GE Cafe 30" Stainless Steel Slide-In Gas Range - CGS980SEMSS

This range is a dream to clean! With my old range (black glass top) I dreaded cooking anything that splattered, as I knew I would have a cleaning chore ahead of me. With this range, spills just wipe away. If you use the cleaner recommended by GE, you will have the range looking as good as new in minutes!

My main complaint is the stainless steel cooktop. It is difficult to clean and scratches very easily. The grates are heavy metal and when you move them to clean the stovetop, they can scratch the stainless steel. I cook frequently throughout the day with a large family. The difficulty cleaning as well as unslightly scratching is a big negative if you cook frequently on a daily basis. [...]. This stove would be perfect with a ceramic cooktop. The oven and burners cook very well.

so far everything about the Cafe has been great. We recently used the second (lower)oven while we were cooking in the main (upper) oven. The little oven took a little longer than expected to complete the cooking task but did work well. It is a great option if you are entertaining and need a second oven.

If you want burners with quick, very powerful output, excellent low-temp performance, good grates, a useable grill, large and well-placed controls, a generous oven with a second warmer or different-heat oven, and excellent value for money, this is your stove. It also looks very nice in our no-nonsense, but modern and stylish kitchen. I cook every day, mostly on the burners. Lots of wok cooking, vegetables, seared meat and fish. Occasional large roasts and fowl in the oven, not much baking. Our old stove (I emphasize OLD) was a 1942 Wedgewood with burners that produced 8-inch high blue flames that were fabulous for wok cooking and quick boiling. I spent weeks researching stoves that could compare. Far too many of those pro-look stoves are cosmetic fakes, and far too many are ridiculously overpriced. The GE had more Btu output on the front burners, and better design and operation for home use. Installation was easy. The oven temp is dead on. The oven vent nostrils (and part of the convection fan) are placed low and at the back, which fits our kitchen design and the way I like to cook. The no-stick grill replaces the center grate, and has deep fat channels. When I'm not grilling, I keep the grate on; it makes for a level stove top onto which I can slide pots without having them tip. One thing I wanted was front controls, which are better placed and easier to maintain than top or rear controls. The fat oven handle bars are great for hanging towels in the most convenient location. Oven shelves have lots of adjustment. Caveats. Ignore the numbers on the burner dials. You MUST control burners by looking at the flame height. This is the only feature of the stove that I would call a design defect, and it's minor. I've always adjusted flame height by eye. I'm also not sure whether the screened numbers on the dials won't have rubbed off in five years. The lower oven is electric, but operates on 110v, a blessing since we don't have 220v available. It's useful for heating plates and keeping finished dishes warm, but it doesn't have a lot of height. The center oval burner is designed for grilling. It does not produce a high flame, and I saw some criticism of that in reviews of the CGS 980 and its predecessor. I disagree. For grilling, I want a steady heat that brings the grill up to a controlled and even temperature. The oval shape of the burner accomplishes that. Just give it a bit of extra time to come to temp. Cleaning. Stainless is more work, no question. We knew that going in, and accepted it. Try to use just mild soap and water, because most "cleaners" also damage the finish. Keep the edges of the oven shelves lubed with edible oil (we use canola) as the instructions say, to keep the shelves from binding on their supports.

This stove was worth waiting for GE to bring it out. It has the looks of a professional range [love the chunky knobs], a 5th burner with a griddle pan that fits over it, and a lower 2nd oven. It looks and acts like a more expensive stove.