Experiences with high end stoves

[Beth Y]

Okay, the kitchen remodel post got me thinking. I am contemplating a remodel on my kitchen. It is possible that we will be able to afford a good quality range (if we economize elsewhere). I am tired of uneven baking, small ovens, uneven flames, etc. Does anyone have a Viking, Dacor or other professional quality stove that they like or dislike. Reviws anyone?

[Mousie29]

I like our Jenn air stainless downdraft vent (no vent hood) convection oven + gas stove, but I am no expert. We had to have a downdraft vent in our remodel because our kitchen opens into the den. It looks great and I like the knobs, etc. :-)

[laden]

I have the Jenn-Air too. Although it's not a Viking it bakes and roasts wonderfully!

The food comes out evenly browned. Things don't burn on the bottom either.

[Beth]

Was that you checking out ranges and cooktops at the websites last night? DH and I were too. We had a Dacor cooktop in our last house, and we were so convinced we would replace our current 2 working burner GE mess with a new Dacor that we brought the griddle with us.

We had the Preference, and we are looking at either the Preference or the Epicure with the pop-up downdraft this time. Since our boys are a little older, the control knobs being on the front is not so much of a problem. The continuous flat grates are wonderful; the low heat melts chocolate on direct heat without a problem, and the higher power was great for large pots of pasta and canning. We are looking at the Dacor ovens, and hoping to get 30" ones into the space where 27" ones are now.

We also looked at Thermador. I thought their features were very comparable, but Dacor's Preference fit the look of our previous kitchen and was less expensive. Viking is heavier, but I can't see that it will offer a noticaeble difference in performance so much as looks. After cooking on the Dacor for a couple of years, I can't see that you need anything more in terms of function. We both loved it.

My mother has a Jennair range and a oven/micro combination that work fine. As far as I can tell, they bake and cook evenly and she is very happy with them. I would not buy the range though for two reasons. First, it and the GE electric that is falling apart on me have the downdraft in the center AND I HATE IT! Everything drips, spills or drops down there. The other thing I do not like about it is that is does not have sealed burners. The Dacor does, and it was so much easier to clean up and keep looking nice than anything I have ever used.

Other than that, I have no stong feelings on the subject. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif Hope that helps.

[donleyk]

We are also considering replacing our existing oven. Thanks for the insight! -Kim

[Leslie w]

We built our house last year and after spending more than we anticipated I was on semi-budget. I'm a serious cook who entertains frequently but I couldn't justify spending the extra money on a professional range even though my kitchen was built for it. I chose instead to get a Kitchen Aide double wall convection oven and I love it. The upper oven is convection and lower oven standard. THe convection is great for roasts, potatoes, cooks fast and evenly. I use the lower for baking. I don't know how I lived without it because I'm always preparing meals that call for different oven temps. I bought the 30" models, the largest you can get. My cooktop is a ceramic electric and is remarkably fast for an electric stove. I wanted gas but my husband hates it, can't stand the smell or the fact that it seems to heat up the kitchen esp. in the summer. If you have the space I'd recommend the double ovens.

[Karenf]

I have remodeled several kitchens each time buying new appliances. We have just completed #5. I have had 2 Kitchenaid electric double wall ovens the last one with a convection upper and both ovens self cleaning. We loved both of them. As for cooktops, always gas, we've had a Kitchenaid that required overhead exhaust. It performed very well with the only complaint being maintenance since it didn't have sealed burners. At the time Thermador had a model with the same burners but it was more expensive. The next house we got the Thermador with the sealed burners and griddle/grill in the middle and separate downdraft system. Currently we installed the 36" Viking Dual Fuel. In each house our decisions were based on space and configurations. We decided on the Viking this time, starting out, because wall space was an issue. As it turned out we were really sold on the Viking over the Thermador or anything else for that matter. We love it. The burners get so hot that the medium setting is like high on a GE, Whirlpool, JennAir, etc. all of which we have had and replaced in the past. The simmer setting on the Viking is the most controllable and goes the lowest of any on the market. That's what switched us from the Thermador to Viking You really have to carefully control and watch the heat settings. If your used to heating up a pan on high, walking away for a couple of minutes, coming back after the pans heated and turn down the heat - Not on the Viking it's instant and you'd burn up the pan. I don't know off hand what the BTU's are but it's a lot.The oven has convection and self cleaning and is 36" wide so it has a large capacity. The range is big and it's got the commercial look which wasn't in my plan, but now that everythings been done for a couple of months we're really glad we made the choice we did. We looked at everything and there is no comparison in performance between the standard GE, Jenn Air, etc.

[Grace]

Leslie: As an avid baker and baking book reader/baking show watcher...use your convection oven for baking too! It's what all the big bakeries and restaurants use. Muffins, cakes and breads rise higher, cookies are more evenly baked and a come out perfect, and everything's done in less time (so remember to adjust your recipes!). Anyhow, I didn't want you to miss out on one of the best uses for that convection oven!!

[Kathy]

Remodeling must be in the air! Which websites would you recommend for checking out appliances? My husband and I are buying a new house and I am feeling overwhelmed with all the decisions..and we just got out of attorney review! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif Any suggestions for my Master bathroom?!Fixtures, whirlpool tub, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[donleyk]

Kathy,

I did go to the Consumers Report web page to check out their reviews on ranges and ovens. I thought it was beneficial, but contrary to some of the reviews above. -Kim

[sneezles]

Bet and Karenf
Thanks for the review of the Viking since this is the one I want for my new kitchen. I have had a JennAir for 7 years and the only complaint I had was the mess around the and in the downdraft. Plus I use the griddle alot and the vent grate was stained from all the heat I guess. I also had a JennAir wall oven and like it but the new kitchen will have the one unit, oven and stove together and I am buying the 48" model. Of course I just have the picture to stare at now-with all this rain we've had the slab isn't even finished (after two months!!!).

[Beth]

We had KithchenAid ovens in the last house, the one convection/one thermal like discussed above. Once we finally got a good service man who found the leak in the seal so things baked evenly, my only complaint was that the top element came one everytime the oven was heating, not just during the initial heating. Every other oven I have ever had has used only the lower element to maintain heat once the desired temp. was reached. Everything browned too fast or burned on top. It took another service call and a number of inquiries before we were able to get the technical diagrams and info to show that it was intended that way. I would not buy Kitchenaid ovens again unless they have changed that.

[Beth]

By the way, I'm not sure of the BTUs on viking, but Dacor's Preference line has 2 sizes, 8,500 and 12,500. The Epicure are all 15,000. Looks like Thermador has 15,000 also.

We also selected the first Dacor because of space....it was the only one that would fit the existing cutout in a new home with about a half mile of tile countertops (slight exaggeration caused by current lack thereof) and no one wanted to try any trimming. DH was so sold, he doesn't really want to look at anything else. This time, our biggest issue is finding soemthing we can use a pop-up downdraft with since there is nothing but a 13 foot ceiling over our island and I hate the Jennair type problem with drips and drops.

Hope others will continue to post their ideas and experiences so we can all learn while planning, not after.

[Beth Y]

Thanks everyone for all the great info...and KEEP IT COMING! I started this, so I will add my input. My new house has Jenn-Air stove and convection oven. The oven seems okay, but is very small, probably the fault of the past owner's choice. I can't even get a big roasting pan in it.
I have several complaints about the range. It is one of those with the center down draft and two burners on one side and a changable two burner/griddle, grill on the other. A big problem is that it is electric (obviously the past owners were not big cooks). I have the same drip, mess problem with the center downdraft, although it seems to pull the air well. The left side changy thing is a bear to clean, but my main problem is that is just seems to have worn out pretty quickly. The griddle heats very unevenly, so it not that helpful. We have not tried the grill yet, but I would hate to have to clean the vent and everything after, so just use our grill outside. It is about 9 years old. How long are these things supposed to last. It just looks pretty bad and is starting to break down and that would worry me in buying another.

[luv2cook]

oh, gawd, beth, you have the same thing that i do. I never even attempted to use the grill. The burners were/are enough misery! When I remodel, out they go. I was going to do gas - until I found out that gas is going to go up another 40% Feb. 1st! That makes 100% in 2000!

[julia]

I'd like to make one suggestion to avoid a mistake we made - that is if you buy an appliance, buy it from a store like Sears (at least in Canada). When we bought our house last year we bought all new appliances and made the mistake of buying them from an appliance goof (sorry, meant appliance store). If you have problems, you are at the mercy of the manufacturer's service people in getting service. We had a couple of problems with our Maytag Neptune washer and had to deal with finding a Maytag repair person who could come at a reasonable time. Likewise with the Kitchenaid (Inglis in Canada) stove that we have not been able to use the self-clean feature on because of problems with the "motherboard" for almost 2 months. After waiting for 3 weeks for a part to arrive, we got a call this morning from the service guy who said that he couldn't come today because they sent him the wrong part. Neither of these appliances were cheap - we bought the good stuff.

If you deal with a company like Sears, they have their own service people and are much more accomodating.

[Leslie w]

Another good thing about buying from Sears (my husband who's from Chicago is a big Sears man and loves Craftsman tools - suprisingly, Sears is not popular on the east coast where we live) anyway the good thing about buying at Sears is you can get the schematics for the Kenmore appliances so you can fix the appliances yourself if you are good at that. We have a Kenmore washer, dryer and microwave. They've been very reliable. Re: the Kitchen Aid oven. I only had one problem w/ it, something with the touchpad and I noticed it after it was installed. I called the company, the guy came out that afternoon and the part was replaced in a couple of days. Very fast, friendly service. They even called me a week later to see how it was working.

[Karenf]

To follow up on appliance repair/warranty. Of the (high-end) appliance that we bought the Viking Range, U-line undercounter refrigerator, and DCS (outdoor grill) needed service. ALL distributors (not the selling store) had record of our purchase and sent trained, educated service people out quickly and of course with no charge. For the DCS and Viking the problems were a result of shipping - Viking a lose wire, and installation on the DCS one of the burners was not sitting exactly perfect. The U-line was a manufacturing defect. You (usually) pay for what you get! including service/manufactureers that back-up their product.

[Beth]

Julia, I have no experience with MAytag so far, but we bought a new Kitchen Aid dishwasher (also not cheap), and I dealt both with the store (Best Buy) and the manufacturer and had good experiences with both. My DW shhows 800-461-5681 as the 800 number for Kitchen aid in Canada. Have you been dealing with them? Talk to their customer service and let them know you've had a problem and been without full use of your oven for an extended period of time and are still waiting. They may be able to help get you the right part, get it sooner, and they may offer to extend your warranty with a service plan (they did for me, but we bought the extended warranty), or you can ask for it. They really went out of their way to make sure we got set straight. I hope you can get it worked out.