UPDATE JANUARY 2011: Although it was great while it lasted, this range has not held up well. A few months ago, the upper oven and broiler stopped working. The repairman fixed the oven function, but said that getting the broiler working too would need a new circuit board, which was several hundred dollars. He also told me the wiring inside was extremely brittle, as though it had not been properly designed to withstand high temperatures. He advised me not to use the self-cleaning features. This past week the lower oven stopped working. Rather than pay to repair this oven, I think I am just going to replace the whole unit. I don't even use my range every day of the week, and I take good care of it - it should have lasted longer than 8 years. I like the double oven feature very much, but I am hesitant to buy another Maytag.

ORGINAL REVIEW: In the fall of 2002, I replaced my kitchen appliances with brand new ones, and after over six months now of living with the new Maytag Gas Gemini range, I can report that it is terrific.

Big wall ovens are nice, but not everyone has a large enough kitchen (or budget) to install two (or more) wall ovens and a separate cooktop. For those of us in that category, Maytag has offered its Gemini model as an electric range for a while now. The basic idea of the Gemini range is to put two completely separate, independent ovens in a standard-size, 30" wide range. At first I wondered about the "Gemini" name (wasn't that a NASA space program?) until I remember that Gemini is the Zodiac sign for "The Twins," so I guess it is fitting. The idea is so smart that its amazing nobody else thought of it earlier, and it has been very well received by epinion reviewers.

Last year, Maytag introduced a version of the Gemini for those who prefer to cook with gas. I bought my range in October and was told that it had only recently come on the market. Like the electric models, the gas Gemini offers the advantage of two independent ovens, but it also includes an unusually fine gas cooktop.

The gas cooktop: I greatly prefer gas, and it was wonderful to replace my old electric range with a gas one. Like on many of the better ranges now, the burners are "sealed" - spilled liquid cannot go below the burners, and there is no space under the burners to clean. To clean the cooktop, you simply remove the grates and wipe down top of the range, which is recessed to catch any spills. A small, easily removable cap sits on top of each burner, and can be removed for cleaning. Granted, this is not as easy to clean as the smooth electric cooktops, but is a lot easier than my old coil-style electric. If you like cooking with gas but have avoided gas ranges because they were difficult to clean, you might want to take a good look at ranges with sealed burners.

Although there are four burners, there only two grates, left and right, which each grate covering both the front and rear burners on its side. These big heavy grates are very solid and stable, rest on rubber feet, and do not rattle around at all like the grates on most gas ranges. When the two grates are in place they create a single, seamless cooking surface -- you can slide pots and pans directly from burner to burner. Although significantly heavier than most grates, the two grates on the Gemini still lift off easily for rinsing in the sink.

The Gas Gemini's cooktop is actually a good bit more powerful than most 30" ranges on the market. Two of the burners are standard size (9,200 BTU), while the right rear burner is a smaller "simmer" burner (5,000 BTU) especially suited to warming things on low heat. But the left front burner is a huge "Power Boost" 16,000 BTU burner. This is MUCH more powerful than any other non-professional range I have found on the market, and it really gets a pot boiling quickly. In contrast, another range I briefly considered, Jenn Air's "professional-style" range (PRG3000P), which costs over $1,000 more (ok, it is dual-fuel, includes an electric convection oven, and downdraft ventilation) only has 15,000 BTU burners. So for Maytag to put a 16,000 BTU burner in a standard-size, non-commercial range is fairly impressive.

Unlike the electric Gemini, which has its controls mounted on the backsplash behind the burners, the gas burners are controlled by knobs along the right side. I find the knobs easy to use, but this might be inconvenient for some left-handed cooks. The knobs come off very easy for cleaning.

The Ovens: As in the electric Gemini ranges, the two ovens are completely independent of one another. The smaller oven is on top, and it can be set to broil or used in a low-heat "keep warm" mode. But unlike in the electric Gemini, it does not have a toasting function. Also, unlike in the electric version, Maytag does not claim that the smaller oven heats up more quickly, and in fact I have not found it to be noticeably faster than the larger lower oven. Still, the smaller top oven is more convenient when making smaller dishes. The lower oven is only for baking and cannot be used to broil. The upper oven has just one rack, and the lower oven has two racks, one of which is a special gliding rack which makes it easier pull things out to check on them or turn them over. The lights in each oven are bright, and I find that the windows are large and clear enough to give good visibility of what is going on without opening the door. The insulation between the ovens seems to be quite good, and I have not noticed, for example, any temperature difference in the top oven when the bottom oven is also in use.

Although the ovens use gas for heat, they are controlled by an electronic touchpad. Operation is simple and intuitive. You press "bake" to turn on an oven, and either punch in the desired temperature or press "auto set" to scroll through popular settings like 350 degrees. As the oven warms, the display will tell you the current temperature, and then beeps when the oven reaches the desired setting. It all feels much more precise than turning a dial to a setting somewhere between 350 and 400. But although the controls are electronic, the ovens are still plain old non-convection gas ovens - placing a thermometer inside revealed that they do have hotter and colder spots, and the temperature fluctuates a bit from the desired goal as the gas cycles on and off. My impression is that the oven temperature can vary ten degrees or more from what the digital display shows. This is not really a problem, and certainly no worse than ovens with dial controls, but the digital display might lead one to a false sense that the oven is more precise than is actually the case.

Control panel and display: There are two separate timers, which are very easy to use. They are not specifically linked to the two ovens, but can be used to time anything. Each timer will continue to beep every few minutes until you manually turn it off - I find this feature annoying at times, but I have to admit that it may save me from burning something someday. Little graphics show which oven(s) is in use. The bluish digital clock is easy to read.

Style: Maytag makes the Gemini in white, bisque, black, and stainless. Black and bisque cost $20 more than white, and stainless costs about $200 more. I bought the black version of the range, even though my other kitchen appliances are stainless, because I personally did not care for the look of this particular range in stainless. Also, the stainless model has noticeably smaller windows in the ovens than the white, black and bisque versions, and its cooktop is still black rather than stainless. I like the black color very much. I do find the black top surface a little difficult to keep from streaking when I clean it, but Windex does a good job on it.

The recall: This past spring, Maytag issued a safety recall on the oven, and owners were contacted and advised to restrict their use of certain functions on the ovens (I can't recall exactly which ones) until they could have Maytag come out and do a repair. I had no trouble getting an appointment, and they came to my home and replaced the electronic controls for the ovens at no charge to me. I have not had any problems either before or after the recall, but its good to know that Maytag offers prompt service and stands behind its products.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 1319 .00