Mixed Emotions, but Happy Overall

We went to an appliance store to replace our 1995 KitchenAid professional stove with their new model. The appliance rep actually talked us out of the KitchenAid in favor of this Frigidaire. We felt okay about this because the guy works on commission and he was selling us a stove that was $500 cheaper. Here is how we saw it compared to the stainless KitchenAid Architect Series.

THe new KitchenAid top surface is enameled folded steel. The sump (the dip in the top of the stove) is 'very' shallow compared to the Frigidaire, and moreover, the folded steel of the KitchenAid is open at the corners, thus allowing any boiled over foods to leak into the interior of the stove, which is not accessible to clean. The removeable matte grates and very deep sump on the Frigidiare make it a breeze to clean by comparison. The burners are also removeable and dishwasher safe. So essentially you just rip everything off, throw it in sudsy water, and wipe the top surface clean!

Controls: The KitchenAid has all controls in the front, which is great because it means you don't reach over a hot pot to adjust the oven temperature. The Frigidaire has split controls: burner knobs in front, oven touch pad at rear. So not great, but something we thought we could live with. Again, the KitchenAid new model went the cheap route. They replaced the glass panel cover of the old model with a clear plastic cover. Since it is in the front of the stove, there is the risk of a hot pot touching and melting it. Shame on KitchenAid. The Frigidair did this too, but the panel is high up in the rear of the oven, so less likely to get dirty and less likely to be melted. The KitchenAid does have the classic look. Minor LED lights compared to the Frigidaire. I guess FD decided that they needed to look all techy, so they added a whirling fan emblem to indicate convection, multicolored LEDs etc. It makes it look a little to gaudy by my standards, so that is one drawback.

How they work: The one big criticism of the KitchenAid stove that I saw over and over is that the burner grate lifts the pan a good 3 inches above the burners, meaning that a lot of heat escapes around the pots, leading to longer times to boil water. Now it does have a huge 20,000 BTU burner I think, so you can boil a pot of water in 6 minutes, but at what gas expense! I have noticed that the Frigidaire does a great job with its multiple burners. They are set for simmering, boiling, speed boiling, etc. They are also appropriately placed. A 5th burner in the middle of the stove is actually handy for cooking with our 2 year old underfoot. She can't reach the handles of pots, and you also aren't cooking at the far back of the stove where it is hard to peer in or stir. The Kitchenaid has one grate that flips over to be a wok burner, but with a 4 point holder for the wok, it often means a tippy pan. Hey kitchenaid, check out any similar system in a native wok using country and you will see they all have 3 point supports because that is all you need for a stable rounded surface!

The oven: The great thing about our old kitchenAid was that it told the actual oven temperature. So, if you were preheating, it started at 125F and counted up to the preheat temperature then rang a tone to alert you. I assume they haven't done away with this useful feature. On the FD, you set 350 and it reads 350 all the time, with only a tone to tell you when it was preheated. There have been several instances where we sat around because we missed the ding and wondered if it was up to the set temperature. Aside from that, the oven works fine and the convection is great.

The bottom drawer: This is a warming drawer on the 390 model of FD. I will likely never use this because the drawer is currently piled high with pots and pans. We needed the storage. The KitchenAid model had lower storage, but it has shrunk a bit due to a larger oven. That is one complaint with these models. The ovens are larger, which I actually never found problematic before, but the lower drawers are smaller as a result, a big problem if you store a lot of stuff there. If I was doing this over, I'd spend the extra $90 to get the next higher model to the 390EC, it has a 2nd oven. You get all the benefits of a warming drawer, you can store stuff there if you'd like, but you can also in a pinch use it as an oven up to 450F! Plus, it looks a little nicer with the glass door than the the solid stainless door on the warming oven. Hmmm. but would it show all our stored pots and pans? The only other issue with these 2nd oven models is that Frigidaire put the 2nd smaller oven on the bottom. I'd prefer it on the top because I have heard that if you have one of these ovens, for 99% of what you bake, the smaller oven is nicer because it preheats faster and uses less gas to maintain the cooking temperature.

Final call, its a wash. I have to admit that the KitchenAid would have looked a bit more "industrial/professional", but I was worried about the changes they made that cheapened the functionality and ease of cleaning. For $500 less, the Frigidaire is a good buy and one that most people will be happy with. I was assured by the rep at the store that he had sold many of these, was recommending them to friends, and even bought one himself because in terms of cooking results, it was excellent. The only reason to go up to KitchenAid is if you want the name, want some peculiar feature of that model, or want to spend a lot more.