36" Gas Range advice

10 years ago

Hi all - I'd like to start by saying that I don't want to hear horror stories - I see those all over the place about every brand, and it's making it impossible to make a decision! We are renovating our kitchen and I think I've narrowed it down to 3 gas ranges--Bertazzoni, Verona, and GE Monogram. Anything higher end (Wolf, Viking, etc) is out of our budget range, and my husband is an employee of GE so we can get a decent discount on the Monogram.

Like I stated in the beginning, my biggest problem lies with all the opposing views about any range you research. We want stainless steel, pro-looking, all-gas, and 36". The Verona and the Berta both have less cubic feet than the Monogram, but I figured I'd offset that by getting a nice sized microwave/convection. My husband heard that Verona doesn't warrantee within the US, but I did find something on the Eurochef USA website, so I think that was false info. Oh, and BTW - I do love to cook, and bake especially, but have been living with an ancient Magic Chef oven (and truthfully doing just fine with it). I've never had digital displays, etc., and so the "problems" people have with needing exact temp readouts (vs. just putting a thermometer in the oven, if you so desire) isn't an issue for me. I'm truthfully good with good old fashioned grandma ovens. However, unevenly cooked food or hotspots won't make me happy.

Bottom line - what are the positive experiences out there? Who LOVES their Monogram/Berta/Verona and wouldn't trade it? And why?

Thanks for any input you can give - my head is spinning, because apparently NOTHING out there is really problem-free, and of course people tend to say things more often when they are unhappy rather than happy. Looking forward to hopefully a lot of great replies!! :)

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Comments (6)

rwiegand
10 years ago
No compelling stories pro or con on any of the brands you mention. In general I'd say go for the model with the least in the way of electronic components, preferably something that will still work when the power goes out. As far as I can tell none of the electronic do-dads confer any functional advantage over their mechanical counterparts and they are all relatively highly prone to malfunction, especially when heated. They are OK as long as they don't cause the range to become non-functional when they break.
nyrgirl35
10 years ago
I'm in same boat as you. I have narrowed it down to 2. Bertazzoni and Electrolux Icon. I will probably go with the Electrolux for a couple of reason. Larger oven, 6 burners instead of 5, and I think not positive the Electrolux top might be easier to clean then the Bertazzoni. Also the Bertazzoni ovens especially in height seem small I can't picture fitting my 22lb Turkey in there for thanksgiving lol. Also Electrolux has 3 racks I believe 2 of them are on nice rollers. Bertazzoni has 2 racks and I don't think they have as nice of a roll out.
Due to having such a large oven on the Electrolux I won't want to use that for quick small meals. So I'm actually considering the Bertazzoni Microwave/Speed oven. I've posted in the appliance forum recently about it, if you check over there I attached a YouTube video of it, it looks good to me but can not find any reviews on it at all!
I also love to cook and bake and have an ancient magic chef but I hate it! Lol
I know didn't really answer your question directly. But figured I'd let you know what I know.

This post was edited by nyrgirl35 on Tue, Apr 15, 14 at 21:40
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There isn't much to go wrong with a gas cooktop... that's why you're finding mostly good reviews. Ovens are quite a bit more complicated. There is only one oven I know of that gets consistently good reviews, that would be the Gaggenau. But I think that starts at over $6000 and that's not even for a double oven... The rest of the ovens have their fans and their haters. Here on Gardenweb, it seems like Electrolux is the 2nd least complained about oven, and the vast majority of people seem to be happy. If you put too much weight on online reviews, though... you'll never end up with an oven! When I was shopping for slide ins GE had the best prices, but for wall ovens it looks like you get a lot more for your dollar with Electrolux. It would be tough to get an Electrolux Icon for $2000, but you could certainly pull it off with the regular Electrolux line. They really are the same inside. This is what their line looks like right now: Top of the line Icon: 3 glide racks, pro handle, wave touch controls, around $2500 on ajmadison Middle of the line: 2 glide racks, wave touch controls, around $2000 on ajmadison Bottom of the line: 1 glide rack, IQ touch controls, around $1800 on ajmadison Even though it it still on their website, it looks like they've discontinued the non-prostyle Icon.
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wekick
10 years ago
"Posted by rwiegand
As far as I can tell none of the electronic do-dads confer any functional advantage over their mechanical counterparts."

I guess it depends on what you mean by "electronic do-dads".
An electronic brain does give an oven some functional advantages over a strictly mechanical oven. Their value depends on if they work the way they are supposed to and if they help you in the way you cook.
One of the biggest advantages is the ability to control the way the heating elements come on, especially with a third element(European or true convection) and the fan(s).
This allows someone the ability to control the direction of the heat and the speed of the fans producing all kinds of specialized cooking environments. It will allow the oven to be heated more evenly if it is full. This is not for everyone but there are differences.
peachmarie
Original Author
10 years ago
nyrgirl, now you have me interested in looking at the Electrolux, haha! Since you've already done some research and are leaning that way, it's worth me looking into.

Yes, I do worry about the electronic "do-dads", because many of the negative reviews I've read about things involve those things breaking down. However, never having had an oven with any electronic anything (except the magic chef has an electrical start - which I hated during outages - I could start the stove with a match but not the oven), it's hard to know whether I'd consider it a plus or not.
meek95
10 years ago
I've had my GE Monogram 36" range for about 9 months now and am very happy with it. I love the oven, the racks slide out very easily, it bakes evenly and I love having a proofing function. We went with the six burner configuration, the simmer can go quite low. The burners put out a lot of heat which I feel when stirring a smaller pot. Our final choices were Thermador and GE Monogram, very similar products. I'm happy with our selection, no problems with the range at all. GE even replaced a front panel which was scratched before install.
wekick
10 years ago
" Posted by peachmarie
Yes, I do worry about the electronic "do-dads", because many of the negative reviews I've read about things involve those things breaking down.

When I bought my range and oven I worried about the do dads going out too. I would buy an extended warranty to cover this if it were your choice. As it turned out the brains are fine but the actual structure of the oven(interior porcelain) failed on both. I have really enjoyed having the do dads though. ;-) It goes to show that the thing you worry about isn't what happens.

36" Gas Range advice

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36" Gas Range advice

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