Those who have purchased, or are thinking about purchasing a Kenmore stove might want to read this story. Glass oven doors suddenly shattering RI woman's Kenmore glass oven door exploded 22 Nov 2011 "Bonnie says her one-year-old Kenmore freestanding electric range from Sears was set at 350 degrees when the glass oven door suddenly exploded into thousands of tiny pieces. "My dog was right there and he was covered in glass shards but luckily the kids were not around." Consumer complaints about shattering doors Bonnie immediately contacted Sears and was stunned by their response. She says, "They almost placed the blame on me saying, 'Oh, are you sure you didn't bump into it?'" Eyewitness News found many similar complaints about Kenmore oven doors on consumer websites. Many like Bonnie expressed disappointment with the company's response. "They said it was my responsibility to pay for it because it was over the one year standard warranty," says Bonnie." A link that might be useful: www.foxprovidence.com/dpps/news/local_news/glass-oven-doors-suddenly-shattering_3995829

Pardon my COFS, but your question about 5-burner gas stoves is actually a bit more complicated than you might have thought because there are three different kinds of 5-burner 30" ranges, and discussions go back least at decade. (BTW, COFS = chronic old fart syndrome, which is what I suffer from. I don't mean to sound testy, but sometimes come across that way, so please don't take any of what I say as personal criticism.) Currently, the three kinds of center-burners are: (a) oblong and oval "griddle" burners (which are typically rated for 9k to 10k btu-hr. and often come with a non-stick oblong or rectangular griddle). The expensive GE Cafe line of gas and dual fuel stoves ($2800 - $3200) have these, and that's where I've seen most of the comments and discussion. So do some less expensive GE Profile, Bosch, Kitchenaid and Electrolux Icon in the mid to upper-mid- price range, as do at least some GE and Frigidaire gas stoves priced at around $1k and under. Opinions on the usefulness of the oval burners vary as do the opnions on the supplied griddles. (Thin and cheap is an epithet that has been mentioned a couple of times ;>) Some think the burners are great for making gravy in roasting pans, poaching whole fish (do you have a fish poaching pan?), and pancakes production. Others think the griddle too small. If you flip the griddles over to use them as grill pans (or have an aftermarket pan like a Chef-King, Lodge or LeCreuset), opinions seem to range from "they're okay for a couple of burgers" to "utterly useless." (IOW, no consensus.) Most of the discussion that I recall seeing here has been in the threads on the GE Cafe ranges. You might have to do some digging to find those discussions while waiting for a response here from somebody who actually has one. Also, try searching the cookware forum on Chowhound and maybe eGullet, too. The oval burners are thin enough and bent away from the other burners that (supposedly) you can put normal size saucepans and 10 -ich fry pans on the adjacent burners. At least the griddle plate gives you a place to put spoons and ladles. (b) large, high-btu center burners, made for heating large pots and called variously, "power-boil," "super-boil" and the like. IIRC, DCS was the first to offer style about 10 or 12 years ago. Folks loved it or hated it. Apparently, enough folks liked it that numbers of other brands now offer them including Whirlpool/Maytag, LG, Samsung, Some people find the center big burner handy for large kettles of water (as for massive quantities of pasta or making beer or canning operations or using 14" woks) but most folks here at GW don't think much of these because, as Greendesigns says, putting a big pot in the center doesn't leave much cooktop room on the other burners and makes it hard to use anything but small pans (sometimes, very small pans) when the center burner is in use. The flame spread n these power-burners is so large it can be hard to run smaller pans on them (because even on low, the flames may be spreading beyond the pan base.) (c) small, 5k btu-hr simmer burners in the center for keeping small/tiny pans warm when you are using the other four burners. Maybe you want to melt butter in a steel measuring cup? Seems pretty hard to use them for anything else. GE and Whirlpool/Maytag and Samsung offer these stoves mostly under $1k, as best I can recall. I think I recall seeing one of the $2500 Electrolux Icon or Wavetouch gas models with center simmer burner. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 16:24

I've had a similar Kenmore gas range for several years now. It has been utterly dependable. My only complaints are 1) the 17.5K BTU burner has spoiled me for all of the other burners, and 2) the design of the backguard (not sure if your range is the same) makes it difficult to have two larger pots or pans back-to-back on the burners. My dream range would have no backguard, and would offer the same high heat-to-simmer capability on all burners. I will say that I rarely use all five burners. It's too hard to squeeze five different pans on there at the same time, unless you're using very small pans. The oven and broiler work well, and I haven't had any issues with the control panel (then again, I don't run the self-cleaning feature either). I often forget about the warming drawer, but when I remember to use it, I like it, and vow to use it more.

ProSource Memphis, I do plan on getting a new ventilation system to replace an older OTR microwave which doesn't do a good job of removing cooking odors. I am researching that also but like the Zephyr Typhoon 30" Stainless Steel Quiet Under-Cabinet Range Wall Hood AK2100BS (800 CFM). I would have to get makeup air for that. Patricia Colwell Consulting, I don't really need a self cleaning oven. I currently have a self cleaning oven but don't use the self cleaning feature much, instead just wiping up spills. Maybe all I do need is the pro look. What do you suggest?