ISO opinions on which new range to purchase

[Cooking Goddess]

...Now is the time to get what you want. Change orders are expensive even before you change anything. So decide what you want and get it in writing...

...The more you spend on your home, the more money we make.
We also love change orders. So change away. The contractor will love you for it...

Boy, am I glad you didn't build any of our three homes! Not one of the three contractors we used (one small, two mid-size, none of them big national chains) charged us for any changes that did not involve upgrades. ALL we paid for above the base price of the home was if materials and/or time would increase the cost to the builder. We moved walls, windows, adjusted opening sizes between rooms...not one cost us extra. We did upgrade an appliance here or faucets there, so those were extra out-of-pocket costs.

 

[tenspeed]

I have to disagree that venting to the outside is necessary; desirable, maybe, but not essential.

I agree. The need for outside venting is dependent upon how you cook indoors. I would rather have it than not, though.

Another consideration is the layout of the kitchen. We have a Viking cooktop on an island, and a hood hanging down in the middle of the kitchen would look pretty ugly, at least in this house. The Viking has a retractable vent that pops up on the back of the cooktop, which vents to the outside (via ductwork under the floor).

When venting to the outdoors, you are also drawing in the same amount of air from the outside elsewhere in the house. During heating or cooling seasons you will be increasing your energy bill.

 

[roadfix]

When venting to the outdoors, you are also drawing in the same amount of air from the outside elsewhere in the house. During heating or cooling seasons you will be increasing your energy bill.

Perhaps so, if you live in extreme climate regions, especially during winter. But at least in the summer all that hot air your oven and cooktop produce will be vented outdoor.


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[RPCookin]

RB...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayelle
You can center a 10" diameter pot on the back simmer burner Kgirl.
However, all of the burners will go down to a very low simmer.
Because of that, I seldom use the little back burner that's only intended for an even lower temp.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Can you explain? How does adjusting a single burner effect the other burners?
I have never owned a gas range. So please excuse my lack of knowledge concerning their use.

I don't understand why you think I was implying that. Obviously the burners work independently of one another.

I was puzzled by RB's comment too. I think it should be clarified that what I think you were alluding to was that each of the 5 burners is a different size, and the back ones are the smallest, thus are less useful for bringing a pot up to full cooking temperature, even if burning on high.

I have a little 1 qt saucepan that I often use to make packaged gravy or a bouillon broth (one or 2 cups at most) to add to other mixtures, and I put that small pan on the back burners most often.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I've been laying back, just reading what everyone is contributing.
This is our third home and I kinda don't want to just take what ever the builder gives me, it's usually the lower level, not even mid-range appliances.
They will only include the micro.hood, range and dishwasher, `fridge is on our own and as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'll start a new thread in regards to that issue.
Now what I think I need to do is look for a dealer close to our present home where and can look, touch, maybe even cook on the model of my choice, THAT may be the real challenge!

GG, LOVE your kitchen!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

In addition, I should mention that we have yet to 'sign on the dotted line' and do not have all of the info on say the model line of GE products that will be included in the base price of our new build.
So stand by all, it's looking like this will happen around the first of the month.
YAY!

 

[Cheryl J]

Kgirl, it'll be fun to follow along with you on your new home adventure! Hoping for everything to go smoothly. Be sure to share pics once you get started!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Kgirl, it'll be fun to follow along with you on your new home adventure! Hoping for everything to go smoothly. Be sure to share pics once you get started!

Most definitely Cheryl J, I'll share the process with everyone, this should be fun. The last home that we built here in Southern Arizona, we did long distance from Hawaii, totally site unseen! Hopefully now this house will sell fast and we can move to Northern Arizona and watch what happens.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I have to disagree that venting to the outside is necessary; desirable, maybe, but not essential. Our stove/microwave combo (see photos above) don't and I don't really have problems with it. We do have two windows in the kitchen, as well as a ceiling fan and the fan under the microwave, so if it gets smoky, I can deal with it that way. But it doesn't stop me from cooking whatever I want.

RB, a gas broiler isn't about the heat, per se, but the flame. It's used to brown or blacken the tops of foods. I used it all summer to broil tomatoes and tomatillos for salsas and just freezing the pulp. It makes it much easier to peel the tomato skins and concentrates the flavor by evaporating some of the water. And I don't have to deal with a boiling water bath or a bowl of ice water for cooling.

I know what a broiler is and what its used for. I just find it inefficient was the only point. Flames lapping upward while food resides below it.
It seemed at first that gas would be the bigger waste until I thought about it. I was kinda just thinking out loud.

RB...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayelle
You can center a 10" diameter pot on the back simmer burner Kgirl.
However, all of the burners will go down to a very low simmer.
Because of that, I seldom use the little back burner that's only intended for an even lower temp.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Can you explain? How does adjusting a single burner effect the other burners?
I have never owned a gas range. So please excuse my lack of knowledge concerning their use.

I don't understand why you think I was implying that. Obviously the burners work independently of one another.

Hold on Kay. I misunderstood your comment. I'm not familiar with gas ranges so these things are not something I know about. Like a "simmer burner". Never heard of that.

My situation must be different as stove/hood backs up to an outside wall so the distance from the back of the hood to the outside is 6"-8"tops. As my stove is on the first floor of a two story condo, straight out the back was by far the easiest way to go.

An ideal situation. I wish my stove was right behind an outside wall. Would have made my installation much easier.
It was quite the job to cut circles in cabinets and install metal ductwork through the cabinets, then transition to flexible ductwork to terminate at the roof vent. Lucky I did not have to deal with the roof.

Boy, am I glad you didn't build any of our three homes! Not one of the three contractors we used (one small, two mid-size, none of them big national chains) charged us for any changes that did not involve upgrades. ALL we paid for above the base price of the home was if materials and/or time would increase the cost to the builder. We moved walls, windows, adjusted opening sizes between rooms...not one cost us extra. We did upgrade an appliance here or faucets there, so those were extra out-of-pocket costs.

I think you misunderstood what I meant.
I'm talking about making changes midway through a project.
I can see small changes not costing anything extra as long as the contractor does not have to do the job twice.
If you want a wall moved after its already up, you are paying for it.

 

[Kayelle]

Hold on Kay. I misunderstood your comment. I'm not familiar with gas ranges so these things are not something I know about. Like a "simmer burner". Never heard of that.

I'm sorry you took offense RB. Doesn't an electric stove have different size burners that all work independent of one another?

 

[roadfix]

Since we're also on the subject of new construction, my brother and his wife just moved into a new KB subdivision home just north of us in Valencia a few weeks ago. They upgraded their kitchen appliances (to mid-level KitchenAid) but boy, they were unhappy with the quality of the kitchen cabinets. They look nice on the surface but the build quality is like something you might find at Ikea, for instance. The drawers are made of cheap metal, except for the faces made of some cheap laminate.
Their two previous homes, also new at the time they bought, had solid hardwood cabinets and drawers so this was a total shock to them. Guess they're gonna have to live with that.

 

[Kayelle]

Since we're also on the subject of new construction, my brother and his wife just moved into a new KB subdivision home just north of us in Valencia a few weeks ago. They upgraded their kitchen appliances (to mid-level KitchenAid) but boy, they were unhappy with the quality of the kitchen cabinets. They look nice on the surface but the build quality is like something you might find at Ikea, for instance. The drawers are made of cheap metal, except for the faces made of some cheap laminate.
Their two previous homes, also new at the time they bought, had solid hardwood cabinets and drawers so this was a total shock to them. Guess they're gonna have to live with that.

How disappointing for them RF! We had exactly the same problem when we moved into this new place. The cabinets were really junk. Recently when we up graded the kitchen, we had a great outfit Cabinet Refacing | Kitchen Cabinetry | Bath Remodeling | Anaheim | San Diego come in and reface them and give us new drawers. It turned out great and was a fraction of the cost of replacing.

 

[Andy M.]

...a new KB subdivision home just north of us in Valencia a few weeks ago...

What is a KB subdivision?

 

[roadfix]

What is a KB subdivision?

KB Home is a major home builder in the U.S.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

KB Homes New Home Builders In Your Area - KB Home are prevalent here in Southern Arizona, but the delevoper for our new home is Dorn Homes, http://www.dornhomes.com/there are loads of them in Northern AZ

I will be taking a second as well as third look at all of the cabinets in our new build prior to signing a contract. I don't want to get stiffed on this home, we settled for junk stuff in Hawaii because of the costs, but not this time around.

 

[roadfix]

You would imagine for what these homes are going for around here you would expect some half way decent cabinets. But the overall quality of these new homes are nowhere as good as ones built just a few years ago.
They had 2 walk throughs, one during construction and another after completion. They caught some construction errors during their first walk through and it was apparent to them that overall craftsmanship was not there...
Since dozens of these homes are under construction at any given time I can see how quality of work can go out the window...

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

No, we also have a toaster oven. The microwave doesn't toast top and bottom like a t/o does. But luckily, I have lots of counter space

This is similar to the microwave we have; apparently they don't make our model anymore (it was made in 2006): GE Profile Series Over-the-Range Oven with Advantium® Technology | PSA9240SFSS | GE Appliances

Like I said, lots of counter space. These don't show three other counters that are too cluttered to photograph today

GG, I just noticed that you have a french door `fridge, what brand/model do you have and what do you think of it. I promise everyone that I'll start a different thread on this topic.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Kgirl, we bought the gas GE Adora a few months ago when we redid the kitchen, and I couldn't be happier. Maybe you could upgrade on the package they offer for GE? It's a honey to be sure. The new GE dishwasher is so quiet I don't know it's on. Along with the microwave, they are all the new slate color that I love!

KL, which micro hood did you get, as well as the dishwasher and `fridge?
The builder will include the range, dishwasher and hood, all GE, just not sure which model yet.
Also, how quiet is your micro hood?

 

[Souschef]

Here are the pictures of our dishwasher and microwave. The vent hood is built into the microwave. The fan has 2 speeds, but both are quiet.
The dishwasher is so quiet that we do not know it is on.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Here are the pictures of our dishwasher and microwave. The vent hood is built into the microwave. The fan has 2 speeds, but both are quiet.
The dishwasher is so quiet that we do not know it is on.

Mahalo Steve, what models are these cuties? Profile, Adora ???