At any retailer, you’ll find dozens of ranges—if not more—to choose from, some with fancier features than others. But what’s most important is a range’s ability to perform its essential tasks really well, day in and day out. That’s why we recommend ranges only if they meet the following criteria.
They heat water fast. The best ranges in our tests are quick to bring a large pot of water to a near-boil.
They simmer steadily. They have a low-heat burner that’s capable of maintaining a steady temperature when simmering liquids so that you don’t need to stir constantly to avoid scorching, say, tomato sauce or chocolate.
They bake and broil evenly. Cakes and cookies emerge uniformly baked from multiple racks. And the broilers heat evenly while still getting hot enough to sear.
They offer plenty of space. Many manufacturers inflate oven sizes by including the space where you can’t cook, like the bottom of the oven. We measure and score usable capacity from the lowest rack position.
They self-clean well. For xthose with a self-clean feature, we bake a mixture of eggs, tapioca, pie filling, and a few other tough-to-remove foods onto the walls of the oven, then use the self-clean cycle and give each model a good wipe-down to see how effective the self-clean feature is at loosening grime. (Here’s how to clean an oven without a self-clean setting.)
They’re reliable. We survey thousands of CR members each year about the reliability of their gas, electric, and pro-style ranges, and we tabulate scores based on those responses.
