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crl_

I like my Frigidaire induction range! Thank you.

crl_
11 years ago

X-post with kitchens

Thank you all for steering me to induction and for helping me narrow down my choices we have had the Frigidaire induction range for a cople of months now and I really like it a lot!
We needed to stay in the under 2k price category, which eliminated Viking and Electrolux and the more expensive GE. I wanted the self cleaning oven feature to work decently, which eliminated Maytag and Whirlpool. I dislike the GE styling in the lower end ranges so I eliminated those. It came down to Samsung and Frigidaire. I chose Frigidaire because I prefer the burner controls on the back panel rather than on the cooktop surface--especially with a curious toddler who likes to push buttons in the house.

I am no gourmet cook, but the induction burners boil water amazingly fast and offer a lot of control for lower temperatures--faster to adjust than gas, IMO. The oven is nice and big and has baked muffins and cookies evenly. I have not used the lower drawer yet so I can't comment on that.

I also find the induction range top easy to clean. I tend to wipe it down with the damp dish towel after I am done doing the dishes for the night. Everything has wiped up so far with no need for cleaners even.

Thanks again!

Comments (15)

  • angiebangie
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is very good to know! I just installed the Frigidaire hybrid induction slide in range last week. I'm not afraid to admit that I made my decision largely based on those big knobs on the front. :). I love the performance so far, and its not too hard to keep clean.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    angiebangie, when you've had it a while would you please give it a full review here? T

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    CRL:

    Good to hear you got this resolved.

    Can you describe the burner layout on the Frigidaire induction range. My recollection was tht it had one large burner at the right front and another at the left rear. Is that correct?

    Also, can you bridge burners with a rectangular griddle? Some stoves permit this but others do not. Of course, this matters to some folks but not others. My recollection is that the WP/Maytag manuals forbad doing so. Cannot recall what, if anything, Frigidaire had to say about it,

    And FWIW, Samsung has stopped offering the FTQ model which had the cooktop controls on the cooktop where little fingers might reach them too easily. The current NE59x models all have backsplash touchpads.

    Angiebangie:

    I'll second writersblock: please do give us a report.

    When I was stove shopping, I liked the Frigidaire hybrid's knob controls and what seemed to be a lighter colored cooktop surface. Also, the stove seemed to look almost white, at least in the store. I liked the look.

    I was put off by the burner arrangements which (I think) were two 1.8kWH induction burners and three standard radiant burners. The induction burners seemed a little small and underpowered, at least for me. I tend to cook with larger diameter pans, boil big pots of pasta water and run canning kettles, so my perspective may be different than others' views or wants. I'll be interested to hear how they work for you. Also, I was not sure how I would like cleaning or dealing with the radiant electric side. Preferences on radiant electrics are divergent, to say the least.

    I'm sure others will be curious about how the stove works out for you.

    This post was edited by JWVideo on Thu, Feb 7, 13 at 4:00

  • angiebangie
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The reason I went with the hybrid is because I there are several pieces of cookware that I didn't want to get rid of, specifically a stainless wok and my old fashion pop corn popper. I anticipate mostly using the induction side, as I primarily use my Le Creuset Dutch oven and cast iron skillets.

    The outside is stainless with a small amount of black visible on the sides, and has the smudge resistance finish (fantastic!!!!) The control panel is stainless colored plastic, which one reviewer complained about. I think it looks fine, and actually just now noticed it when I went back to look at what the previous reviewer was talking about. The controls are all very easy to understand and operate. The oven has a lockout feature to prevent small hands from operating the stove. Power preheat works very well; 350 degrees in 5.5 minutes. So far I've only roasted a chicken and heated up frozen fries and chicken nuggets (I refuse to use the chicken nugget button), but it all came out just fine. Today I plan on using convection to make cookies.

    The cooktop has 2 7.5 inch radiant hobs with a bridge. Total length including the two radiant hobs and the bridge is 17 inches. The third radiant hob is just for warming and will likely never be used here. The rear induction hob is 6 in and the front is 10.75 in. I have used all o ft he burners and they all work just fine. The rear induction burner is perfect for my small cast iron skillet, and the front induction hob is perfect for my Dutch oven and larger cast iron skillets. The only problem I foresee is needing to cook with 2 larger pots at the same time, but I'm sure I can make use of the advantium in some way if that ever pops up.

    I have been using Weiman cooktop daily cleaning spray, Weiman cooktop cleaning cream, and Weiman buffing pads to clean it. It cleans up easily, but it does take a bit of elbow grease to get rid of the streaks. I don't know how this compared to other ceramic cooktops, as this one replaced a fugly white coil freestanding range.

    Some of the reviews complained about the cooling fan blowing out from under the cooktop, this bothered me for about 2 minutes. I really don't notice it anymore, but I can see how it might be annoying to some. I also have noticed a slight clicking noise with the rear induction burner, but I think that's normal. It's not loud, and certainly would not be a reason to a void this range.

    Installation was very straightforward. The only issue I have now is the 2 inch gap between the back of the range and the wall. I'm trying to find a solution besides ordering the expensive rear filler kit from Frigidaire, but I think I'm about to just cave and order it.

    I'm a stay at home mom and certainly not a professional cook, but I would be happy to answer any other questions. Overall I am happy with the hybrid. My only complaint is that the clock time displays when using the "bake time" function instead of displaying a countdown timer showing how much time is left in the cooking. "Bake time" will turn the oven off when cooking is finished, but so far I haven't found a way to display the count down. There is a "timer" function that does show the countdown, but it doesn't turn the oven off when finished. I have been setting both timers, but that is really kind of a pain.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you for the detailed info.

    I don't know the answer to your oven question, but let me offer a suggestion for pre-heating the oven and convection which you may not be familiar with. This comes from my having been using convection ovens since the previous century. (He-he, I love saying that.)

    I would let the oven pre-heat for at least 20 minutes before baking cookies. On most new stoves, the prehat signal is only reporting the heat of the oven air and make it seem as though the oven is fully preheated. However, the compartment walls & etc. are not fully preheated and they play a big part in heating for baking. At five minutes, your oven is probably still doing a lot of cycling. Set the oven to, say, 350F. In 6 minutes, the oven thermoprobe reports 350F. Maybe the oven elements shut off. But, then the air cools a bit. The elements come back on and heat up to say 375F, and then shut off. When the air cools back to, say, 330F, the elements come on again. It usually takes about four or five cycles before the oven temp is pretty stable. My experience is that, on most recent ovens, a full preheat takes at least 20 minutes. Some take more time than that.

    Another thing to be aware of is that many current electric ovens will run both the broiler and bottom elements for pre-heating. So, there may be a bit of risk to putting cookies in too early in the pre-heat cycle. When the oven has not fully preheated, the upper tray of cookies can over-brown or burn from the broiler. At some point, the programming will tell the stove to use only the bottom and third (rear) heating element. I do not know when that happens with your Frigidaire. Maybe that happens when the oven gives you the pre-heat signal, but maybe it switches off later.

    Giving it the 20 minutes avoids any those problems and a properly preheated convection oven can sure make it easier to turn out racks and racks of evenly baked cookies.

  • angiebangie
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, I had no idea! Thank you! Luckily, I was too busy to bake today, so I didn't waste any precious cookie dough.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, angiebangie!

  • crl_
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Frigidaire has four different size burners. Biggest is right front, next biggest is left front, next is left back, smallest is right back.

    I do not believe bridging is allowed, which is a downside for me.

  • stir_fryi SE Mich
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What about the Kenmore? Or is that not

  • crl_
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have had horrible costumer service from sears on both coasts. So I didn't even consider the kenmore and I have no idea about its price or configuration.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    crl_ and angiebangie, when the awful kitchenaid induction noise video thread was going on, I noticed this video in the sidebar on that page. Although nobody was complaining about the noise in this one, it sure seemed like the induction burner on the frigidaire was pretty noisy. Are yours like this?

    Here is a link that might be useful: frigidaire hybrid comparison

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Last time I looked, there was the Kenmore induction range that has been discussed in postings here at GW, which is a rebadged Electrolux free-standing range, that (I think) is priced at around $2700. There is now another Kenmore for about $2K which looks like it might have been made for Sears by either Whirlpool or Samsung.

    As for horrible customer service, that's A&E Appliance Service, which is a Sears subsidiary/spinoff. There is a long thread here about it's dismal reputation. But avoiding Kenmore products may not avoid A&E since a number of maunfactueres have been outsourcing warranty service and often have contracts with A&E. Seems to vary somewhat by region or store.

    This post was edited by JWVideo on Sat, Feb 9, 13 at 15:58

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I watched the "hybrid" video and am not sure what to make of the noise level. It seemed very pronounced when PB (power boost) was dialed in. It seemed to almost disappear when the presented dialed the setting down below 7.5. I found the humming-buzz really annoying.

    But, as a professional videographer, I also had to wonder how much of the noise level was an artifact of holding an inexpensive consumer video camera close to the pots with no way to disable the audio auto gain controls (AGC). What puzzles me is that the buzzing seemed to be partially drowned out by the sound of the water boiling. The sound of the water boiling seemed seemed much louder to me than the sound of boiling water that I hear in my own kitchen. Audio AGC ramps up the recording volume when things are really quiet and dials it down as the noise level goes up. It can seriously exaggerate relative sound levels.

    The presenter did mention that he heard the noise and said (as others have in commenting on the KA induction units) that you don't hear it when the range fan is on. That suggests to me that the induction modules on that Frigidaire cooktop are indeed noisy though perhaps not a noisy as it might have seemed from the video.

    I've got a portable countertop induction unit (Max Burton 6200) which produces a bit of a ringing-humm when set to high with smaller pans. It is at a frequency that I personally find annoying, but it goes away as the pan heats up and it is nowhere near as loud as the level seemed in that video.

    I'll be interested to hear what angiebangie reports.

  • crl_
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My Sears service issues have included bad experiences on the phone and in the store when trying to purchase as well as post purchase service. So I just refuse to have anything to do with Sears and appliances at this point. (I admit that I still frequently shop Lands End online which is now part of Sears so I can't claim I boycott Sears altogether).

    As far as noise on my range, there is a definite humming, for lack of a better word, for the burners. It is mostly noticeable when I first start the burner, especially on high. Otherwise I don't really notice it. Of course, I have two kids and a dog so my house is never all that quiet to begin with. The oven preheat is also somewhat noisy compared to the GE gas range I used immediately prior to this one. Neither one bothers me, but if you have a quieter house and/or are more sensitive to noise, ymmv.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, crl_.

    JWVideo, yes, I found the overall sound puzzling in that video, too, which is why I'm really interested to hear from people who are actually using one on a daily basis. Based on the video I think I would stick to radiant, but as you say, it's hard to tell how much what you're hearing in it reflects what your ears would hear if you were standing there.