GE Profile vs. Cafe AG Range Differences?

16 years ago

What does one get with the Cafe for $500 more than the Profile?

Comparing these freestanding ranges almost side by side, they seem to be almost identical underneath, where it counts. Upgrades that are visible on the Cafe include +100 BTUs on large burner, heavier oven grates better aesthetics (more pro-style look) and ever so slightly better knobs.

But they look to be essentially the same unit. Same burner/oven/2nd oven configuration.

What am I missing here, What does the cafe have that the Profile doesn't?

Thanks for any insight.

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Comments (3)

pinar
16 years ago
If we are talking about the same Profile you are talking about, the difference for me was the placement of the back control panel in the profile and the lack of it in the Cafe. This panel, especialy with the additional metal lip they put on, intrudes too far to the cooking space that made it very difficult to put 4 different pots on there comfortably, or at all. Pans are ok, I think they fit under the lip, but nothing tall.
I actually took my pots and pans to the store and experimented with the cooking space of the different ovens. Even though it is kind of funny, I recommend doing it.

Hope this helps.

Oh, also, we got a huge discount on the Cafe, over the MSRP, so if you price compare, you may get a better deal also. We checked recommendations for our local appliance stores and went into the highly recommended ones and compared prices. Most do price matching and there is a fair amount of bargaining that happens that we didn't know about. Same goes for fixtures and faucets. We bought all of these below internet prices locally.

Pinar
Pinar
chuckn
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Pinar,

Your point about the cooking surface area is well taken and something substantial to consider.

A little more online research took me to the GE products page which allows side-by-side comparisons. http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher And while it appears that there are more features on the cafe, they are essentially the same inside, that is the range and the cooktops are very close, if not identical.

Upgrades on the Cafe include:

Heavier burner grates
full stainless cooktop
18000 vs 17000 BTU burner
heavier cooking racks

Of course, the Cafe is in the style of a "pro-style."

So the question is more subjective that objective, are the additional features the additional cost worth the additional costs?
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chefkev
16 years ago
Chuckn,

Another thing to consider: The grates for GE Cafe and Profile are shaped differently in the front (power burner is front right I believe). The Profile grate angles more sharply with the result being it is shorter at the corner. This may seem minor, but if you frequently saute using a larger pan (12" or over) it won't fit well on the profile and the flame won't be centered under the pan. This is a big deal to me since one of the big things I want the high BTU burner for is high heat sauteeing.

I'm seriously considering either the GE Cafe Range or possibly a new 30" Bosch that has only 4 burners but the oven is an an extra-wide 24" on the inside.

I'm grateful to everyone in the forum for the great discussions - They've been a huge help.

Pinar - How is your new Cafe performing so far? Do you like it, love it, hate it???

chefkev

GE Profile vs. Cafe AG Range Differences?

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pinar

chuckn
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GE Profile vs. Cafe AG Range Differences?

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pinar

chucknOriginal Author

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chuckn
Original Author