GE Profile Gas Range -- worth buying?

[Busboy]

We made it through the summer without a working oven, but now it's time to start baking and roasting again. Tthe repairman has explained that it will run at least $800 to get our current oven fixed (rants availble on request), so we've decided to get a new one and are looking seiously at the lower-end GE Profiles. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience with this product, or any other suggestions.

We cook quite a bit and occassionally fairly elaborately. The stove top will be used most often -- we're looking for one mega-burner for boiling at lightning speed and searing meat -- but the oven will likely see substantial use, everything from roasting chicken to making profiteroles. Space on the stovetop is important as well; we've learned the hard way that the extra inch or two lost when the display is mounted parallel to the ground for easy reading, as opposed to being stuck on the front of the thing, is a very useful bit of real estate.

We are hard on equipment -- any oven/stove top can expect top get banged about, boiled-over on and smoked, so reliability is a significant consideration. We have little interest in computerized bells and whistles; we're looking for something that, when you turn the knob, provides reliable, even heat at roughly the level it's supposed to -- ie, when the dial says 350, the oven is at 350. Price is definitley a consideration.

Thanks.

Edited October 28, 2004 by Busboy (log)

[Joe Blowe]

Just to add to your confusion, here's another range to add to the mix: Frigidaire 30 in. Gas Self-Clean Freestanding Range , $800 at Sears

[Dave the Cook]

At regular retail, GE Profile prices out at $900-$1200. While I think the brand is a pretty decent value, it's worth considering that for the same money, you could be looking at the low end of KitchenAid, too. My experience is that KA is more focused on the serious cook than GE, since food prep is pretty much all they think about. The low end of KA is also the low end of a complete line of ranges that tops out at four or five grand. GE's line switches over to DCS at the high end, so it seems unlikely that high-end thinking is trickling down to the mid-priced models. One hopes that KA thnks about things differently. While there have been some complaints about some parts of their mixer line lately, I still think they're worth checking out.

[Busboy]

At regular retail, GE Profile prices out at $900-$1200. While I think the brand is a pretty decent value, it's worth considering that for the same money, you could be looking at the low end of KitchenAid, too. My experience is that KA is more focused on the serious cook than GE, since food prep is pretty much all they think about. The low end of KA is also the low end of a complete line of ranges that tops out at four or five grand. GE's line switches over to DCS at the high end, so it seems unlikely that high-end thinking is trickling down to the mid-priced models. One hopes that KA thnks about things differently. While there have been some complaints about some parts of their mixer line lately, I still think they're worth checking out.

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We have a Kitchen Aid now and we loathe it. Obviously, you've had a different experience with yours but on ours the the electronics have never worked well; if you boil over milk -- or sometimes, just wipe the stove top off -- the oven shuts down; and the hinges on the door got themselves bent out of shape and cost $180 per to replace.

I almost wept with joy the day the thing was installed, and it has broken my heart ever since. It's worse than the damn kids.

Edited to add: Thanks for your suggestion. I am bitter, but I appreciate your time and will take one more guarded look at KA before we buy.

Edited October 28, 2004 by Busboy (log)

[Busboy]

Just to add to your confusion, here's another range to add to the mix:  Frigidaire 30 in. Gas Self-Clean Freestanding Range , $800 at Sears

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That's the kind of confusion I can handle -- I take you've experience with this?

[Joe Blowe]

Just to add to your confusion, here's another range to add to the mix:  Frigidaire 30 in. Gas Self-Clean Freestanding Range , $800 at Sears

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That's the kind of confusion I can handle -- I take you've experience with this?

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Well, not directly -- I currently have a 2003 Kenmore that was manufactured by Frigidaire, and it's been ROCK solid. Based on that, I would have no problem recommending a Frigidaire.

Also, be sure to check out the Appliance Forum at GardenWeb/That Home Site. A good amount of Frigidaire fans, and a good amount of GE haters...

[Steve Klc]

Bus--link us to the model on the GE appliance site that you're considering, ok?

[Busboy]

The GE Profile in all its glory.

[Dave the Cook]

At regular retail, GE Profile prices out at $900-$1200. While I think the brand is a pretty decent value, it's worth considering that for the same money, you could be looking at the low end of KitchenAid, too. My experience is that KA is more focused on the serious cook than GE, since food prep is pretty much all they think about. The low end of KA is also the low end of a complete line of ranges that tops out at four or five grand. GE's line switches over to DCS at the high end, so it seems unlikely that high-end thinking is trickling down to the mid-priced models. One hopes that KA thnks about things differently. While there have been some complaints about some parts of their mixer line lately, I still think they're worth checking out.

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We have a Kitchen Aid now and we loathe it. Obviously, you've had a different experience with yours but on ours the the electronics have never worked well; if you boil over milk -- or sometimes, just wipe the stove top off -- the oven shuts down; and the hinges on the door got themselves bent out of shape and cost $180 per to replace.

I almost wept with joy the day the thing was installed, and it has broken my heart ever since. It's worse than the damn kids.

Edited to add: Thanks for your suggestion. I am bitter, but I appreciate your time and will take one more guarded look at KA before we buy.

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Please note that I didn't say I had one! I do, but I've only been cooking on it about a week, and it came with the house, so it wasn't my choice. I am neutral about it at the moment.

KA is a respected name, and I thought it was worth mentioning, that's all. When I go shopping, I will take your experience into consideration. So I think I should be thanking you more than the other way 'round.

I have, however, had four GE Profile appliances: one gas cooktop, one set of double ovens, one electric cooktop, and one refrigerator. All except the ovens worked to my expectations; overall, I was pleased. As with your range, electronics plagued my ovens. We went through several computer units in a matter of months, and each time, I was without them for a week or so. Keep this in mind when you're calculating the value of the service advantage that GE claims.

[bloviatrix]

Will the oven be self-cleaning? In that case the gasket placement is important. Some have the gasket around the oven door, others have it around the oven mouth. Look at the KA -- that has the better gasket placement.

(I'm not suggesting KA, it's just that I can't remember where they place the gasket so look at your current oven to see where it is)

Edited October 28, 2004 by bloviatrix (log)

[Dave the Cook]

Why is it important?

[fifi]

I would really try to consider the dual fuel option.

[Busboy]

I would really try to consider the dual fuel option.

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Is that the Gas stovetop/electric oven option?

What are the advantages?

[mnebergall]

Hey Charles:

Check these out.

[bloviatrix]

Why is it important?

It's been several years since I did my stove research, but it has to do with the high heat produced by using the self-cleaning mechanism. I can't remember the details. Sorry.

Edited October 28, 2004 by bloviatrix (log)

[Busboy]

Hey Charles:

Check these out.

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Very interesting. Do you or tyour buddies in the biz have any experience with the brand?

[hjshorter]

I have, however, had four GE Profile appliances: one gas cooktop, one set of double ovens, one electric cooktop, and one refrigerator. All except the ovens worked to my expectations; overall, I was pleased. As with your range, electronics plagued my ovens. We went through several computer units in a matter of months, and each time, I was without them for a week or so. Keep this in mind when you're calculating the value of the service advantage that GE claims.

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Interesting Dave, we had the opposite experience with our GE Profile double ovens. They saw heavy use and never had a problem. Now the Profile refigerator we had...oy. Bad news. Our gas cooktop was Thermador and not GE so can't comment.

I will say that the service was excellent. Prompt responses, fast repairs.

Dual fuel: nice even electric oven heat with gas stovetop cooking. Ideal but pricey. I don't recall how much but there is a premium as opposed to getting a range/oven that both use the same fuel.

[mnebergall]

Charles:

I do not have any experience with the brand, I learned about them over here. The reports seem to be good.

Edited October 28, 2004 by mnebergall (log)

[Marlene]

both my ovens are wall ovens, so I can't speak to the cooktop componet, but as far as ovens go, mine are both KA, electric, with convection or regular and they are both outstanding. I've used an oven thermometer several times to check whether the temp is bang on and I've never been disappointed.

[Steve Klc]

Bus, we tried to put the top of the line "prosumer" GE Profile freestanding duel fuel in our kitchen 3 months ago--it was the gas burner/electric convection oven model J2B915 in stainless. Got a great price on it new--$927 Best Buy price-matching Home Depot including delivery. Problem was, it had this kickass convection oven with a very powerful fan which required a 240V line. That caused quite a stir in our condo, so long story short, back it went, swapped out for the gas convection oven model JGB920. The gas model is what I termed on another thread a "pretend" convection oven, it has a small fan which does a nice job recirculating the air but not to the extent that a true convection oven would do with a third heating element behind a very powerful fan.

So this is the model I'm familiar with, the one we've put through its paces, and pretend convection oven or not this unit kicks some serious butt performance-wise. We love it. Very big self-cleaning oven, gets to temp quickly, very powerful 15K burner--though we don't wok, sealed burner surface kind of recessed which catches every spill, cleans up easily, tough level continuous cast iron grates, and a warming drawer with separate temp control that we haven't even used yet. I expect to use it to hold tempered chocolate at some point. You might not like the oven controls, all digital, very visible with nice touch sensitivity but all on glass in the back, and yes, sometimes, a pot or two obscures the timer button or the oven light button and you have to move something out of the way. Still, it's nice to see the oven temp count upward once you set it.

I had checked out the GE-hating comments on that website previously linked to, when we did our research, seemed mostly to come from the "I'm spending $4K and up on my stove" crowd, which I wasn't going to spend. (I also wasn't prepared to deal with the increased ventilation costs I'd have to incur to accomodate one of those models.) Just to be sure I did do one Rosengarten-pimp style test--his timed 6 quart of 60 degree water brought to a boil covered--and this GE Profile's 15K power burner knocked it out in 14 minutes and 30 seconds, as compared to his winning high end range, the Blue Star, whose 18,000-BTU burner took "only" 17 minutes and 50 seconds to bring the water to a boil.

I can't really vouch for its reliability yet, nor for GE's customer service, haven't had it long enough. (There are a lot of makes and models within any one appliance category, and I have no hands-on experience with any of them, no horror stories to share about my former dishwasher or refrigerator, not that any former experience would necessarily apply to any current make or model anyway.) That Frigidaire model Joe linked to seems comparable spec-wise to the Profile and it is definitely the better value-priced option in stainless--big 5 cu. ft. oven--power burner--continuous grates. But specs are just that, specs. I considered that model as well and I've seen it for as low as $479 at the Sears Appliance Outlet in Potomac Mills. I didn't think it appeared to have the same build quality as the GE, for lack of a better word, and my wife and I preferred the "look" of the Profile. The Frigidaire grates seemed shiny, less attractive and cheaper than the real deal Profile grates, though I am sure there will be people who prefer the "look" of the Frigidaire, especially its stainless front and handles. Those handles are sweet. I've seen those handles on their whole line of very affordable stainless appliances and I run my hand along them and sigh every time.

It's too bad the GE slide-in versions of these Profiles are so exponentially more expensive, they're nice units that might work better in some applications where a freestanding unit would not.

After we purchased our range for $927 I've seen the same models, scratched and dented, available at that Sears Outlet fluctuating between $769-$859. When they have a big sale, or accumulate too many units of one type, they'll usually knock one down ever further. Good bargains on these high end GE Profiles can be had here. They also have a lot of the Kitchenaid slide-ins on the floor as well.

[Dave the Cook]

I have, however, had four GE Profile appliances: one gas cooktop, one set of double ovens, one electric cooktop, and one refrigerator. All except the ovens worked to my expectations; overall, I was pleased. As with your range, electronics plagued my ovens. We went through several computer units in a matter of months, and each time, I was without them for a week or so. Keep this in mind when you're calculating the value of the service advantage that GE claims.

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Interesting Dave, we had the opposite experience with our GE Profile double ovens. They saw heavy use and never had a problem. Now the Profile refigerator we had...oy. Bad news. Our gas cooktop was Thermador and not GE so can't comment.

I will say that the service was excellent. Prompt responses, fast repairs.

Between the time I ordered them and the time they arrived, GE had a model changeover, and as a result, what I got was one of the first of its kind on the market. This may have something to do with the electronics reliability. Still, I had to scratch my head that a company as big as GE, and as experienced in electronic controls, couldn't do a better job of pre-release testing and assembly-line QA. The ovens were the predecessor to these, by one generation. When they worked, they were just great. As Steve K says, true electric convection (which one of these had) rocks, and GE had done it right. In the end, I liked them a lot, but it took a long time to get over the first six months of trouble.

[amyknyc]

OK, I'm going to weigh in with another vote against GE. I don't have any specific experience with the gas stove you're looking at, but we have a GE dishwasher that's been a huge headache. Worse than an appliance that gives you grief (it's bound to happen with something), though, is a customer service department that flat-out sucks.

Ready for this? Our still-looked-like-new dishwasher starts dumping water all over our kitchen floor one morning. I go digging through instruction manuals looking for the warranty, which for some reason I hadn't saved. No prob -- I call GE. Well, turns out my two-year warranty had expired exactly 8 DAYS earlier. Yup, 8 days. And GE, bastards that they were, would not do anything for me. I talked to every manager and their mother and got nothing. Of course, they can't come fix it for at least two weeks, blah blah. More than $300 later....

And that is why I will never EVER buy GE anything again.

(I wish I were home right now and could check our stove brand for you, because we've been pretty happy with that).

Edited October 28, 2004 by amyknyc (log)

[fifi]

Sorry to hear you had that problem, amyknyc. I have several friends that have either GE Monogram or Profile kitchens. They rave about the service the few times they have had to use it... (calibrating an oven, fine tuning an icemaker, etc., no big problems.) In a lot of cases a call in the morning had the repairman there by that same afternoon. That is one thing that steered me to GE Monogram for the new house. Sounds like your area has a service problem.

[trillium]

<snip>

our condo, so long story short, back it went, swapped out for the gas convection oven model JGB920.  The gas model is what I termed on another thread a "pretend" convection oven, it has a small fan which does a nice job recirculating the air but not to the extent that a true convection oven would do with a third heating element behind a very powerful fan.

So this is the model I'm familiar with, the one we've put through its paces, and pretend convection oven or not this unit kicks some serious butt performance-wise.  We love it. Very big self-cleaning oven, gets to temp quickly, very powerful 15K burner--though we don't wok, sealed burner surface kind of recessed which catches every spill, cleans up easily, tough level continuous cast iron grates, and a warming drawer with separate temp control that we haven't even used yet.  I expect to use it to hold tempered chocolate at some point. You might not like the oven controls, all digital, very visible with nice touch sensitivity but all on glass in the back, and yes, sometimes, a pot or two obscures the timer button or the oven light button and you have to move something out of the way. Still, it's nice to see the oven temp count upward once you set it.

<snip>

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Can I but in and ask what kind of ventilation you decided on? Or anyone else with an informed opinion, for that matter. We think we're about the buy a house with a kitchen even worse then the one Dave showed, it has a hood in there from the 70s. The good news is it vents outside, but it sounds like it's going to expire at any moment (same for the electric range).

regards,

trillium

[fifi]

Rats... We had a thread here about that quite some time ago, or maybe it is buried in another kitchen thread. Anyway, I can't find it. (But then, my search skills aren't the greatest.) Anyway, I found a web site for a company that did custom hoods and they had the standard guidlines for how many cubic feet per minute (CFM) that were required for your particular stove (size and BTUs) and for location (against the wall or over an island. As I understand it, those guidlines are pretty universal. Maybe somebody here knows and can point you in the right direction. You could probably find out at a kitchen design showroom or something.