I haven't used a dual fuel range but I have used both electric and gas ovens, and I think that's the question you're really looking for the answer to.

The big advantage to dual fuel/electric oven is that you get 3rd element convection. That is a ring shaped element around the convection fan. The idea is that instead of just blowing around air heated by top and bottom elements, the convection fan just blows out directly heated air. Supposedly this bakes more evenly. Under most circumstances I've noticed no difference HOWEVER. When I have a ton of stuff in the oven at once and am using multiple racks I've found it bakes more evenly when I'm using the convection fan with the 3rd element.

Other than that, many claim that convection element aside, electric ovens bake much more evenly than gas ovens. Others claim that gas ovens are better for roasting and electric ovens are better for baking. In some situations when I am really asking a lot of my oven I can see that the electric does slightly better (probably because of the 3rd element), but gas ovens have done just as well for the majority of my baking and roasting needs.

My kitchen is all electric so I did not have a choice in the matter, but if I were buying a gas range I probably wouldn't spend the extra for dual fuel. If you know you need the performance edge (and there are some who do) by all means get the dual fuel.

Also consider this: is this replacing an existing range? Do you have 240V power run to the range? If you only have a 120V outlet like most existing gas ranges do, you will need electrical work before you can have dual fuel. Then you'll have to consider even more whether it's worth it.

I hope I can help. We had a dual fuel Jenn-Air for twenty years. When we bought it, it was one of the best brands available. I didn't have any complaints about the gas/electric combo, but I did notice the baking was a bit uneven and things like cookie trays had to be rotated. Whether that was my particular range or the characteristic of the hybrids as a whole, I don't know. It was convection, but I didn't use the convection feature consistently.

We replaced that with an all gas Wolf. We are happy with the all gas, and, yes, it was quite a bit less money than the dual fuel combo. The major difference we notice is that the gas range vents into the kitchen and warms things up considerably. This is great in the winter, but in the summer not so great. In fact, if it is really hot and we don't want to heat up the kitchen any more, we use our electric wall oven.

FWIW, I am a pretty decent cook in most people's opinions, but certainly not by any means an expert or a true cooking aficionado. I don't know as though I can tell the difference between gas and electric for roasting and baking.

Seems like this subject is well covered above. I've been nodding in agreement and have only four additional comments.

First -- and this is actually just emphasizing something needinfo said --- gas ovens vent more heat into the kitchen than electric ones. Do you live where the summers are long and hot and do you want to do much with your oven in the summertime?

Second, within brands, there is a slight difference in problem rates between electric ranges with electric ovens, gas ranges with gas ovens, and dual fuel ranges. For example, CR's annual membership surveys on appliance reliability is showing (IIRC) that GE electric ranges have about a 5% problem rate in the first five years of owernship, the all-gas GE ranges run about 7% and GE's DF models run around 10% having problems in the first five years. What this says to me is that DF stoves are more complex and therefore carry a slightly greater risk of problems. Some folks will look at these numbers and think: "OMG, that means one in ten DF ranges have problems. That's outrageous and nobody should ever buy one!" Others will look at these numbers and say: "Hey, 90% of owners never have a problem and that's great!"

Third, self-cleaning tends to work better in electric ovens than gas ovens. Of course, self-cleaning is anathema for some folks due to the potential for overheating stove electronics. (There is more to toast with DF models.)

Finally, Frigidiare has a couple all-gas model ranges with an electric convection element for "third element" convection functions. (It is 350 watts which is about the same as the third elements in many big-brand electric ovens.) You might want to check out those ranges. IIRC, those ranges run about $1k.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 16:44

"CR's annual membership surveys on appliance reliability is showing (IIRC) that GE electric ranges have about a 5% problem rate in the first five years of owernship, the all-gas GE ranges run about 7% and GE's DF models run around 10% having problems in the first five years"

Very interesting. It just so happens that GE gas/dual fuel ranges are made in Mexico, and the electric ones are made in the USA. No clue whether that has anything to do with it, or if it's just that they're more complicated as you said.

Thank you all for your input - I'm still going back and forth but thinking more of full gas prob with convection. I have to admit, one of my concerns is how much it will heat up the house, but I live in the Pacific NW and it's not super-hot here. And to tell you the truth, I don't use the oven all that much anyway, so I don't know why I'm stressing over this so much. I just want to make a decision and be happy with it!

Then my next big decision is the hood! Want stainless and would like one with fans that aren't super-loud...