GE Profile 30" Range for your Favorite Chef

When you’ve assembled the perfect refrigerator and the perfect dishwasher for the perfect kitchen, you just about have to pick out the perfect range.

Home at the Range

All of the people in my family love to cook, and all occasions at all of our houses involve collaborations at the stove. Cooking is an art, and we are artists! Gas, electric, dual-fuel, convection, we’ve done it all. This has given my family a chance to experience all of the cool features and gadgets out there.

Since this particular purchase was limited to an electric range, we went looking for whistles and bells that we hadn’t encountered before. The search was narrowed to GE, Black or Black with Stainless Steel trim, Dual ovens, and radiant glass surface. After that, we researched the Energy Star models and the features and functions that suited us best.

GE Profile 30 in. Freestanding Double Oven Range

Although the usage of this range is simple, the control panel looks very complicated. The quick & dirty is that this freestanding range has 2 separate ovens and a 4-burner plus warming burner cook top. This means that you can cook a turkey in the lower oven, and whole wheat biscuits in the top oven, while cooking homemade mashed potatoes, French style string beans with almonds, Stovetop stuffing, and homemade turkey gravy on top; all at the same time.

For those more into living vicariously through the spending of others, it seems as if this range has more control pads and knobs than a space shuttle.

Upper Oven Settings:
· Bake
· Broil (Hi/Lo)
· Pizza
· Oven Light
· Self Clean
· Warm
· Help
· Timer/Clock
· Control Lock.
· Start/Clear/Off
· Cook Time
· Delay Start.

Center Display:
· Digital Clock/Digital Timer
· True Temp Settings 1-0

Lower Oven Settings:

· Start/Clear/Off
· Cook Time
· Delay Start
· Bake (Multi/1-rack Convection) /Auto Recipe Conversion
· Roast (Convection)
· Slow Cook (Hi/Lo)
· Bake
· Broil (Hi/Lo)
· Warm
· Oven Light
· Self Clean (Hi/Lo)
· Probe

The knobs on the range face are for the 4 regular burners and the Warming Zone, but they’re even more involved than at first glance.

The first 2 burners (Front & Rear) on the left have their own analog Lo to Hi settings, but they can also bridge each other and work perfect for pancake griddles or stove top grills. The Bridge Burner option also goes from Lo to Hi but independently so you can have the bottom of the grill at low heat and the top at high heat or vice versa or all the same temp.

On the right side there are 4 analog knobs:
· Warming Zone (Lo to Hi)
· Rear (Lo to Hi)
· Front (Lo to Hi)
· Front Burner Adjust
o a tiny knob that adjusts the Front Burner’s size from 6” to 9” to 12”.
Which translates to:
· 1 ea 6 in. ribbon radiant (1500 watts)
· 2 ea 7 in. ribbon radiant, (1800 watts)
· Triple radiant: 12 in./9 in./6 in. (3000 watts)
· Warming zone: 120 watts,
· 1 bridge element (800 watts)


Putting it all together and to good use!

What all of these features mean is that you can get as creative as a collection of cooks can get when they all gather together, or you can use the small 2.2 Cu. Ft. top oven and cook a mean frozen pizza with just the press of a touchpad!
The cook top can handle up to 5 pots or pans at a time. The front right burner has the most watts and versatility, so sometimes when you want to use the higher wattage on a smaller pot or pan and you can select the 6” size.

The larger 4.4 Cu. Ft. bottom oven has three racks and requires a very flexible cook to use the bottom most rack. If you’ve been tasting your own great cooking for many years, you will have to squat or kneel to get to that rack. But, if you remove the top 2 racks, you have enough room for a huge roasting pan or even a 20 lb turkey.

Since both the top and the bottom ovens have Convection baking options, the smaller top oven is the one that normally gets used, unless we have a huge family feeding occasion. The smaller top oven also works as well as a toaster oven, and that freed up some valuable countertop real estate.

Other Facts and Figures

There are 2 very important safety features of the GE PB975SMSS range. First, after you’ve turned off a burner, a light comes on to let you know the surface is still hot. Second, an auto lock happens whenever you use the self-cleaning function. Once this function is underway, if you have to stop it for any reason the lock will not undo until the oven is cool enough.

Installation was fast since a similar oven was removed and replaced with this model. The hardest part was installing the plug you buy separately and that was very easy.

Bugs “What’s Up Doc”

The only flaw that has been encountered is that the top oven rack sticks when the oven is heated and although it hasn’t happened, fighting to get the rack out, there is always the fear of the food sliding off the back of the rack from vibrations.

This isn’t a flaw, but you must use a special radiant glass cleaner to avoid scratching or wearing out your radiant circle marks on the cook top; the manufacturer included Cerama-Brite for our care and cleaning. No scratches have marred our beautiful surface yet.

Recommendations

This freestanding range matches the other new GE appliances so well, that the kitchen is always shown with pride. This oven is a perfect addition to a family of creative cooks.