Ranges with double ovens

[Stephen Tashiro]

There are now many models of electric range that have two ovens in them. Any comments on whether the smaller second oven is any more useful than just having a range with a single oven and a separate large tabletop oven?

[David Bassett]

We never really considered a table top oven, so no valid opinion of its merits.

We love the short 1/2 oven in our range and use it almost exclusively. It heats up much faster, takes full (home*) size pans & trays, and provides all the functions of a normal oven. The bigger oven has convection (& other?) modes, but we're not savvy enough to appreciate them, and only really use it when we have more than one item and need multiple racks or have something huge (e.g. a turkey) and need the volume.

(*I've been told that restaurant ovens are larger and I should call the normal home size a 1/2 size sheet pan.)

[Mark Rainey]

Had an electric range with two ovens. Never used one. And we cook a lot.

[Bill Dufour]

Never heard of a table top oven. Do you mean a roaster like from the 1950's ? Our GE is a microwave on top an an electric oven below.
Bill D

PS: It has Sabath Mode for Jewish folks! Turns off the microwave and most automatic features for 3 days on demand.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

When we remodeled our kitchen with a bump out 6 years ago we installed a gas oven with two ovens in it and an electric wall oven. We have used all 3 ovens a few times when we had family and friends over for dinner. Once when we held a dinner for friends and family to celebrate our 50th anniversary, having the 3 ovens was a great convenience! The bottom oven in the range is shorter in height but is truly a fully functional oven, not just a warmer oven.

[Jim Becker]

I believe that the Samsung electric range currently in the kitchen here at our new property has a "split" oven setup where a slide-in divider provides an upper and lower oven, each being able to be separately controlled. When the heavy divider is pulled out, it reverts to a single, standard size oven. I've only used it once to-date. And I hate the range with a passion, coming from a 48" gas Thermador, but that's a different story and one that will be rectified once our other property sells. I noticed the dual oven setup on a few of the induction ranges that would possibly be a fit for me should I not be able to get natural gas and proper ventilation into the kitchen. The only time I could see it being an issue is if I ever wanted to roast something taller than an oven, but that's not terribly likely. My grill has tall lids, so I can also do that outside.

Most of the time for cooking that would entail an oven, I'm now using a counter top Ninja device that Air fries, Air Roasts, Bakes, Toasts, etc. and really like it. It's singular downfall is again, height.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Full scale dinners for a crowd need a double oven, so one dish can cook while another one is warming up or cooking. We cook a lot and use the double oven about four times a year. Our oven is a 1940s gas oven Gaffers and Safler which has five burners, a griddle and two full size ovens. We have refurbished this twice now, and I wouldn't want to cook on anything else.

[Brian Elfert]

My GE range has a warming drawer at the bottom that I have never used. The warming drawer replaces the pots and pans drawer a lot of ranges have.

I don't have enough space to host a full scale dinner so only one oven. My kitchen is tiny and the living room is tiny (No dining/eating area except in the kitchen). I think a lot of people have two ovens because it is an expectation for an upscale kitchen even if you never use two ovens at once. Keeping up with the Jones so to speak.

[Brian Deakin]

A tip from the UK
I have a double oven but what is surprising is the larger oven is shallower in depth than the smaller oven and will not accommodate my largest roasting tin but the tin will fit in the smaller oven

The reason , the larger oven is fan assisted and the fan reduces the depth of the oven the smaller oven is not fan assisted

So I would suggest the following
Measure the dimensions of you largest oven trays and identify if they will fit in both ovens or ideally take your largest oven tray into the store and see how it fits

[Bill Dufour]

GE makes a stove with gas burners and an electric oven. Many cooks prefer electric ovens for some reason.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

GE makes a stove with gas burners and an electric oven. Many cooks prefer electric ovens for some reason.
Bill D

"Everybody" does dual fuel at the higher end. Electric ovens are preferred for baking because they are more stable temperature wise. Dual fuel ranges are more expensive, but very worthy for folks who are serious about their baking.

[Brian Elfert]

GE makes a stove with gas burners and an electric oven. Many cooks prefer electric ovens for some reason.

I have dual fuel. The range I got was a floor model so it was $1,000. I never would have gone dual fuel otherwise due to expense. My dual fuels range looks just like a normal range and not like one of the high end stoves like Jim is talking about.

The house had an electric stove so it had an electric line already. I added gas to the house and had a gas line put in the kitchen intending to get a gas range. It turns out a dangerous conversion from three wire to four wire was done so I had to run a new correct four wire cable.

[Ted Shrader]

We (me really) recently redid our kitchen. (I built the cabinets from cherry via a SMC source and did all the other plumbing, electrical, flooring, drywall work myself. But that s not wt you asked.)

We chose a Kitchenaid Dual Fuel range with two ovens. The cooktop is gas, the ovens are electric. The larger (bottom) oven is convection. It has been in service now for about 8 months. Dual ovens was a good decision for us. You can do two dishes at the same time at different temperatures. We use that feature! Not all the time, but it is available. Depending on the height of the dish, the top oven gets used since it heats up quicker. We have never encountered a size restriction with the lower oven.

Good luck choosing,
Ted

[Roger Feeley]

In our last house, we had a dual fuel range with gas cooktop and double oven with the smaller one on top. We seldom used the lower one. The small oven was great for 90% of what we did. It heated up in a flash.

For our current house, we got the double oven again. This time we went with an induction cooktop and will never go back to gas. I didn’t like cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the gas cooktop. I was never satisfied with the simmer with gas until I got a simmer plate. The glass induction top heats faster than our gas one did and is a snap to clean.

[Paul F Franklin]

In our last house, we had a dual fuel range with gas cooktop and double oven with the smaller one on top. We seldom used the lower one. The small oven was great for 90% of what we did. It heated up in a flash.

For our current house, we got the double oven again. This time we went with an induction cooktop and will never go back to gas. I didn’t like cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the gas cooktop. I was never satisfied with the simmer with gas until I got a simmer plate. The glass induction top heats faster than our gas one did and is a snap to clean.

Good to hear. We've settled on a dual oven induction range as part of our kitchen remodel. I expect we'll mostly use the smaller oven except when entertaining, which we used to do fairly often and hope to again soon. But even when it's just the two of us, we tend to cook several things on the weekend and have leftovers during the week, so there are plenty of times when a second real oven will get used. We have gas, and could have gone with a gas range or dual fuel, but the air quality issues with gas are a real concern. I trust myself to turn on the vent before lighting a burner and leaving the vent run, but my wife would just never do it.