Kitchen Aid Slie-In Gas Range
Written: May 16 '00 (Updated Sep 07 '09)
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Pros: Cooks evenly. Easy to clean. Stylish. Storage drawer.
Cons: Flame setting doesn't go low enough.
The Bottom Line: Conventional and convection oven makes for versatility. Euro front makes it stylish!
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| elzora's Full Review: KitchenAid Slide-In Gas Range |
Why We Purchased Kitchen Aid
This time I didn't go to Consumer Reports for my choice in buying a new range. We needed a slide-in range, and after looking for weeks, this model was the only one that would fit in the designated area in our kitchen! The well known Kitchen Aid name didn't hurt either :)
Conventional and Convection Ovens in One
Our old range lasted for 17 years, and since we would have the new one for some time to come, we decided to spend the extra money and get the model with the convection oven built in.
What are convection ovens? They have a fan on the inside back of the oven that circulates the air evenly, cycling on and off during the baking cycle. This makes for more evenly cooked foods which are also cooked faster and at a lower temperature. It is excellent for baking large quantities, such as cookies. It allows you to use all three racks and bakes the food evenly on each one. It also does a superb job with cakes and breads. The convection broiler does an excellent job of cooking steaks without burning the edges - they are evenly cooked throughout.
Features
*Four burners. Two are 6,000 BTU and two are 10,000 BTU. The burners are sealed so you cannot get any food or liquids under the stove top.
*Top surface and front of the oven are covered with tempered glass, this makes cleaning easy and adds a rich, elegant look.
*The surface burners are quite tall, seems like this is the style because virtually every oven we looked had this style of burners. They tend to scratch easily, but they are black in color and the scratches are not readily noticeable.
*Temperature Probe: Perfect for cooking roasts or whole turkeys. You put the probe into the food, place in oven and plug probe into "jack". The oven display will show you the internal temperature of the food you are cooking!
*Timed cooking! You can preset this oven to start and stop cooking at any time you choose! This is for the busy family!!
*Convect Full Meal feature: Chose from 10 preset cooking modes - I have not used this feature yet so cannot comment on how it works.
*Dehydrating. You will need to purchase drying racks to take advantage of this feature. Another one I have not tried yet.
*Raise bread. Place boiling water in the broiler pan and touch the baked goods button for 5 seconds. Display will read "100 degrees raising bread".
*Large storage drawer at the bottom that I love for holding my frying pans!
*Large oven, 18" deep and 23" wide.
*It self cleaning, yeah!
Oven Controls
The control panel is also covered with tempered glass, and is activated when you touch one of the pads. It seems to be heat activated not pressure activated, although I cannot find any info about this in the manual. When you turn on something with one of the pads, you will hear a gentle beep noise. The settings for the conventional oven are: bake, broil, and clean - cook time, stop time, numbers 0-9 for setting the oven temperatures, oven light, timer, clock, start and cancel pads.
The convection oven has additional bake, broil, roast, and three "easy convection conversion" pads for baked goods, meats, and other foods - and the Convect Full Meal pad. With these pads you put in the time and temperature in your recipe and it automatically converts it to a convection time and temperature.
I'm Very Pleased with this Purchase!
We purchased this Kitchen Aid Superba convection oven a year ago and I must say that I am very pleased with our choice. I had never used a convection oven before, but with this beauty you just put in the conventional temperature and it will convert the time and temperature for you. It also comes with a cookbook that helps to understand and cook with the convection oven.
My counter tops are cream color and our model came in the new "Bisque" color that matches them perfectly. (It's also available in white). The front is slightly curved outward, this is called the "Euro" style, and it is very popular today. The fridge we just bought also has this style and the two look very nice together!
Just One Drawback
And I am not real happy with the "simmer" setting, the flames are just too high. Even on the lowest heat setting of the burners, foods that cook for long periods such as spaghetti sauce and soups, tend to burn some - the flame just doesn't go low enough in my opinion. A friend of mine who is an appliance repair man warned me about this problem, he said lots of customers complain about this problem (with many different name brands).
Conclusion
This oven cost more than I originally wanted to spend, but it is loaded with many different features to make my life easier, and I really appreciate that. I have not for one second regretted this purchase. Now I only need to spend more time figuring out how to dehydrate foods, use the probe, and use it to it's fullest potential!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1500
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