in the kitchen than a full range with a gas oven. Gas ovens need to vent. That means they can pump a lot more heat into the kitchen than electric ovens. Also, the oven in a 36" range will take a lot longer to preheat than a 30" (or 27") electric wall oven. The wide oven may be useful if you plan on frequently banking with full-size sheet pans. If you will not be regularly making full-sheet-cakes or won't be regularly baking biscuits for a National Guard platoon, you may find a pair of wall ovens may work better you for what and how you want to cook.

  • 8 years ago
    Jwvideo - thanks for all the suggestions. That was very helpful!!