GE JS968 Range - Outstanding!

I waited nearly one year to write a review of this range following remodeling our entire kitchen last year. I wanted to test the range in a variety of situations prior to reviewing, as this range performs quite a number of tasks and has a number of features.

Selecting GE appliances is seldom a mistake, given their extreme level of fit and finish. GE also tends to produce long lived major appliances. When selecting a range however, we decided that we would go and look at every manufacturer. We were primarily looking for a smooth cooktop for ease of cleaning, stainless steal skin and an easy and quiet oven door. We were amazed at how few ovens and ranges had quality oven doors! In our tests, only GE and Dacor had smoothly opening, well made doors. Our selection of the GE range over the Dacor came down to our excellent past experience with GE appliances.

First off I must say that the GE JS968 range has met and exceeded every one of our expectations! Each use is a delight as the range is easy to use and very easy to clean. The up front controls make sense, as I never thought reaching over hot cooktop elements was a good idea. The controls are the sealed, soft touch type, which makes them easy to clean. Cooktop controls are standard rotary dial type. I would prefer these to be over the sealed Dacor type for ease of cleaning however.

The controls include selection of oven heating type, convention or standard oven, Broil, Oven Timer and Kitchen Timer. There is also an oven light button on the panel. I have to say, I use the Kitchen Timer often!

Now for the good part! This range really works well! The cooktop heats up very fast, reaching too hot to touch in a few seconds. This is a real advance for those of us who recall the old "coil" type elements. The JS968 has a selectable right front element which can be large or small and a left element which has a "bridge" element between the left front and left rear elements making a very large element for long or large pots. Very clever! There is also a warming element between the right and left elements which is controlled via the control panel.

As for the glass cooktop, we find it so easy to clean that we find ourselves actually cleaning up after ease use! With the old coil type ranges we would have to disassemble the coils and the little drip covers; what work! The flat cooktop really does safe time and it works much better.

The oven cook heats up well but not super fast. The digital temperature display updates quickly and a beep sounds when the oven reaches temperature. Simply set your temperature and the cook time and the oven shuts down and beeps when time is up. Even I can bake with this!

A previous review mentions fan noise when uses the oven. In fact there is some fan noise which is present in ALL convection ovens. The fan makes less noise than a very quiet range hood set on low. The oven also starts a fan when used in regular mode. I am not sure why there is a fan for regular mode baking; however it is not loud at all.


The 3 baking racks reposition easily and smoothly and the door is solid and quiet. The oven light fully illuminates the interior and is turned on and off via a touch button on the control panel. The oven light also turns on automatically when you open the oven door. It does not have the "cheap", clunky feel of most other oven manufactures. When you open this oven door, you feel the quality.

Installation was not overly difficult, and would be easy as a retrofit. In my case I wired the range prior to completing the countertops, which made positioning of the range much easier. I then completed the counter tops and slid the range into place. The range is then secured to the floor and to the wall with an anti-tip bracket. The only difficult part was lowering the range downward using the rotating feet on the range. Using a pair of pliers I was able to slowly turn the feet to lower and level the range into place. The included instructions and installation instructions were generally very good. Packaging was excellent which helped preserve the outstanding appearance of the range during the remodeling process.

Overall the GE JS968 was an excellent purchase and addition to our kitchen. It is easy use, easy to clean and look great! We get many compliments for its appearance and we find ourselves cooking much more!

Update: 12/30/05 - We moved last year and had to leave our GE range behind; it was a key part of our beautiful kitchen remodel (which helped us reap a great price on the sale of our home!) Our new home has a 6 burner Viking gas range. All of my "cooking snob" friends say "oooooooo", I say "you can come over to clean it after each use!" Although the Viking is great for cooking also, I miss our GE! The ease of use, ease of cleaning and fine looks made the GE range a real winner. Certainly a Viking killer!