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  • The lowdown

  • The range

  • The oven

  • Should you buy it?

  • The lowdown
  • The range
  • The oven
  • Should you buy it?

Pros

  • Decent cooktop performance

  • Great at roasting and broiling

Cons

  • Poor cooktop control layout

  • Uneven baking temperatures

We tested it to see how it stacks up against other electric ranges and were pretty impressed with the results—most of them, at least.

The lowdown

The GE JB655SKSS is sharp-looking electric range that features a ceramic glass cooktop with four burners, plus a fifth element for warming. It has an average-sized 5.3 cubic-foot oven with fan convection, self cleaning, and two moveable racks that fit in six cooking positions. Below, it has a full-width storage drawer.

Oven
Credit: Reviewed.com / Libby Schiau

The range

The spacious cooktop has not one, but two dual-ring burners to fit different sized pans. The front left burner also has a “melt” setting for delicate food.

Cooktop
Credit: Reviewed.com / Libby Schiau

The control knobs are attractive and aren't difficult to turn but, unfortunately, have a lot of give. The plastic they're made from feels surprisingly cheap, too. Plus, they are mounted on the back of the range. That's par for the course in this price range, but it means you may have to reach over a hot burner or simmering pots to adjust cooking temperature.

But when we turned those knobs and fired the burners up, the right front outer ring burner on the JB655SKSS really impressed us by boiling six cups of water in about four minutes—pretty speedy! The other burners aren't quite as fast, but don't worry, if you use any of the other burners, you won't be waiting longer than thirteen to fourteen minutes to boil six cups of water on the JB655SKSS.

Knobs
Credit: Reviewed.com / Libby Schiau

The oven

First off, be sure to keep a good hold on the oven door when opening and closing, since it slams pretty easily. To preheat the oven, you’ll have to use the plus and minus buttons on the touchpad in increments of five degrees.

Controls
Credit: Reviewed.com / Libby Schiau

We put the JB655SKSS through a cooking Olympics of sorts to see how it performed in action. But first, we had to preheat it. We found that the oven took a hair over nine minutes for it to reach 350°F in both convection and regular bake modes, which isn’t anything to write home about.

The good news is that it roasts and broils like a dream: We use a pan covered in bread as a sort of heat map to test how even a broiler is, and this oven gave us perfectly browned toast with no burned or underdone spots. It also produced an extremely even pork roast on convection—almost perfect by our standards.

Oven interior
Credit: Reviewed.com / Libby Schiau

It didn’t perform as well in the baking department, though: We made cookies and they came out slightly uneven—mostly between opposite corners of the pan. That's a common problem, and can be remedied somewhat by turning the cookie sheet during baking. But our poor cakes were super uneven, particularly on the bottom—an issue that was only somewhat remedied by turning on convection. Convection heating generally ensures even baking without the need to turn the pan, but we found it’s just not true for this GE.

cake
Credit: Reviewed.com / Libby Schiau

Should you buy it?

There’s a reason why GE is the most popular brand for cooking appliances in the U.S.: It makes a solid product. The JB655SKSS is no exception. It does an excellent job at roasting and broiling, though it may not be the best bet for serious bakers.

But if you're looking for a sleek stainless finish and a convection mode at the right price, this GE is a solid pick.

Meet the tester

Jessica Teich

Jessica Teich

Former Editor

@jessicarteich

Jessica covered lifestyle and beyond at Reviewed. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

See all of Jessica Teich's reviews

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