Funny you should post this thread because we've been looking at gas stoves in the $600-$1200 range over the past month. Learned a lot.
Based on online reviews and comments, we limited ourselves to several brands that seemed more reliable: LG, Frigidaire, Kenmore, Samsung and GE. (some negative GE comments in this thread, not blowing those off)
The Blue Star mentioned earlier, I haven't heard of, and they seem to start at $3500 for their plebian models.
Too rich for my blood, YMMV.
Crosley I would certainly consider but have not seen them on sale anywhere, but we pretty much are limited to big box stores. Where do you find them?
Here are things I've looked at when evaluating ranges. We're looking at a range with controls on the rear not a slide-in with controls on the front. Keep in mind this is in our price range so fancier ones will have better features. But these are things I look at and make notes on.
Finish - they all seem to be SS on the front and black on top. Black sucks - you can't hardly get it clean, it always has a film on it. Got Mom a black stove a couple years ago, hate it. But it is what it is.
Control panel - is it a plastic membrane or a glass touch panel? Most in our price range were plastic but we found a few (Samsung) that are glass. I think it would be more durable. Are the oven controls up and down arrows or 0-9 digit direct entry? Look at extra functions like bread proofing setting.
Burners - check the BTU outputs. Does it have a super high burner for stir frying and a super low simmer burner? Oval center burner - most have them. Some have a built-in griddle for the center that replaces the grate. Most have none or come with a nonstick aluminum one which sucks. I would get an aftermarket cast iron one if my stove didn't come with a built-in one.
Grates - How heavy are they, and do they lock in place well? I saw one Samsung at BB that I liked in all other respects but the grates slid around with very little side pressure - just asking for awkward situations with big pots. What were they thinking?
Knobs - are they metal or plated plastic or a combination? Avoid all-plastic knobs. Partial plastic may be OK but the socket where it goes onto the shaft is where they break so this should be metal.
Oven - Convection? All the ones we looked at were. I did not look at whether they were electric or gas, I'll have to research the dual-fuel thing. How many racks? Some have three. One we looked at had a nice ball bearing full extension one on the bottom for turkeys etc. Only a few in this price range have double ovens, one had a door that would open the upper half only or the whole door, with a removable insulating panel between, so, convertible. But to run them separately they had to be within 15 degrees of each other! Useless. One had a built in temp probe for meat with a built in 1/4" jack inside the oven. Is there a light? Can you turn it on from the panel w/o opening the door? How big is the window?
Bottom Drawer - Used for warming or storage? How chintzy is it?
After doing 10-15 of them, I could look at a range and in 5 minutes write down all its features, pluses and minuses.
Best ones I have seen were a Frigidaire at Nebraska Furniture ($670) and a Samsung at HD ($649). I can post the model #s if you're interested.
One more thing. If you're getting one with gas knobs on the front, make sure they are not too easy to turn on with your hip if reaching over or walking by and that thy can't put out gas without the starter firing up. Read a complaint about fires online, and my inlaws' next door neighbors house almost exploded because of exactly this problem when they were not home. This was in December. Not to be an alarmist but
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