Whirlpool GS440 Gas Kitchen Range - STAINLESS STEEL
Written: Jul 20 '05 (Updated Jul 21 '05)
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Pros: Looks good, powerful enough.
Cons: Terrible to clean.
The Bottom Line: Very nice stove. However, because of the cleanup issue I really can't recommend it. There must be better stoves in this price range out there.
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| gruber16's Full Review: Whirlpool GS445LELS Gas Range |
Here you will learn not only about this stove, but also how important it is to do a thorough final walkthrough when you buy a house. I know it's off the subject, but please bear with me thru the next couple of lines!
Well, it was late evening on the day we moved into our new house. My husband had just spent an hours cleaning the fridge, and another hour grocery shopping so we can have something to eat in our new home. A little while after, we realized that food in the freezer was melting and the freezer hardly cools at all. Next day, we were shopping for new kitchen appliances. That was a lesson in homebuying.
Now about this stove:
LOOKS GOOD
The stove looks really nice compared to other stoves in this price range. Stainless steel front looks sleek and modern.
BURNERS
Front left burner is "Power" burner with 13,500 BTU.
Rear right burner is "Accusimmer" with 5,000 BTU.
Other two burners are "Regular" burners with 9,500 BTU each.
I found burners to be really decent when it comes to power. Each but the smallest burner ("accusimmer") will easily boil a pot of water.
OVEN
Self-cleaning oven with one full width and one half rack, insulated oven door and large insulated glass window. Oven light will turn on when you open the door, otherwise light setting is manual. There are 6 available oven rack positions.
Whirlpool takes pride in their "Accubake" Temperature Management System. They claim it's t he best temperature management system in the industry. I had good results baking and the temperature seems to be even.
GAS VS. ELECTRIC
Gas stoves are preferred by "serious chefs" over electric. Temperature is easier to control on a gas stove vs. electric, and gas stoves obviously have zero warm-up time. Despite this, I wanted to get electric stove with glass top, but was eventually persuaded to get a gas stove instead. Vast majority of people in my area (midwest) prefer gas stoves, so I decided to go with it. I was also told that glass top is hard to keep sparkling clean and food baked on the glass top ruins the concept of a sleek and modern kitchen.
CONTROL PANEL
Burner knobs are on their regular place on the front of the stove, not on the control panel. Control panel contains clock/temperature/timer display, oven controls and timer. Plastic around the panel is on the cheap side, but not awful though.
So far, you'd say this stove is okay, but keep reading:
CLEANING
Absolutely impossible to clean. Food sticks to the enamel on top and nothing will take it off. I tried EVERYTHING with no success whatsoever. I can scrape off most of the food that boils over, but there is a thin film that bonds with this enamel and nothing can take it off. After over a year I stopped trying and just keep it as clean as I can. Only thing that keeps this stove still looking decent is the fact that black hides imperfections and iron grates also help disguise it.
Cleaning of the stainless steel front is not too bad, although I can most heartily recommend getting an appliance made with 'clean steel' rather than stainless steel (I bought GE 'clean steel' fridge) - there are no fingerprints, cleans a lot easier, cheaper than stainless steel, and you can even put magnets on it (unlike SS).
OVEN PREHEATING
When you turn the oven on, it will beep after exactly 10 minutes reminding you that the oven is preheated. This feature doesn't make sense because it will beep after 10 minutes regardless of how high you set the temperature and how much time it really takes to preheat the oven. Whirlpool was cheap on this feature.
This is a small issue, but I thought my review wouldn't be complete without this part.
If it wasn't for cleaning issue, I would recommend this stove. However, I consider this flaw to be important enough to steer you away from this stove.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 650
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Epinions.com ID:
gruber16
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Member: Elena
Location: SF Bay Area
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 0 members
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