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Home On The Range Cooking appliances: The heart of the well-appointed kitchen

For a range that looks retro or comes in an array of brilliant colors, take a look at the cast-iron Aga. Aga relies on radiant heat to control temperatures in its multiple ovens, which makes it really different from its competitors. Because the system is always on, there’s no preheating necessary. Its fans insist the system is safer (no surfaces to burn a child), and the radiant heat makes it almost impossible to burn food. Aga’s are energy efficient, using as little as one-tenth of the energy that a conventional range uses.

How do you cook?

The heart of the kitchen is the modern day hearth—the range, the cooktop, the oven. There are dozens of options to suit every cooking and eating style. While you don’t have to have a top-of-the-line stove to prepare a gourmet meal, choosing the right equipment is like selecting the best ingredients—satisfying.

The trendiest choice continues to be the truly magnificent, room-dominating commercial-style range. Metro New York luxury housing developer Gabe Pasquale says buyers expect their new homes to have at least six burners and multiple ovens—even if they never cook in them.

Joan Kohn, host of Home & Garden Television’s Kitchen Design, laughs largely when she tells the story of a beautiful kitchen she once featured on her show, complete with a gargantuan professional-style range and multiple ovens. “I asked the owners for a kettle, so we could put something on the stove. They didn’t have one—they never cooked there. They either had a caterer bring food in or they ate out.”

Seriously, this may seem obvious, but if the only food preparation you do is heating up carry-out, the cooking appliances you choose should differ from what you select if whipping up gourmet meals for a crowd is a hobby.

Don’t worry. You can still be trendy.

There are so many possibilities that the best place to start could be the manufacturers’ web sites. After you’ve shopped virtually for awhile, talk to a kitchen designer and wander the aisles at an appliance retailer, keeping firmly in mind what you intend to cook and how often.

The original Viking Professional gas 24-inch wide range and surface unit was introduced with four burners on the surface, and was designed to appeal to homes with small kitchens, such as urban apartments. Now, in addition to the four-burner surface, you can choose companion pieces with an all-griddle, all-char-grill, or all-wok surface. The griddle is commercial-grade, machined steel with a blanchard finish that captures cooking oils to produce stick-resistant cooking. The char-grill features porcelainized flavor-generator plates that circulate smoke around food for outdoor-grilled flavor. The wok top offers a 27,000 BTU burner for the extremely high heat required for fast wok cooking. The oven of the companion range is identical in each unit, offering the same high-performance features found on Viking commercial-size ranges. The oven provides several cooking modes, including bake, broil, convection bake, and convection broil. In addition, it features a 1,500 degree F Gourmet-Glo™ infrared boiler that sears food to restaurant-quality perfection.

The Range of Ranges

Some of the most innovative new cooking appliances are moderately priced and widely available.

The 30-inch, freestanding range still outsells all other types. And while a stainless steel finish used to be a high-priced extra, even stoves selling for less than $500 are available in sleek stainless. For those who don’t want to be bothered with fingerprints, manufacturers like KitchenAid and Fisher & Paykel offer new fingerprint-resistant stainless finishes.

Gas continues to have the edge over electric, mostly because homeowners prefer gas burners. Simmer burners are common on all but basic models and manufacturers now offer high-heat burners with BTUs as great as 17,500. Sealed burners that eliminate the need to scrub away spills from the inner-workings of the stove are available in all price ranges.

For those who prefer electric, today’s ranges and cooktops also are more powerful and versatile than ever. Dual-circuit elements let the cook adjust the burner size to match the pan size for more even cooking. Another nice feature that started out on electric cooktops and now is available on some gas stoves and cooktops is warming zones between burners. These keep food at serving temperature and can be used to melt foods like butter and chocolate. Some of the latest electric cooktops also have ways to merge the burners if you are cooking in a pan wider than a single burner—when you’re making turkey gravy, for instance.

The smooth-surface electric-induction cooktop also is growing in popularity. Induction elements, which are common in Europe, heat the cooking utensils by creating a simple magnetic field through the cooktop. When a metal (iron or steel) pan is placed on the cooktop, this magnetic field passes through the pan causing the molecules to move, which creates heat in the pan, not the cooktop. They are safe, energy efficient, and very fast. Manufacturers include Diva de Provence on the high end.

For the most cooking versatility, consider installing a modular cooktop, particularly a dual fuel one, combining gas and electric. These have many optional interchangeable elements including griddles, steamers, woks, rotisseries, and deep fryers.

The best ones allow you to switch the elements quickly and easily. For instance, Viking’s new range-top appliance combines sealed gas burners with electric induction cooking elements, a gas grill, and an electric griddle. Gaggenau lets buyers mix and match a steamer that connects to a water line and a drain with an authentic gas-fired wok and an easy-to-clean electric grill with rotisserie—all in a 30-inch space—if necessary.

To find a selection of stoves with an endless array of features, you need go no further than major retailers. Amana, GE, Kenmore, Whirlpool, Maytag, Frigidaire, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air are the best-known brands.

While their premium lines can creep higher, a reliable range with a wide selection of standard features that is easy to keep clean and that will last for years can be purchased for less than $500.

If you have more space—up to 60-inches wide—and money—easily as much as $15,000 for a cooktop/oven(s) combination and feel inclined to choose something more stylish—and highly functional—there are many options. Here are a few:

Bosch. These all-stainless steel appliances have a slim, European look and are particularly good for anyone who wants a professional-style kitchen, but who lacks space.

Dacor. Whatever you want, you’ll find it here. This manufacturer combines a gas cooktop with an electric convection oven, with a gas broiler at eye level and a radiant bake element in the second oven. Turn off a burner and when you turn it back on, the flame will be at exactly the same level. Hard to beat Dacor for convenience.

DCS. DCS builds a 30-inch professional stove that includes most of the features that you’ll find on a much bigger range—five burners, including a simmer eye and a 17,500 BTU eye for boiling, a wok ring, a convection oven, and an infrared broiler.

Five Star. Five Star ranges don’t have a high profile, but they’ve been around a long time, and people who are devoted cooks consider them a real professional’s stove—albeit one designed for home use. They don’t have as many bells and whistles and they may not look as stylish as some of their competitors, but they are solid and designed with the cook in mind.

Fisher & Paykel. These efficiently designed cooktops with their contrasting stainless and cast iron parts look like works of art. The oven has its own microprocessor for precise computerized control of cook times and heat.

Gaggenau. The 12-inch modular, two-burner cooktop can be used in small spaces or paired with a variety of other pieces, including a multi-use steamer and an electric deep fryer.
Heartland Appliances. Another small designer of what are essentially custom-made appliances. The Metro Series is sleek, but the Classic Collection, which even includes a woodburning model, will make your kitchen truly unique.

Miele. Handsome five- and six-burner, European-look cooktops accommodate griddles and large pots and make it easy to slide these utensils from one burner to the other.

Peerless-Premier Appliance Co. This small builder of ranges handcrafts everything. The result isn’t flashy, but it’s solid, smart and practical. Take a look at the 24-inch size if you’re outfitting a master suite or auxiliary kitchen, but still want a versatile appliance.

Thermador. The cooking surface accommodates cookware in multiple shapes and sizes on continuous cast iron grates. The company also prides itself on its precise temperature controls, including both high-heat burners and an extra-low burner that cycles on and off for simmering.

Imagine an oven that can act like a refrigerator. The new Whirlpool Polara® refrigerated range combines state-of-the-art cooking with the convenience of refrigeration. It keeps your meals cool all day while you’re away, then it begins cooking at just the time you specify. When done, the food is kept warm so dinner is ready when you get home. And if you’re unexpectedly late, the Polara will automatically begin cooling.

Ovens Galore

Some of the most inventive changes in cooking technology are in the oven—so to speak. Here are a few of the most interesting new ideas.

The prize for the most innovative goes to Whirlpool’s Polara refrigerated range. Let’s say you’re planning a roast chicken for dinner. You take the raw, frozen bird out of the freezer in the morning and put it in the Polara, which you program to cool, allowing the bird to thaw slowly and safely. You set the oven to switch to baking mode at 5 p.m., resulting in a perfectly browned, ready to carve chicken at 7. If you get delayed at the office and don’t get home until 8, the oven will automatically switch to warming mode, instead of burning the chicken to a crisp. If the day turns into a real disaster, the range will return to the refrigeration setting and keep the chicken chilled for up to 24 hours. The Polara is 30-inches wide and will fit in any standard space. The compressor for the refrigerator is in the bottom of the oven, occupying the space that used to be reserved for storage drawers.

Manufacturers also are stealing that storage drawer space to accommodate a warming drawer that will keep food at a constant temperature or take a pizza delivered late and heat it back up again. Moist/dry vent controls help keep crisp food crisp and half racks allow the cook to stack multiple pans. Having two warming drawers can make entertaining much simpler.

Some manufacturers including GE have introduced a “Sabbath Mode” that meets the requirements of the national kosher-certifying agency, Star-K. When Sabbath Mode is activated, it overrides the safety device that shuts down the oven’s power after it has been operating for 12 consecutive hours. That allows those whose religious beliefs keep them from cooking foods over the Sabbath to eat hot meals.

While conventional and convection ovens both use air heated by gas or an electric burner at the bottom of the chamber to cook food, a convection oven has a fan in the back that circulates the heat. Food cooks faster because it’s more evenly surrounded by heat.

GE recently introduced the Trivection oven, which goes one step further. It uses reversible convection fans for more even heating and microwave energy to speed cooking times. GE claims the new oven roasts a turkey in half the normal time, bakes bread in a third the normal time, and cooks side dishes in a quarter of the usual time. To help the cook adjust to the faster schedule, the controls will display the old recommended cooking time versus the new.

Multiple ovens in one kitchen isn’t a new thing—especially multiple wall ovens, but Maytag’s dual ovens in one 30-inch standard size range is innovative. The ovens can be used simultaneously at different temperatures. The upper oven can preheat quickly and will function as a warming drawer. If you are short on space, designers suggest putting an auxiliary oven in an out-of-the-way place, since you’ll probably use it infrequently for entertaining and other special occasions.

The GE Profile Ovens with Trivection Technology combine thermal, convection, and microwave energies. Speed modes allow foods to cook up to five-times faster; speed roast a turkey in half the time, speed bake breads in a third of the time, and side dishes in a quarter of the time. The ovens also offer traditional cooking methods: baking, broiling, roasting, and true European convection. Additional modes include defrost, warm, proof, self-clean, and help. The full-size oven can accommodate everything from a large turkey to multiple trays of cookies. The Precise Air™ convection system uses an innovative fan that reverses direction for optimal air and heat circulation so there is no need to rotate pans. AutoRecipe™ Conversion automatically adjusts standard recipe time and temperature for speedcook modes. The ovens with Trivection Technology are available in a single wall oven, double wall oven, or slide-in range.

Wolf Range's 60-inch stainless-steel gas range features infrared technology that distributes heat more evenly and effectively for superior cooking results. It also eliminates the need for messy lava rock. An infrared griddle provides fast temperature recovery and even cooking. A French Top provides an array of temperatures on one large cooking surface. The cooktop can be customized for your preferred cooking style. Choose four, six, or eight dual burners. Underneath, two full-size convection ovens boast an infrared boiler that cooks with virtually no warm-up. Dual brass burners feature automatic re-ignition at all settings. The burners can produce 16,000 BTUs for professional cooking heat and turn down to 500 BTUs for delicate meals. A stainless-steel drip tray pulls out on ball-bearing slides, providing a smooth glide to and from the locked position and making it easy to remove and clean.

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