New gas stove - minimum requirements?

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TSR
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New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by TSR »

I need a new 30-inch gas stove -- see this post for why: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=351693. It appears that there are a few "tiers" of 30-inch gas stoves: (1) $500-600 true "no frills" stoves, (2) $800-1000 stoves that seem to do all the "normal" stove stuff and might have a convection option thrown in, (3) $1500 stoves that are sort of really nice "normal" stoves that have convection options and probably have an air fryer built in, and (4) $3000-4000 "industrial" stoves.

We cook a lot, but it's just normal cooking - baking, roasting, sauteing, boiling, etc. I have never used a convection oven or an air fryer and don't feel that I really need one. I once owned a viking stove (came with a house I owned), but I'm not sure it so dramatically improved my life that I would be a fool not to buy another one. My thinking is that I can safely shop in the second tier I've described above, and I'll be more or less happy. I'd love to hear contrary opinions. Does anyone think that any self-respecting home cook needs the industrial model (or at least will be MUCH happier with one)? Any big fans of convection or air-fryer tech? Keep in mind that this is for a lowly 30-inch model, so I can't get some six-burner Viking situation. Any other options that I really need? All ideas are appreciated.

Finally, because I am likely replacing all of my appliances (see link above), I am curious to know whether anyone has strong opinions on color. I like stainless steel, but it's been in fashion so long that I fear it's on its way out. Then again, I have not seen a compelling replacement. Is stainless safe for another couple of decades? My dishwasher is the only appliance that doesn't *need* to be replaced, but it's white and somewhat unattractive. I'm tempted to go ahead and replace it too so as to match the rest. Thoughts?

Thank you!
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ResearchMed
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by ResearchMed »

Someone we know recently did a complete rehab/re-design of their kitchen.
Turned out they used some sort of charcoal type finish on all of the appliances. It looked very nice.

RM
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Dottie57
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by Dottie57 »

I have caramel colored maple cabinets And black appliances. Goes better than white. I am nota fan of stainless steel.
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Watty
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by Watty »

People have posted about having long delays in getting high end appliances. Part of your decision may be based on what you can actually get in a reasonable amount of time.

TSR wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:53 am I like stainless steel, but it's been in fashion so long that I fear it's on its way out.
I never understood stainless steel. When I was a teenager I worked a summer in a nursing home kitchen that had stainless steel appliances so when I see a house with a stainless steel kitchen it reminds me of a nursing home kitchen which is not a look I would want.

That said I think people overthink things like appliance colors. Six months after you redo the kitchen whatever you pick will seem normal and you will not even notice it if it is not something extreme.
sport
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by sport »

In our previous house, we had a built-in Kitchenaid oven with convection. The convection allowed three racks of cookies to bake evenly without shifting them around while baking. It also shortened cooking time, so it helped the electric bill, especially if the AC was running. We now have a GE dual fuel stove with a convection oven. It does not bake evenly, even with the convection turned on. I will never buy another GE appliance. (Our GE fridge was worse than the stove).
All on Red
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by All on Red »

sport wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 12:46 pm In our previous house, we had a built-in Kitchenaid oven with convection. The convection allowed three racks of cookies to bake evenly without shifting them around while baking. It also shortened cooking time, so it helped the electric bill, especially if the AC was running. We now have a GE dual fuel stove with a convection oven. It does not bake evenly, even with the convection turned on. I will never buy another GE appliance. (Our GE fridge was worse than the stove).
I agree about GE convection not being good; we just spent $600 on a Home Depot natural gas model and it’s just this tiny fan in the back that has not made any difference in cooking times or bake evenness.

The cooktop is amazing however. Big burners, easy to clean spills, and a nice easy to clean aluminum griddle.
Big Dog
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by Big Dog »

not sure about all the bells and whistles (as they are mostly personal), but I've found that higher end units tend to have more insulation, which can keep the kitchen a little cooler. (and make cooking more uniform as the burner doesn't cycle as much)
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ram
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by ram »

We have a mismatch of kitchen appliances in terms of brands. But they are all stainless steel and to my eye they all seem to match. My wife has not complained either.
All appliance companies have had a stainless steel model whenever I looked. I am not sure about the other colors.
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TSR
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by TSR »

Big Dog wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 1:27 pm not sure about all the bells and whistles (as they are mostly personal), but I've found that higher end units tend to have more insulation, which can keep the kitchen a little cooler. (and make cooking more uniform as the burner doesn't cycle as much)
I had never considered this. Thank you.
goos_news
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by goos_news »

I find my convection modes useful and they work well, producing superior crisping where needed and speeding cooking times. You generally get some better insulation and in duel fuel models, additional heating elements. But it may be diminishing returns for a lot of people. At the top end you can also get more powerful burners and options for open burners, if that is more important to you, for things like high heat searing, rapid boil and wok use. The step up from 12/15K to 18K/22K is pretty noticeable (and make sure it is on a single round burner -- some like the Bosch have an 18K but it is only on the oblong burner).

Colorwise SS doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon. Color is a personal choice, as long as you don't go too personalized it won't be a liability. I would personally match the DW at the same time.
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TexasPE
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by TexasPE »

TSR wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:53 am My dishwasher is the only appliance that doesn't *need* to be replaced, but it's white and somewhat unattractive. I'm tempted to go ahead and replace it too so as to match the rest. Thoughts?

Thank you!
Some dishwashers have a removable insert on the door. You might just change out the insert (often in the door frame), if yours is so-equipped.

On my first home purchase - 50 years ago - I actually had the bronze-toned refrigerator, oven door, vent hood, breaker box cover and dishwasher panel painted to match a new drop-in cooktop. I think total cost was $150 and everything matched (auto paint shop used appliance enamel). What I didn't do back then to save a few dollars! :happy
At 20: I cared what everyone thought about me | At 40: I didn't give a damn what anyone thought of me | Now that I'm 60: I realize that no one was really thinking about me at all | Winston Churchill (?)
123
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by 123 »

When we replaced our stove 10 years ago we were in a similar position, doing basic cooking but no need for double ovens etc. We spent a lot of time figuring the hierarchy of features/prices for the GE and Whirlpool lines. We topped out at a model that had a grated top with a large central burner ( the center grate was swappable with one established as a griddle (smooth on one side and grill ridges on the other)) and a warming drawer feature. We haven't missed features we didn't include like convection cooking.

We ended up selecting a GE gas stove and have had no problems in 10 years. One feature that we ignore on all stoves is self-cleaning. We just manually clean the oven and, if you're a careful cook, it's not that big of a job. We're reluctant to use self-cleaning features because we feel the high temperatures it requires are most likely to damage the stove's control electronics. The control module died shortly after I used the self-cleaning feature on a new built-in oven one time and I have not used such a feature since. It was replaced under warranty but who needs the hassle.
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rebellovw
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by rebellovw »

I just went through this - all I can add:

I bought everything as a holiday sale at Abt.

I wanted KitchenAid - so bought the complete - Fridge/Dishwasher/Microwave Drawer/Gas Stove- came to just under 10K with a huge savings.

Rebate for all the stuff I bought was 400.00

Abt is great to deal with - the worse part of the entire thing were the shippers - 3 were fantastic and one (the stove) was absolutely terrible. But Abt helped out and I'm all squared away.

Only bad news - is my fridge is now dead and we are in a heat wave. They (KitchenAid) are sending someone next Thursday. Complete drag.

We went stainless and print resistant stainless on the fridge.

I don't care what the fads are - Stainless always looks absolutely stunning.

So stick with one brand - and look for rebates.
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quantAndHold
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by quantAndHold »

Regardless of features, the mid-grade stuff tends to be better made than the low end ones, and have things like better insulation, sealed burners, heavier grates, etc. Personally, I think that’s the sweet spot. It’s what we have now, and what I would get again.

We had a fancy Wolf stove in our last place. The red knobs impressed every visitor we had. The previous owner had paid $4k for it, used. I’m sure someone who was cooking all day long, like a chef in a restaurant, would have loved it. But everything on it was really, really heavy. So heavy that it would take forever to heat all that mass up enough to cook a meal on the thing. And then there were things, like the lack of a self cleaning oven, that were just dumb in a home kitchen, especially if you don’t have a cleaning lady, and have to clean it yourself. Honestly, for most of us, a regular kitchen stove is much more practical.

I’m not a fan of stainless, all of our appliances are white. White just looks better. But it’s hard to get anything that isn’t stainless anymore. When we had to replace our fridge the last time we ran into a real problem finding a white one that would fit. The next appliance update for us will probably be stainless.
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by mkc »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:01 am Someone we know recently did a complete rehab/re-design of their kitchen.
Turned out they used some sort of charcoal type finish on all of the appliances. It looked very nice.
If it was "black stainless", you need to be really careful with that.

The black is just a plastic film deposited over regular stainless. It is less durable than powdercoat, enamel, or stainless itself, and it WILL scratch. It cannot be repaired or touched up.
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TSR
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by TSR »

TexasPE wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 3:08 pm
TSR wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:53 am My dishwasher is the only appliance that doesn't *need* to be replaced, but it's white and somewhat unattractive. I'm tempted to go ahead and replace it too so as to match the rest. Thoughts?

Thank you!
Some dishwashers have a removable insert on the door. You might just change out the insert (often in the door frame), if yours is so-equipped.

On my first home purchase - 50 years ago - I actually had the bronze-toned refrigerator, oven door, vent hood, breaker box cover and dishwasher panel painted to match a new drop-in cooktop. I think total cost was $150 and everything matched (auto paint shop used appliance enamel). What I didn't do back then to save a few dollars! :happy
I have never heard of this. Thank you.
Soon2BXProgrammer
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by Soon2BXProgrammer »

TSR wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:53 am I need a new 30-inch gas stove -- see this post for why: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=351693. It appears that there are a few "tiers" of 30-inch gas stoves: (1) $500-600 true "no frills" stoves, (2) $800-1000 stoves that seem to do all the "normal" stove stuff and might have a convection option thrown in, (3) $1500 stoves that are sort of really nice "normal" stoves that have convection options and probably have an air fryer built in, and (4) $3000-4000 "industrial" stoves.

We cook a lot, but it's just normal cooking - baking, roasting, sauteing, boiling, etc. I have never used a convection oven or an air fryer and don't feel that I really need one. I once owned a viking stove (came with a house I owned), but I'm not sure it so dramatically improved my life that I would be a fool not to buy another one. My thinking is that I can safely shop in the second tier I've described above, and I'll be more or less happy. I'd love to hear contrary opinions. Does anyone think that any self-respecting home cook needs the industrial model (or at least will be MUCH happier with one)? Any big fans of convection or air-fryer tech? Keep in mind that this is for a lowly 30-inch model, so I can't get some six-burner Viking situation. Any other options that I really need? All ideas are appreciated.

Finally, because I am likely replacing all of my appliances (see link above), I am curious to know whether anyone has strong opinions on color. I like stainless steel, but it's been in fashion so long that I fear it's on its way out. Then again, I have not seen a compelling replacement. Is stainless safe for another couple of decades? My dishwasher is the only appliance that doesn't *need* to be replaced, but it's white and somewhat unattractive. I'm tempted to go ahead and replace it too so as to match the rest. Thoughts?

Thank you!
I bought this stove about 6 months ago..
https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-30-in-5- ... /314138082?
and then this grate to replace (or keep as a spare) center section:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Gas-Rang ... /206729334

It works great, we use the air fryer a ton.. it makes a lot better foods then 'bake' i have made chicken wings, fries, fish sticks, etc, etc, etc,
Last edited by Soon2BXProgrammer on Sun Jun 20, 2021 8:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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SlowInvestor
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by SlowInvestor »

mkc wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:05 pm
ResearchMed wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:01 am Someone we know recently did a complete rehab/re-design of their kitchen.
Turned out they used some sort of charcoal type finish on all of the appliances. It looked very nice.
If it was "black stainless", you need to be really careful with that.

The black is just a plastic film deposited over regular stainless. It is less durable than powdercoat, enamel, or stainless itself, and it WILL scratch. It cannot be repaired or touched up.
I can attest to that from personale experience. I have a black stainless steel stove. The black coating scratches very easily from normal cleaning. Doesn't hurt functionality, but it does make it look worn.
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Lee_WSP
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Re: New gas stove - minimum requirements?

Post by Lee_WSP »

Just making sure, but don’t forget about the ventillation. A higher BTU stove will require more exhaust power; which is louder.

Otherwise, there’s a lot of options, stay in budget and you can’t go terribly wrong IMO.
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