Best Electric Stoves and Ranges For 2020

I’ve written about appliances professionally since 2012, first as a staff writer at Reviewed.com and now at Wirecutter. In that time, I’ve spent more than 100 hours working on guides to stoves alone, including research into more than 200 different models. I also co-wrote our guide to high-end ranges.

Here’s the research we’ve done for this guide:

• We tracked down as much industry sales and trends data as we could from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Trakline, Yale Appliance + Lighting, and J.D. Power.
• We interviewed repair technicians from Maine and Las Vegas, and we interviewed both the CEO and resident chef of an appliance store in Boston. (We also spoke with a number of other chefs, appliance experts, and designers for our guide to the best high-end ranges, which gave us some further context).
• We spoke to product engineers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as well as product representatives from the likes of Whirlpool and Gaggenau, among others.
• We spent time at showrooms getting a feel for the build quality and sturdiness of some of the most promising models.
• We read through hundreds of owner reviews and reader comments to identify any reliability problems or real-world quirks.

To be clear, we don’t do our own hands-on performance testing, But even those sites haven’t tested many major cooking appliances recently. In the past, we’ve made sure to read performance reviews of the models we consider recommending, but we barely found any for the most current models. Our picks are based primarily on research and reporting along with some time pressing the buttons, turning the knobs, and opening the doors in appliance showrooms.

If you need an affordable electric stove, this guide is for you. We focus exclusively on radiant-electric stoves (or ranges, the terms are interchangeable) that are 30 inches wide (the most common size in the US) in a freestanding design (with finished sides and a backguard, so you don’t need to install it between cabinets). These stoves usually cost less than $1,000.

If your kitchen has a gas connection, you’ll probably want a gas stove instead. If you’re willing to spend more money on a stove that looks nicer or has more cooking features, you could consider a slide-in range (which look sleeker), a double-oven range, or even an induction range (which use electric power but cook much faster than radiant-heat models). We’re working on guides to all three categories, but we don’t have recommendations just yet. We’re also working on guides to wall ovens and standalone cooktops. And if you have a big budget and want a statement piece for your kitchen, we have a guide to high-end, pro-style ranges

Any stove will cook your food. But after talking to a bunch of experts and comparing more than 60 models, we think that these are the most important features in a freestanding electric range:

Cooktops

Any decent range will have, at a minimum, a 2,400-watt power burner, but you can expect up to 3,300 watts on nicer models. The stronger burners heat up your cookware faster, so you’ll save a couple of minutes waiting for water to boil or for a pan to get hot enough for a good sear. Most readers have told us that they prefer to have the strongest burners in the front row of the cooktop for easier access, and a few manufacturers have told us their own research shows that most stove-buyers have the same preference. But we’ve heard from a few people who would rather have one strong burner in the back row, so that they can boil water where kids can’t reach the pot.

Most ranges have a 1,200-watt simmer burner and a low-wattage “keep warm” zone where you can hold or melt without risk of scorching anything.

Flex-width elements are pretty common. They add some flexibility by allowing you to choose between two or three different element “sizes” to match the width of the pot or pan you’re using.

Any stove that costs more than $600 should have a smooth-top surface. These are much easier to clean than exposed-coil elements. They look sleeker and make it easier to work with large pots and pans. (However, this type of surface does scratch more easily.)

We strongly prefer cooktops that you can control with movable, physical dials rather than buttons, because they’re just easier and more responsive.

Ovens

Capacity matters, but almost every oven we found is larger than 5 cubic feet, which is big enough for a giant, 26-pound Thanksgiving turkey, a 16-inch pizza stone, or all but the very largest baking sheets or roasting pans.

Any stove you find will come with two oven racks, but with pricier models, we like to see three.

If you’re spending more than $600 on an electric range, you should expect it to have a convection cooking mode. This feature, if you choose to use it, turns on a fan at the back of the oven to spread heat evenly so that you can cook at lower temperatures for less time. When it works well, large batches of cookies will bake more evenly, pastry crusts will come out flakier, and roasted meats and veggies should be crispier on the outside and juicier on the inside. Many electric convection ovens have an extra heating element near the fan, which (allegedly) makes temperatures even more consistent throughout the oven. Depending on the brand, it’s usually called true convection or European convection.

You should also expect some type of self-cleaning if you’re spending more than $600. Most models use really high temperatures to burn off filth, but some use steam. We’ve read too many user reviews slamming steam-clean modes as virtually useless, so we favored high-heat methods. Having both options, though, is even better. For the same reason we like physical dials to control the cooktop, we like to see number pads for inputting temperatures and cook times in the oven.

Build quality and design

The more finish options there are, the more flexibility you have in outfitting your kitchen. We gave a slight preference to those with at least three options, one of which should be stainless steel.

For the models we were able to check out in a store, we looked for knobs that felt securely fastened to the range, without too large a gap between the dial and the body. We checked for oven doors that opened smoothly but not too lightly, racks and drawers that glided, and a tightly laminated control panel. (All of the units we saw were floor models, so they may have seen more wear and tear than a range in a typical house.)

Reliability and customer service

Reliability and customer service are difficult to pin down. But here’s the standard we’ve set for our picks: Owner reviews shouldn’t reveal any clear, consistent pattern of widespread defects, design problems, or egregiously bad product support. For this reason, we favored slightly older and more-popular models because they tend to have more user ratings, so we know more about them.

Over our years of reporting on appliances, we’ve also gathered feedback from repair technicians about the brands that they think are the most reliable. But it’s highly anecdotal and not very consistent, so we don’t weigh it too heavily in our decisions unless there seems to be a consensus about a brand or product.

Less-important features

A wok grate, temperature probe, or any other cooking accessory can be cool and useful, and many ranges come with one or more of these as a toss-in. But you can buy any of them separately, too.
Extra cooking modes like delayed starts, food-specific presets, or scan-to-cook modes are all fine, but we doubt that most people ever use them. We didn’t go out of our way to avoid models with these kinds of cooking modes, because they’re hard to avoid, but we didn’t favor them, either.
Wi-Fi connectivity won’t baste the turkey or turn the cookie sheet. It can make it easier to diagnose malfunctions in the range, which is moderately useful. Some models allow you to control the oven settings with voice commands, though we’re not convinced that’s useful enough to offset the potential security and privacy risks of having a connected appliance. Not too many freestanding ranges have Wi-Fi yet, anyway.

Our pick

GE JB750SJSS

The best electric stove

This GE offers the best balance of build quality and cooking features in an affordable electric range, and it’s available in more finishes than most.

Plenty of freestanding electric ranges have great features and are reasonably priced. But we like the GE JB750 a little bit more than the rest. Its cooking features are as complete and convenient as you’ll find, and as far as we can tell, it should be sturdy and reliable. Plus, it’s available in six finishes, which is the most we’ve seen in any freestanding range. The only problem we noticed that was unique to this range was the backguard, which felt a little flimsy and hollow.

GE JB750’s cooktop is versatile and well-designed. We like that its two strongest heating elements are in the front row, at 3,100 watts and 3,000 watts. Those elements will boil water or heat up a pan as fast as anything at this price. Roughly speaking, it should boil a gallon of water in 8 or 9 minutes, depending on the type of pot.

Both elements have a dual-zone, flex-width design to accommodate pots and pans of different sizes. There are also two 1,200-watt elements in the back corners (handy for steady simmering) as well as an 80-watt “warm zone” in the center (ideal for melting butter or keeping a pot of rice warm). All of this is found on a smooth-top glass-ceramic surface, with an indicator light that lets you know if the cooktop is too hot to touch

While not the largest we’ve seen in a range this price, the JB750’s 5.3-cubic-foot oven is still big enough to cook a 26-pound Thanksgiving turkey or fit a big, 15-by-20-inch baking stone. We don’t think anyone will want for much more space.

The oven also has a “true” convection mode (meaning that it has an extra heating element near the air-circulation fan), three racks, a number pad for setting temperatures and cook times, and two self-cleaning modes (high-heat and steam).

We looked at a showroom model of the JB750 at a Lowe’s in Portland, Maine, and were impressed by the build quality. We don’t want to draw too many conclusions from a unit that’s been out in a store, because it’s not used as it would be in a house. But the control panel was built flush into the backguard, the door wasn’t too light or too heavy, and the racks and storage drawer slid smoothly in and out. The knobs felt securely attached to the control panel, too.

Owner reviews for the JB750 are a little bit better than most other ranges at this price. On Home Depot it earned an average of 4.5 out of five stars, with 91 percent of owners giving it at least four stars.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The only clear trend among negative reviews for the JB750 is that the cooktop surface dents and scratches easily—but that’s the case with every freestanding electric range. Look up one- and two-star reviews for any glass-ceramic cooktop and you’ll find the same complaints. The alternative is to get a stove with open-coil elements, but these are ugly and hard to clean, and not worth it. When you’re cooking with heavy or textured pans, like a cast-iron skillet, just be careful about how you slide them around the smooth surface.

Our one complaint about the JB750 is that the backyard felt a bit flimsy. It gave way ever so slightly as we tested how securely the knobs were attached. It’s not a serious issue, though it does make the stove feel a little cheap.

Runner-up

Frigidaire FGEF3059TF

Similar features, fewer reviews

This Frigidaire has similar features as the GE JB750, though it hasn’t been available as long so we know less about its reliability.

On paper, this Frigidaire has a couple of minor advantages over the GE, though they’re not meaningful. Its oven has a larger total capacity (5.7 cubic feet, up from 5.3 cubic feet on the GE) because the cavity is about two inches taller, but we’re hard-pressed to think of a real-world situation where that is useful. The backguard also feels a little sturdier than the GE’s, but it doesn’t affect the performance or reliability.

That said, the Frigidaire doesn’t have any serious disadvantages, either. It only comes with two oven racks, but you can buy an extra for about $50 if you want it. The power burners (3,000 watts) aren’t quite as strong as the GE strongest element (3,100 watts), while the “keep warm” zone (100 watts) doesn’t drop quite as low (80 watts on the GE). But neither of these things should significantly affect the way you cook.

The most notable difference is that the Frigidaire only comes in two finishes: stainless steel (FGEF3059TF) and black stainless (FGEF3059TD). That’s compared to six different finishes for the GE.

Otherwise, the Frigidaire FGEF3059T is quite similar to the GE JB750. The smooth-top cooktop is laid out similarly. The oven has two self-cleaning options, including a high-heat mode, and it has a convection-cooking mode.

On Home Depot, the FGEF3059T has an average of 4.5 stars out of five, with 92 percent of owners giving it at least four stars. It has far fewer owner ratings than the GE JB750, so we’re not quite as confident in the Frigidaire’s quality and reliability, but so far there’s no evidence of any widespread problems. We did not have a chance to check out the FGEF3059T in person, but we did try out the gas-powered version, the FGGF3059T. We found it to be a sturdy range and recommended it as our runner-up pick in our guide to freestanding gas stoves.

Budget pick

GE JB645DKWW

Cheaper but still great

GE makes a lot of great cheap ranges, and this one has the best features for the price.

If you don’t want to spend quite so much on a new electric range, we’d recommend any GE model that fits your budget. They all have great features for the money, with above-average owner ratings. We think that the GE JB645 is a particularly good deal.

The JB645 is only missing a handful of features compared to the pricier JB750. The oven doesn’t have a convection mode, so you’ll have to stick to conventional oven cooking. The cooktop doesn’t have a warming zone, so you’ll have to pay closer attention if you’re trying to melt something or keep a pot warm.

The largest element on the cooktop is only 9 inches in diameter, down from 12 inches on the JB750, so wider pans will not get direct heat all the way out to the edges. The control panel doesn’t have a number pad, just up and down arrow buttons. And it only comes in five finishes instead of six (no black stainless).

Compared to other ranges at this price, the JB645 has great specs. It’s uncommon to see two 3,100-watt elements on such an affordable stove. It also has a high-heat self-cleaning option, which is not guaranteed at this price, either.

We had a chance to check out the JB645 at a Lowe’s in Portland, Maine, and found everything to be sturdy and well-built. The plastic knobs turned smoothly, without too much give. The door was lightweight but not too light. And the racks and storage drawer slid in and out smoothly.

The JB645 has nearly 3,000 owner reviews at the time of writing, with an average rating of 4.5 stars out of five, and 91 percent of reviews giving it at least 4 stars. There are the usual complaints about the cooktop getting dirty or scratching too easily, but you should expect that risk with any glass ceramic cooktop.