30' Mainstream Single Wall Oven Help, Please

12 years ago

Brand new poster, although the reading I did on GW almost two years ago helped me learn enough to make minor bath remodel decisions we're happy with.

My current situation: at long last, we are in the position to replace our ancient came-with-the-house existing tiny Frigidare wall oven with a real 30" wall oven that my jellyroll & roasting pans can actually fit inside! The contractor & cabinet dudes were out & we're ready to go . . . except for The Oven decision. I make all the purchasing decisions for everything in this house, and I generally feel confident in making the decisions. Not so with The Oven: I've read myself in circles & just don't have any feel for brands & models after all the reading.

To further complicate things, we live in a relatively rural area. In looking through the forum, I'm seeing appliance brands I've never heard of, but I've not had to look at appliances in several years now. We definitely don't need a mondo expensive top-of-the line wall oven (although it's fun drooling) nor do I want a cheapo, but I want something that bakes & roasts reliably, and something that doesn't have "known issues" (a la KA) that hits a lot of people. An oven that doesn't fry itself out with self-cleaning is important to me because I use that feature at least monthly. A meat probe has a lot of appeal to me, as does convection because I'm beyond weary of having to roate everything at least four times for even baking.

I was keen on the Kenmore Elite until I started reading. Ditto for the KitchenAid -- my dh loved that one & was annoyed at the widespread problems I found by reading. Frigidare & JennAir are out for personal reasons.

Contractor loves their F&P, so maybe that's a possibility. Bosch & Electrolux Icon seem to be a mixed bag, as does everything, it seems to me. GE, too, seems to be a mixed bag -- along with F&P, Bosch, & Electrolux Icon, I've been looking at the Cafe & Monogram lines because I've found at least some positive comments. I'm not sure I can sell dh on the Monogram MSRP expense (assuming I should), and the nearest "showroom" is close to two hours away & isn't too cooperative about sharing price over the phone, but now that the snow is gone, it's a do-able drive.

If any of that resonates with anyone willing to share their two cents worth pros & cons on the above, I'd really appreciate it. I do understand that online reviews have a legitimate appeal to those who've had serious problems with this or that, but the relative lack of "I'm happy" reviews to 4 or 10 or whatever "It's a piece of crap" reviews has left me with my head spinning. I'll also be grateful for simple "I have X brand Y model & I'm happy with it."

TIA!

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Comments (4)

pbx2_gw
12 years ago
Gr8 post noidlady ! I am in the same situation in looking at the midfield, it appears that save for the very highend Wolf or Viking oven, every other brand is a mixed bag in terms of quality & service.
wekick
12 years ago
Electrolux gets pretty good reviews here and the people that had problems got resolution. Any appliance can have problems but the issue for me is how they treat the customer. It is also important to have a dealer that will help you out if need be. I don't pay attention to "It's a piece of crap" statements ---reviews or here for that matter. They have to be specific.
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I have the regular Electrolux single 30 inch oven and I love it. I lived through buying $10,000 in appliances (range and oven) and both were lemons, so I was very gun shy. The good thing is with Electrolux or KA, you can buy them where you have a 2 week return policy. After my previous experience, this was very important for my peace of mind. I also put it on a credit card. You also have to keep all the packaging to return it though. Ask and get it in writing before you buy. I would try to look at live models if possible. It may make a difference to you how the lights are configured and whether they stay on during baking. Some people did not like the fact that you cannot use the roller rack on the bottom slot on the Electrolux, when roasting a turkey. You can use the regular rack there. It did not matter to me because I didn't need to get every inch out of my oven on Thanksgiving as in previous years. I have used the self clean and no problems. Others did not like that the door is open on the top and dust can get in. I'm not sure if and when this would be a concern. I have had it since July 1 and there are few grains of dust in the door. I think most oven doors have some type of opening in the door. Pros: Many different cycles so you can set temp all the way down to 85 degrees. Very handy for drying gum paste decorations and other craft work as the convection fan runs! Very easy to get rolling racks out for cleaning. Very fast preheat 0-350 in under 10 minutes. I was missing my small Gemini oven but this is just as quick. Quick to change temperature. The wave touch is easy to use. Just barely touch it. I like the little diagram that lights up and tells you what element is on and if the fan is on. It has very pleasant bells that chime. It keeps very close to the set temperature, except the convection roast runs about 50-60 degrees hot.(my only con) I just adjust down a little. No one oven is the "end all". They all have features that appeal to all kinds of cooks.
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dodge59
12 years ago
I'll 2nd wekick as far as Elux ovens go. I have both their
30" Icon oven, and their Speed oven, and except for a loose handle on the speed oven, both have been trouble free for more than 5 years now.

AJMadison as well as Amazon have many reviews of many different ovens.If you haven't visited those web-sites yet, they may prove helpful to you.

Electrolux, for the most part, are pretty highly regarded here in Garden Web, like wekick said, You can always find a bad review even here in Garden Web, but that is the exception to the rule, not the norm. (Note the problem with the Miele DW in another thread here, again, rare, but it happens).

Best of luck in your "Quest for the Best"!

Gary
noidlady
Original Author
12 years ago
I appreciate the comments! I'd not thought about the dealer aspect at all because we really don't have much choice locally, unfortunately. My fav went to the Dark Side (audio, video, entertainment, and sleep shop) several years ago , and I've avoided the other like the plague because we got bad customer service from them more than once a long time ago. Yeah, I hold a grudge, which isn't always a good thing.

Gary, thanks for the AJMadison info -- I wasn't familiar with that, although I'd checked out Amazon & some big box stores for customer reviews. As well as Consumer Reports, but they let me down on this oven stuff.

Just to clarify because I don't want to leave a wrong impression, but I don't have any problems having appliances repaired. I don't expect perfection forever. Some of the reviews I read some places were complaining about having to have X brand ovens repaired at four or five or more years. I don't have a problem with that kind of stuff; what I want to avoid if possible are the kind of widespread issues like those with KA wall ovens.

I'm still trying to make up my mind, but I'm now leaning towards coming up with a list of four or five & FORCING my dh to make the call. Coward's way out? For sure, but I'm entitled, I think, after all these years to hedge my bets for the first time ever. That way, if we do wind up with an oven with . . . issues, the blame won't be solely mine :-)

I think the gas cooktop is just going to have to wait longer . I was hoping to be able to just get both over with at the same time (the cooktop isn't an easy swap, either -- the existing is a 30" on an island & I have my heart set on a 36", so that means more cabinet/countertop work, thus more expense). Oh, well. I'd rather get an oven now that I feel relatively confident about & just wait longer on the cooktop.

30' Mainstream Single Wall Oven Help, Please

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pbx2_gw

wekick

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