Kenmore Pro 40403 Electric Rangetop Review

What, you ask, is a rangetop? Picture a range—burners on top, oven on the bottom—and then saw it in half. The part with the burners is the rangetop.

Unlike a cooktop, which sits in a hole in your counter and has its controls on top, a rangetop requires a cutout in the front of your cabinets for its front-mounted controls. The design is popular among remodelers who prefer a pro-style look but also want a wall oven.

Although most rangetops are fueled by gas or feature induction burners, this 36-inch Kenmore Pro has a radiant electric surface. That makes it a seriously niche product.

Still, we put this Frigidaire-built Kenmore through the same battery of tests we give every cooktop we evaluate to see how well it performed.

We evaluated its features, checked high and low temperatures for each of the burners, examined how quickly it can boil water. We scored on a scale of 10 compared to the rest of the cooktops we've tested this year. Here’s what we found.

Pros

• The rear center burner is a standout, easily reaching screaming hot and simmering temperatures
• 48 ounces of water boiled in just under four minutes—almost as fast as induction
• All burners are great at reaching high temperatures

Cons

• Unless you're installing it from scratch, a rangetop may require substantial kitchen construction
• Many of our top-rated electric cooktops cost half as much, so you're really paying for aesthetics

Features

• Turbo Boil Flex Power Element— Rear center element has 3200 watts to provide rapid boil
• Bridge Element—Can be operated as two separate elements or one large element
• Ceramic Glass Surface—Smooth surface for easier cleaning
• Dual Element—Front right burner converts from 9” to 12”
• Warming zone—6” warming zone for simmering and melting chocolate

What we found

TIME TO BOIL 48 OUNCES OF WATER As fast as about four minutes on the rear center burner—and not too far behind on the next-fastest. The slowest (front center) clocks in at just under fourteen minutes, which is fine since this burner is meant for warming/simmering. That lands this cooktop a score of 9.2/10.

MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE REACHED ON BURNER A pan reached a temperature of 679ºF on the rear center burner, other burners hovered between 479º-662º F. This is a great score compared to the other ranges we’ve tested, and the 40403 earns a score of 9.2/10.

MINIMUM TEMPERATURE REACHED ON BURNER Burners hovered between 105º-139º F. Just be careful with the rear center burner, which remained at room temperature at its lowest setting. Overall, the 40403 scored 7.2/10.

Should you buy it?

For most buyers, the answer is no. There's a reason the Kenmore 40403 is the only 36-inch electric rangetop you can buy.

Unless you're replacing an older electric rangetop with similar dimensions, the only place this rangetop makes sense is in the new construction of a pro-style kitchen that doesn’t support gas appliances—and if you have a lot of money to spare.

For everyone else, we recommend the excellent Electrolux EI36EC45KS 36-Inch Electric Cooktop, which is based on a similar design as this Kenmore. Best of all, it doesn't require major kitchen construction.