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DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Range-top

  • Upper Oven

  • Broiler

  • Warming Drawer

  • Cooking Performance

  • Range Performance Overall

  • Water Boiling

  • Low Temperature Cooking

  • High Temperature Cooking

  • Overall Oven Performance

  • Target Temperature Accuracy

  • Temperature Fluctuation

  • Broiler Performance

  • Broiler Features

  • Overall Efficiency

  • Range Efficiency

  • Features

  • Controls

  • Cleaning

  • Conclusion

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Range-top
  • Upper Oven
  • Broiler
  • Warming Drawer
  • Cooking Performance
  • Range Performance Overall
  • Water Boiling
  • Low Temperature Cooking
  • High Temperature Cooking
  • Overall Oven Performance
  • Target Temperature Accuracy
  • Temperature Fluctuation
  • Broiler Performance
  • Broiler Features
  • Overall Efficiency
  • Range Efficiency
  • Features
  • Controls
  • Cleaning
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Front

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Range-top

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Upper Oven

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Broiler

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Warming Drawer

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Cooking Performance

The {{product.name}} did not overly impress us in our tests: it posted decent scores, but was not overly impressive in any of them. We found that it was a little slow to boil water on the burners, and the same burners managed only a moderate range of temperatures. The ovens were a little better, producing a good range of temperatures, although the keep warm temperature was a little higher than we like to see. However, the performance would certainly be adequate for general use, and the performance is acceptable for the price.

Range Performance Overall

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The {{product.model}} is unusual in offering five burners: few ovens under $1000 offer this many. However, we found that these burners were not particularly effective at boiling water. They did produce an acceptable range of temperatures, though, with a nice low simmer and a moderately high maximum temperature in our tests.

Water Boiling

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The only burner on this range that was able to boil water quickly was the large front right boiler, which managed to heat up a large pan of just over 13 fl. oz. of water in 25 minutes. That was the fastest of the boilers: the others took even longer, with the back right failing to boil a very small 2.5 fl.oz. of water in the 35 minutes of the test.

Don't try to boil with the back right simmer burner.

Low Temperature Cooking

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The burners of this range do provide a nice low temperature for simmering a stew or delicate sauce; we measured the temperature of our test plate with the burners running at their lowest settings at between 112°F and 128°F (for the powerful front right burner).

Range-top Temperature Range

Maximum and minimum heat settings for each burner: The hottest burner reaches about 400F.

High Temperature Cooking

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When we cranked the burner controls up to the maximum, we found that the temperatures rose to between 301°F and 349°F. That is an acceptable temperature, but those who like to stir fry or sear their meat will be disappointed: this range doesn't have the power to create the very high temperatures that you need to perform these cooking tasks.

Overall Oven Performance

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The single oven of this range had adequate, but not particularly good performance. We found that the lowest setting of the oven (the keep warm setting) was a little too warm for our liking, although the high temperature mode was nice and hot, with good consistency.

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Target Temperature Accuracy

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The lowest setting of any oven is the keep warm setting, designed to keep food warm while you are waiting for other food to cook, or for your guests to arrive. The ideal temperature for this is between 125°F and 140°F, but the average temperature for this oven was 173°F. That is too warm, and means that food could dry out a little quicker than you might think.

Temperature Fluctuation

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We found that the temperature remained fairly consistent during out tests, with moderate dips and peaks in the graph. Too many of these can lead to uneven cooking, and the {{product.model}} had some definite issues here. However, the consistency should not be an issue for most cooks, although bakers and souffle fans will want to look elsewhere.

Also missing from this oven is a convection mode, where a fan blows warmed air around the oven to ensure a more even temperature. This oven relies on natural convection to circulate the air.

Oven "Margin of Error" in Temperature Variance: The oven is consistent at cool and mid-level temperatures, but inconsistent when operating at its warmest.

Broiler Performance

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The broiler is located in the top of the oven, and we found that it had lackluster performance. We test by seeing how quickly the broiler can heat up our test plate to a temperature of 608°F. We let this test run for 16 minutes, but the {{product.model}} didn't manage to reach this temperature within this time, reaching 570°F.

Broiler Features

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The broiler is a gas model, with a rating of 13,500BTU. There is no dedicated broiler tray, but one can be purchased, or one of the oven racks can be used.

Overall Efficiency

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The {{product.model}} is a fairly efficient range, using a moderate amount of gas for both the range and the oven.

Range Efficiency

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The range includes 5 burners, which is unusual for a range at this price point. These have fairly low output ratings, which we found were mostly accurate. The most powerful is the front right ring, which was rated at 15,000 BTU, and which we found output 15,159 BTU. The other burners were also very close to their ratings.

Features

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The {{product.model}} offers five burners, which is unusual for a range of this price. These five burners are all the common round type, with no oval or fish burner. There is also no bridge burner or multi-segment burner.

The grate that fits over the burners is separated into two parts, which means that you cannot remove the center piece and put a griddle plate onto the range top. But on the upside, this means that there are fewer joins that you may possibly catch a pan on.

The oven is also a basic model, with no convection fan or other high-end features. It comes with two racks that can be in any one of 5 positions. The broiler is located at the top of the oven, but not dedicated broiler tray is included. One of the oven racks can be used, or GE offers a dedicated broiler tray for separate purchase.

A very basic timer is offered, with the ability to set a delayed oven start, interval timing and to show the current time.
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Controls

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The range burners are controlled by the dials on the front of the range. These buttons are smaller than more expensive models, and are made of plastic rather than metal. They are well latched, though, requiring a lot of inward and rotation pressure to move, which means that they are unlikely to be accidentally turned on if you lean against them.

The oven and broiler controls are touch buttons, with LED lights above some of them and a small 3-digit LCD display . The panel is smaller than most, but the fewer buttons means the buttons are a decent size. These buttons have a good positive feel, and beep when you press them. The small LCD display is rather dim, especially in bright light. The small size and 3 digit size means that the text messages that the display shows scroll by rather quickly.

The broiler is controlled by the same buttons used to control the oven.
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Cleaning

Conclusion

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The {{product.name}} is a cheap oven, and this shows in the lackluster performance. We found only adequate performance from this oven, with somewhat slow water boiling and keep warm oven temperatures that are higher than we like to see. But the performance is not bad, with decent high temperatures from both the burners and the oven.

What is missing is some of the high end features that you get on more expensive models, such as oval fish burners and convection ovens. And, if you don't know what these are, you might not miss them, so the {{product.model}} would be more than adequate for someone whose idea of fine eating is frozen pizza. Those who prefer to do their own cooking may want to consider spending more on a better performing model that offers more features.

Meet the tester

Richard Baguley

Richard Baguley

Contributor

@@rbaguley

Richard Baguley is a veteran writer who has written about technology ranging from Alphabet to Zip file utilities. He has contributed to pretty much every major tech publication, including Amiga Format Magazine, PC World, Wired, CNET, Toms Guide, Forbes, and many others. He lives in the Boston metro area with his wife, dog, and an indeterminate number of cats.

See all of Richard Baguley's reviews

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