We cook everything from scratch, multiple times a day (every meal) and we are getting a new stove. We are looking at 36" slide-in ranges (stove and oven combined) and would like to hear from anyone who cooks a lot on what they like/don't like about their range. We are looking at Fisher Paykel, Viking, and maybe higher-end GE, etc. Most people we know with higher-end stoves don't cook - lol.
Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!
We have a Frigidaire and its good, but whatever brand you get, watch the finish on the stove. Ours is a shiny black and it will not come clean no matter what i use. I ve had it 2 years and i hate the stove top because of that. It always looks dirty. So just watch out for the shiny finish, especially in black.
We have the GE Profile Spectra XL44 with a warming drawer on the bottom and love it!
this may or may not help, but I thought I throw my 2 cents in. We cook the same as you, and from what i understand, sometimes what happens with the lower range wolf and Viking is that is really not much better than a high range other brand. That being said, I do not have a Fisher- Paykel stove/oven, but I have a washing machine and I loooooove it. Best washer ever. So I like the brand. For our stove/oven combo we have a KitchenAid. It's a gas range with a convection oven. I do not remember the model because it's almost 5 yrs old, but I truly love it. The oven controls are touch and you can even delay start and hold for warming in it. I would definitely recommend looking at teh KitchenAid brand.
We have GE profile appliances, a six burner range top, microwave with vent hood, warming drawer, and double ovens. This package cost less than half of what our friends paid for their (one) Viking stove. We do not cook professionally, but we rarely if ever eat out, so we do cook 99% of the time at home, tho many of our meals are simple dishes. If you prepare alot of splattery/greasy dishes, you might need a more powerful vent hood. The one time we have deep fat fried something, the hood didn't keep up as well as I would have liked it to. Since we do that about once every 5 years, it's not an issue for us.
The GE's have held up well, we have had no problems with them (they are 4+ years old).
Good luck with your new appliances and happy cooking!
VickyM
We've had our Wolf range for 7 years and love it. Depending what options you buy for your stove top (for example we have the char-grill on top) you may need a more powerful hood/extractor. We paid 4k for it back then but we can't ever go back to a regular stove. Especially if you cook alot, you'll appreciate the incredible higher therms it can reach and the low simmer it can mantain. Higher end/profssional stoves are the best!
We bought a very simple GE electric, 4 burner - not flat top stove. Had a 3 yr. warranty and a major part broke right after 3 years. Had it repaired about 5 years ago - works great. It has the control panel on the back - got it at Sears. They don't show many electric models on the floor - most are buying gas. My kitchen wasn't set up for gas. I love electric ovens for baking.
I do lots of cooking from scratch - I have a degree in dietetics from U of I - spent last 17 years as an independent sales rep for a kitchen tool company that does cooking classes in people's homes.
M. H.
