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GE Profile Gas Range -- worth buying?


Busboy

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Didn't Dave the Cook write a Daily Gullet column about hoods?

I've known three people with GE profile dishwashers. Every one of them started on fire. Given the price...

A leak is easier than a fire. Trust my friends. Now, I know that this does not address the stove thing, but.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Amy, maybe I'm coming at this from a different perspective than you, but two years of free repairs under warranty on a maybe $500 appliance is a pretty sweet deal, from any manufacturer, given our current consumer climate. That was built into the price, that's what you paid for, the 8 days is irrelevant and just bad luck. If I called Apple up one year and one day after my Powerbook purchase, when my one year warranty expired I'd have to pay for any repair--I also had the option to buy 2 years of extended Applecare coverage and all this was very clear pre-purchase. As a consumer, this is a part of any buying decision--what you buy, how you pay, who you buy from, who actually provides and services the warranty--and it's always a roll of the dice. (Waiting two weeks for service on a built in appliace, though, seems uncharacteristic and would have irked me as well.)

It's off-topic here, but I bought a floor model stainless Maytag dishwasher from Home Depot for $279 ($779 suggested retail I think) with just a one year warranty. I'm hoping if anything is wrong it will reveal itself quickly, but mentally I treated this purchase as disposable--if anything goes wrong 2 or 3 years down the road I'll probably just replace it with another $300 or so dishwasher. Sad, but that's the era we live and cook in.

Granted, too, there are patterns and problems which can reveal themselves over time--maybe even generalizations of a brand which hold true across multiple product lines--that's one reason why the thousands of user comments a Consumer Reports documents over time, as well as user comments on discussion forums, are valuable on one level. They'd track those spontaneous appliance fires which Susan mentioned and bring recalls or suspicions under more scrutiny.

At least with the case of this GE Profile range I couldn't find much that would negate a prospective purchase, except from the GE-hating upscale DCS, Monogram, Dacor and Viking crowd; in fact, I found the opposite: historically, Consumer Reports has rather strongly recommended the GE Profile gas ranges as very good performers over time, and rather strongly questioned the value and repair records of several of these other pro "style" ranges. Bargain-priced Frigidaire ranges also pop up as recommended as well.

trillium--no "additional" ventilation, no hood, in this renovation go round. Mine clearly is not an informed opinion through hands on experience with multiple hoods in multiple kitchens. In parent's and friend's kitchens, higher end (expensive) powerful ones which vent outside work really well, underpowered self circulating ones are absolutely worthless. (I'm betting there is a knowledgeable gray area in between--Dave?) That's one of our gambles, why we went with a souped-up but regular freestanding household appliance like the GE Profile. The way our condo is laid out, just to the right of our stove there's a very powerful ventilation shaft opening which runs up and out through the 10 floors of our building. I have no idea what its CFM power would be by current standards, but let's just say we're "hoping" it is sufficient enough to keep the normal cooking steam/smoke/particles at least in place and not spread to set off the smoke alarms in the rest of the condo. So far, over 3 months of use, it is. We also didn't want to incur the expense of insulating in this corner, or add any shielding to the walls. However, the 15K power burner on the Profile is on the right front burner location, which in our kitchen is next to this wall/shaft. I'd prefer it if the power burner were front left, but that's just because of my space. We have an IKEA Akurum wall cabinet above the range, and we're prepared to hide something cheap and under-powered like this:

http://www.frigidaire.com/products/cooking...d_GLHV30T4K.asp

inside the cabinet, which we could easily duct into the ventilation shaft, if it's borne out we need more safety-wise. We'd lose one shelf within the cab in the process. Nothing else that I've seen would work in our very tight space. We're 3 months in, we'll know more after 6-9 months in our new space.

And I fully realize I might be singing a different tune about our GE Profile gas range if I ever have to deal with their customer service department--to date I can only speak to its performance. And Dave, I'll agree completely with you, I'll have zero patience with poor QA and electronic control failures, and this is one area where there might be some variability between models as you go up the line. So far, we love our controls on the JGB920.

Steve Klc

Pastry chef-Restaurant Consultant

Oyamel : Zaytinya : Cafe Atlantico : Jaleo

chef@pastryarts.com

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I don't know if there is a Lowe's anywhere near you but if there is, check out this Bosch range.

Several weeks back there was another thread about appliances and I mentioned that a friend had just gotten one of these.

They got it at Lowes, an "open box" special - it had a scratch on one side which is hidded by the cabinet next to it anyway.

They got it for 799. plus 39.00 to have it delivered.

They love it. She had her three grandchildren, 13, 10 and 8, staying with them all summer and did a lot more cooking and baking than usual. She said it was so much better than their old range (Jenn-air) that she is sorry they didn't make the change sooner.

She also likes having the knobs on the front of the range rather than on the deck as in her old range. She also loves the warming drawer.

Check all the vendors that carry Bosch and see if you can find one that is being closed out (models are changing now) or is a "scratch & dent" special. You can get a great bargain on the "open box" appliances that have been displayed in the store.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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If I had seen that range I would have given it serious consideration too--the problem near us is that all the Lowe's have cut back on the number and quality of gas ranges they carry, and both Home Depot and Lowes have stopped offering installation on gas ranges. I'm guessing this has to do with liability or insurance. Still, this seems like a serious contender especially at that price even when you add the cost of a plumber's visit to hook it up.

Steve Klc

Pastry chef-Restaurant Consultant

Oyamel : Zaytinya : Cafe Atlantico : Jaleo

chef@pastryarts.com

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I bought a GE Profile a couple of years ago, and I couldn't be happier. My suggestion is that you spring for the extra bucks to get the convection oven. The oven itself is bigger and wider than any other brand I looked at in that price range.

I was originally set on a Wolfe, but was so disappointed that they discontinued the black range with the big red knobs that I decided to go with something 1/4 of the price.

My GE boils a quart of water in 2 minutes, and the convection oven makes the best roasted chicken and vegetables that you can imagine.

I was originally apprehensive, as owning a GE is so politially non-correct in these parts, considering how they polluted the Hudson River, but ultimately, I was in a bind, and this was the best stove available in this price range.

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Also consider visiting a home show if one is in your area. This seems to be the season for them. It seems that almost every weekend there is one somewhere in SoCalif and I assume the rest of the country is the same.

I have several times in the past remodeled kitchens and also have changed appliances and other fixtures in the kitchens and many times I have gone to a home show and bought a display item. Depending on the situation of the manufacturer or vendor, they often would be happy to sell the display model (for cash) and I would arrange to have it picked up at the end of the show.

I got some excellent deals this way.

Remember they have to pay to ship their stuff around and usually have to have a brand new display model at each show as they invariably suffer some minor scratches or "pings" which do not affect the appliance performance in any way.

I learned this many years ago when I wandered over to a home show which was held at the same venue as a concurrent dog show. I had some free time until the group judging and it was the last day of the home show. Some of the displays were being dismantled and the various components were being crated. At one booth I overheard one of the people tell the worker to leave a dishwasher uncrated as it had been sold and the buyer would be picking it up as-is at the close of the show.

I asked if anyone could do that and he said, "Sure, we just take them back and they go into the storage yard as they can't be sold as new."

Wow, I was hooked.. I wandered around and found a shower that was a self-contained fixture, didn't need a door, sort of a spiral shape, that was just perfect for a bathroom that needed remodeling. I called my husband at home and told him to bring the truck, I had bought a shower. He didn't realize until he arrived that I meant an entire shower, not just the shower head.

I don't recall how much the thing was supposed to retail for but I got it for 500. and I am pretty sure that was about 1/4 the price.

My old U-line undercounter icemaker was another appliance I bought at a home show, 200. for a 700. appliance.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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This may sound like a dumb question, but I've never cooked with a convenction oven and they've always impressed me as being useful, but not life-changing. If funds were unlimited, sure, I'd probably get one, but given the added expense (and possible need for rewiring) how much difference do they make in life of someone who on a good week, might roast a chicken on Tuesday night; heat the pizza stone on Friday night, make cookies on Saturday and braise a pork shoulder on Sunday?

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

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I would say that once you use one and master the rather shallow learning curve, you won't want to go back to a conventional radiant oven.

There are adjustments you have to make for baking some things. Cheesecakes for instance, or any custard type thing - You have to either turn the convection fan off or you have to employ a barrier to keep the fan from making ripples on the surface of the custard or cheesecake.

I use one of the metal "burner barriers" that are made for camp stoves to protect the flame against wind. Works great.

I tent most meats with foil for most of the cooking period if I am using convection.

Cakes and cookies bake beautifully.

And baked potatoes, both russets and sweets roast to perfection.

Combined with a stone, baking bread, pizza, is supurb. Even without the stone you get excellent results.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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At some point since the beginning of this thread, my oven took ill -- it was fine on Wednesday, but last night, it took over an hour to come to temperature, and the broiler unit won't give off even the most anemic glow. Given that it's more than 20 years old, I expect I'm looking at a steep repair-or-replace decision, so my perspective on this thread has changed considerably since last night.

Call it synchronicty. Or do what I'm doing, and blame Busboy.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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This may sound like a dumb question, but I've never cooked with a convenction oven and they've always impressed me as being useful, but not life-changing.  If funds were unlimited, sure, I'd probably get one, but given the added expense (and possible need for rewiring) how much difference do they make in life of someone who on a good week, might roast a chicken on Tuesday night; heat the pizza stone on Friday night, make cookies on Saturday and braise a pork shoulder on Sunday?

I would never get a non-convection oven again, and I don't believe you need to rewire for one either, at least we didn't.

Even though I don't use the convection all the time, I roast with it and bake with it often enough, and the results are so superior to non convection roasting and baking that I would always choose convection given a choice. My ovens give you the choice of convection or non convection cooking so it's easy to switch back and forth.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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I would never get a non-convection oven again, and I don't believe you need to rewire for one either, at least we didn't.

Even though I don't use the convection all the time, I roast with it and bake with it often enough, and the results are so superior to non convection roasting and baking that I would always choose convection given a choice.  My ovens give you the choice of convection or non convection cooking so it's easy to switch back and forth.

Marlene~ I've got the same type of ovens...I've only used the convection on it once with not the best results...do you have any "tips" for using it? I have to admit, I really don't understand it and the book that came with it isn't very helpful IMO....I would be interested esp. in cooking roasts in it, if it works better...in particular a prime rib roast for Christmas. I've got a GE Monogram. I've had it for 4 yrs and I really think it's time I figured it out! I'd be thankful for any pearls of wisdom you could share :smile:

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I'm gonna write a course on convection cooking :biggrin:

gallery_6080_205_1097431409.jpg

Convection Roasted Prime Rib.

Convection baking and roasting two different things. When roasting, you're looking to get that nice crust on the outside,while keeping things juicy inside.

With Baking, you're looking for lighter, "fluffier" results mostly. Some things don't translate well for convection use, for example, I would not convection bake my butter tart squares, but for roasting, cookies, and most cakes and even broiling it can't be beat.

The roast above was convection roasted at 300 degrees at 18 minutes per pound.

When roasting with convection, you can usually drop your oven temp by 25 degrees, for example, I used to roast at 325, hence the 25 degree drop. You drop the temperature because the cooking time for a roast is longer than the baking time for cookies.

When baking with convection, you don't really need to drop the temperature, because the cookies or cakes aren't in the oven long enough to make the drop effecient. The beauty of baking cookies by convection for example is you can put 3 or 4 sheets of cookies in at one time, and they all get done at the same time, the same way, whereas, with regular I found that any more than two sheets at a time, just wouldn't bake all the sheets at the same time because the air isn't circulating.

Custards can be baked by convection if you are going to do them low and slow. Like at 200 degrees for an hour. Otherwise, just use normal bake.

I'm not familiar with the GE Monogram, but my ovens allow you to select Convection Roast, Convection Bake, or Convection broil. If you select "bake", the convection does not come on.

Does that help at all?

Oh one more thing. Don't ever use tin foil in your oven when using convection. The results aren't pretty

:smile:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Everything Marlene just relayed about convection ovens may or may not apply, depending on the model you choose, or may apply to a greater degree, again depending on the model you choose. An oven is a tool, a tool you have to learn how to use.

Type of fan, whether there is a third heating element back there with the fan, whether the unit is regular 110V or 22OV, will all affect how your oven bakes. But bake it will, regardless. Bus, it was only the first model I mentioned that needed that new line, the one I ended up with is 110. Plus your skill level, confidence, how much you actually understand about what you're doing, are big big variables whether ovens at this level will really make a dramatic "performance" difference for you. Any oven, not just convection, requires that you learn how to use it--learn what it can do for you, how you can best take advantage of it, you can't go into it blind. Just remember more even heat, more evenly distributed, usually slightly faster baking, usually a "drier" bake (i.e. things dry out more quickly because of the air movement--think pate a choux--very nice profiteroles in a convection oven, no need to do the propping the oven door open truc)--but every oven, from a $400 one to a $4K one, is gonna have its quirks, weird spots, and every cook figures out ways to deal with them to get the results they desire: stuff like cooking on double sheet pans, weighing down your parchment paper so it doesn't fly up and into what you're cooking, cooking your custards (creme caramel, creme brulee) covered in plastic wrap, some pastry chefs cook their creme brulees in a convection precisely because they don't have to use a water bath--the little ramekins cook just fine, slowly, gently and evenly due to the re-circulating air that the water bath isn't necessary. Most pros who cook with convection on the job reduce time and temp across the board versus radiant the first time they try something in convection--and then make little mental adjustments after that first trial. But then the true pro stuff is powerful, with two fan speeds, as anyone who has ever opened oven doors and felt that blast of air can attest. The prosumer stuff, frankly, isn't so dramatic. A good oven is a good oven, but only a good cook can cook with it. Use Marlene's excellent advice as a starting off point.

That shallow learning curve andiesenji mentioned is very apt, but it actually applies to every oven and every new oven owner, and not just those with a duel fuel or convection one.

Steve Klc

Pastry chef-Restaurant Consultant

Oyamel : Zaytinya : Cafe Atlantico : Jaleo

chef@pastryarts.com

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I think I'll let Klc write the course instead :biggrin: . Seriously, he is correct. My notes are guidelines and what generally work for me. I had never used convection before so I also had to experiment with times and temps a bit.

And I do bake my creme brulees in convection without the water bath as Steve suggests.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Thanks all, for the pointers and information. We are off to kick a few tires out in Virginia and will repeat the the process tomorrow in Maryland, with an eye towards the Fridgidaire and the GE. We will pass along any useful information we gather.

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

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But then the true pro stuff is powerful, with two fan speeds, as anyone who has ever opened oven doors and felt that blast of air can attest.  The prosumer stuff, frankly, isn't so dramatic.  A good oven is a good oven, but only a good cook can cook with it. Use Marlene's excellent advice as a starting off point.

That shallow learning curve andiesenji mentioned is very apt, but it actually applies to every oven and every new oven owner, and not just those with a duel fuel or convection one.

You said it! I have a Blodgett with steam injection and I forgot and opened the doors soon after I started using it and just missed blistering my face from the blast of steam that shot out of the opening. Fortunately it has the tandem doors that open out to the side so there was only a narrow strip in the middle that was open when I realized what was happening and quickly shut it. Had it been a conventional oven with the door opening down, I probably would have been scalded.

I use the giant bindry clips to keep parchment from flopping around from the breeze. The big ones are wide enough to fit easily over the rim of a sheet pan and the "handle" part will fold down and lay flat on the outside bottom of the pan. Before I figured this out I did have some accidents that were not pretty.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I use a metal shield to keep the fan from affecting semi-liquids as they are setting.

I could bake them without convection but I have found they come out better with convection, even when using a bain marie.

Incidentally, I dumped all my old spring form pans last February and bought the leak-proof ones made by Frieling. What a difference, no sticking and no wrapping with foil to keep the water out and the batter in.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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dear busboy,

i liked my GE gas profile so much that when i moved i bought the electric version - had to, no gas hook up available. the oven was big enough to handle just about anything - except for a commercial full sheet pan. seemed to hold temp ok and i never had any problems with the first stove or the current one.

kat

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This may sound like a dumb question, but I've never cooked with a convenction oven and they've always impressed me as being useful, but not life-changing.  If funds were unlimited, sure, I'd probably get one, but given the added expense (and possible need for rewiring) how much difference do they make in life of someone who on a good week, might roast a chicken on Tuesday night; heat the pizza stone on Friday night, make cookies on Saturday and braise a pork shoulder on Sunday?

One of my double wall ovens was convection. We had it for four years and never turned on the convection. Life (and good food) went on as usual.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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  • 1 year later...

Anyone have recent experiences to add to this thread?

Our oven died this summer, and we were given a quote for the repair that was probably more than the value of the range.

We're currently leaning towards the frigidaire gas convection range, though also considering the similarly priced Bosch and GE products.

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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Anyone have recent experiences to add to this thread?

Our oven died this summer, and we were given a quote for the repair that was probably more than the value of the range.

We're currently leaning towards the frigidaire gas convection range, though also considering the similarly priced Bosch and GE products.

We were at Sears today comparing This Bosch with This Kenmore Elite. So far we're leaning towards the Bosch.

Edited by ChefCrash (log)
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We were at Sears today comparing This Bosch with This Kenmore Elite. So far we're leaning towards the Bosch.

Chef Crash,

Pesky Sears links never work.

We were looking at the Bosch HGS7152UC at Lowe's.

Same as you are considering?

Do you know others who have that range?

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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Our house was built in 2000 and our only choice was GE products so we upgraded to stainless steel GE Profile, except for the microwave and wine fridge, which are both Monogram.

We have a GE Profile refrigerator, 5-burner gas cooktop, double ovens (one convection) and dishwasher.

I haven't had any problems except for the water line in the fridge drying out and cracking. Replaced for approx. $70. No big deal. I have heard others in our neighborhood complain about the ovens giving an error reading, which can be expensive to repair. I use our ovens a lot and have had no issues.

The maximum output burner on the stovetop boils water fairly quickly. One annoyance I have is that our model didn't come with the continuous grates (we have 5 separate round grates), but it looks like continuous grates are more standard now. I've had a small problem keeping the grates looking like new (I'm kind of anal, I know), as they tend to dull over time with repeated cleanings. Overall, I'm pretty happy with what we've got, although I'm a little envious when looking at higher-end appliances. :rolleyes:

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