My 1979 kitchen has a double wall oven, and one is not smaller than the other. I love them for holidays, baking, and just any time I want to use the oven. I don't understand all these new kitchens with only one oven.

You might want to do some reseach at the library.. Consumer Reports has a Aug 2010 issue that covers kitchens, appliances, etc. Best stores to purchase, appliances for every budget, etc. Stores will discount for 'scratch & dent' or some floor models... But as you stand in front of any appliance -- think of it for holiday use -- my mom really regrets that she didn't get a double oven when she moved.. having had one for 20 years... it was an adjustment... [we borrow the neighbors' and ask them to dinner!! lol!]
And think of burnt-on bar-b-que sauce on the top & how hard it will be to get it off! Not just how 'pretty' it looks... Good luck ! I just wish I could afford to get rid of my darn side-by-side fridge -- I HATE it!

I've had a smooth top stove for about 6 years and I love it. I really don't have any trouble keeping it clean. If I got a new stove though, I would get one with the extra warming burner.

I am not much help, but ditto the Consumers Reports magazine. I do want to say that I noticed my neighbor having all her canning equipment in a recent yard sale and asked...apparently, you cannot use caners on smooth tops. (Scary part is that the wiring underneath her stove caught fire...eeek! so they had to replace it)

I have a Kennmore with the smooth top and double ovens. There's the large oven, then a smaller side oven. It does have the warming burner. I love it except for the smooth top. If I were able to have a gas top I would.

Good for you Patti!
I think buying new appliances would be so exciting! But also daunting....where to begin? I think the double oven (different sizes) work good in theory.
This is only MY opinion, but when I see them in the stores, the smaller oven is on the top.
If I'm making a large turkey, I don't want to have to lay on the floor practically, to get it out of the bottom oven.

My mom has a white glass, smoothtop and it looks like the day she got it. Some people hate them, but she loves it.

For me, I like to slide my pans off the burner, and frequently shake the skillet. Can't do this without scratching the smooth surface. If I ever bought a house, I daresay gas or electric would be my preference, just because I like to shake the pans.

My parents just bought a frig a side-by-side. I was shocked when they bought it. Having helped them the first day, I realized that the only way they would work, is if you keep your old frig as a second one. (They did). There is no room inside that puppy. She loves it. I am waiting for her to start biching about it, but not so far.

Think about the possibility of an induction top, rather than regular electric. Responds the way gas does. You do have to have pans that are magnetic, however. You can test yours with a magnet: if it sticks, the pan is magnetic.

I have to add that only steel or cast iron can be used on induction--no glass, corningware, aluminum or copper.

We redid our kitchen about 5 years ago. I had had gas for my whole married life but went with the smooth top and I love it. It is so easy to keep clean. I make sure there isn't anything on it that could burn.. My hubby isn't real neat when he cooks so I keep an eye on it when he finishes. I finally have him up to speed on how to clean it.. It is so easy to take care of and I would buy on again.. My frig is a big Maytag and I love it. I love the glass shelves for cleaning. I had a side by side and hated it.. You can't get anything in it. Hubby now uses it in his barn. My frig has the pull out bottom freezer. I would hate to do without it now. All in all we are very pleased with all of the new appliances.. Hope you will love yours, too.

Susie

Anything more than a basic stove can get real spendy real quickly these days. I've been watching appliances for quite a while and recently bought a new refrigerator and stove. I decided to go with the basics.

I had a double oven but not the kind that's promoted today. Mine was one with the second smaller oven over the top of the cooktop portion. I really liked it because the small oven is what I used 99% of the time, was at eye level - no bending over at all, take stuff out and set it on the cooktop and you could look in the oven and see everything. I didn't like the stove part of it. It was very old though and new to the "smoother" top. It was a corningware top on the burners and I hated it. You had to heat the burners, then heat the corningware top then it would start heating the pan and the food. Slow reaction time but of course you'd get used to it. They don't make these anymore. A friend had a gas version of this but for some reason his top oven was smaller than mine.

The new double oven ones are mostly two styles. In a conventional 30" it's over and under, while the 42" (or it could be a bit wider) has one that's side by side but the one is very narrow.

Then on the standard double oven most of the Maytag (now owned by Whirlpool)design have the small oven on top. For me this would be most practical since I would use the small oven most of the time. But as Jasdip pointed out, grunting a turkey off the floor could be problematic, however, even a standard oven is a lot of bending over.

Most of the GE and Frigidaire designs have the large oven on top. Sometimes the bottom oven is a warming drawer or a drawer oven. Some like these. All of the double oven units are expensive.

Maytag had reliability problems for a long time, especially on the Wide-by-side refrigerator (great concept but poorly designed) and I don't know if Whirlpool has gotten involved in modifying it or not so I was apprehensive about taking a chance, especially on a $2k-$3k refrigerator. The Gemini stove was another problem. Again IDK if Whirlpool has gotten involved in straightening it out or not but again a $1200-$2000 stove was not something I wanted to gamble on.

My personal preference would be a wall oven with side opening doors and a cooktop but that would require a major remodel - that's not in the cards. Another idea would be to have two conventional stoves, possibly one gas and one electric to have the electric oven for baking and gas range for cooking. Two stoves would be cheaper than a double oven stove!

Like I said I decided to go basic. Coil top since I didn't want to run a gas line. Self cleaning and I paid $380 for the stove and $425 for the top freezer frig. Both of mine are GE and so far I have no regrets. GE had some appliance issues over the years but overall they get good marks for stoves and refrigerators. Not fancy but they work.

Much depends on your budget. I'm really hesitant to put out big bucks for appliances these days with the dubious reliability on the higher end units. Brand names mean very little, another shortcoming of Consumer Reports since they don't understand that often appliances are made by a different manufacturer and branded something different. CR always rates Kenmore quite highly but they don't understand Kenmore does NOT make any appliances! They have a variety of manufacturers make them for them (to Sears specs) and put the Kenmore badge on it.

I won't go into much more detail on the laughableness of Consumer Reports. They compare a few select models and make sweeping conclusions on entire lines when they don't know anything about it. And if you don't buy the EXACT MODEL they "test" then the conclusions don't apply anyway.

Buying appliances these days isn't as easy as it used to be.

After talking to a few people with smooth tops, there's one caution. How rough are you with it? They DO break occasionally and are very expensive to repair. Something like $600-$800 to replace the glass top. They can scratch if that's a concern. They *have* improved on usability though since the days of my old corningware top version. I've used a newer smooth top and it was easy enough to use. Not quite as responsive as a gas burner or induction but not as bad as corningware.

I thought about magnetic induction too but decided to go basic this time. You *can* use other cookware on it with an adapter plate that has the steel bottom and essentially it'll heat the plate then that would heat the pan. Most people with induction seem to really like it and many seem to prefer it to gas.

BTW, I assume you're talking about an electric range instead of gas?

Like I said, it's not easy anymore. Good luck.

This is what we have, and we love it.

There are five burners. The middle one is an oval burner. You can remove the grate and replace it with a griddle (included). You can bake on the convection setting or regular. The lower oven goes up to 450 and it's great for doing the dinner rolls or side dishes while the main dish is in the oven.

It's available in White-on-White, Black-on-Black, and Stainless Steel.

The gas burners are sealed, so even if you spill something, or something boils over, the top is very easy to clean.

It's true you shouldn't do your canning on a smooth top. I like to can, so I just bought a heavy duty element for my canning. This way I get to have a smooth top and I still get to preserve the way I'm used to doing.

so the little drawer on the bottom is really an oven Lindsay?
Hmmm where would I put my cookie sheets and muffin pans?

Yes, Jasdip, the little drawer on the bottom really is an oven. GE does make a similar model that just has a storage drawer on the bottom rather than an oven, and they also make models that have a warming drawer. But, we wanted an actual oven because there are so many times, not just holiday dinners, where we need a second oven to be baking the dinner rolls, side dishes, or even a pie or cobbler for dessert.

You could still use it to store your cookie sheets and muffin pans, as long as you remember to remove them before you preheat the lower oven! :-)

And because my hubs has a habit of NOT checking before preheating, he removed the shelf from the lower cupboard to the left of our stove, and put in one of those nifty pull-out racks that is specifically designed for storage of cookies sheets and similar items. Works great for us.

This is what GE has to say about the lower oven:

Lower oven
Offers an additional 1.0 cu. ft. of baking and warming capacity - enough to fit a 9" x 13" casserole dish or 15" pizza. The drawer can keep food warm and ready to serve at 140° or bake a dish at 450°. When not in use, the space can be used as additional storage space.

Thanks for all your input. Cynic is so right about it being hard to buy appliances. The more I read, the more confused I get. As you can tell, it's been a while since I had to buy a stove.

I'd love another refrigerator with a bottom freezer. What I'd really like is a French-door refrigerator, but I'd have to win the lottery first.