Best and Worst Pro-Style Ranges From Consumer Reports' Tests

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If you’re considering a high-end kitchen remodel, you’ve probably already considered a pro-style range as the centerpiece. But the stakes are high when shopping for a pro-style range. That’s not only because of the steep prices—some cost upward of $7,000—but also because nobody wants to spend $50,000 or more on a dream kitchen only to discover that the shiny new pro-style range takes forever to boil a pot of water.

As a group, pro-style ranges notoriously look better than they cook. Many of the models in our ratings can’t bake evenly and struggle to simmer water. For the models currently in our pro-style range ratings, their Overall Scores go from a high of 76 all the way down to 33.

More on Ranges
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Best Ranges of the Year
Best Gas Ranges of the Year
Most and Least Reliable Pro-Style Range Brands

Suffice it to say that even among pro-style models, price doesn’t correlate with performance when it comes to ranges.

“We see conventional ranges under $1,000 near the very top of our performance ratings,” says Tara Casaregola, the CR engineer who leads testing of ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens. And just as often there are pro-style ranges at five times the cost that fall flat.

But while our tests routinely confirm that shelling out big bucks for a pro-style range won’t guarantee top performance, we get it that the look and feel have appeal. Some folks want a pro-style range anyway, so let us at least steer you in the right direction.

How We Test Ranges

Our testing procedures call for a healthy mix of carefully calibrated tests and hands-on baking to get a feel for what a consumer would experience at home. We measure how fast the biggest burners heat water and how steadily they simmer. We record temperatures throughout the oven cavity and confirm results by baking cookies and cakes and analyzing the evenness of the color when they’re finished. (Here at CR, we bake an average of 200 cookies per month.)

The market for pro-style ranges has been dominated for years by brands including Viking, Wolf, Thermador, KitchenAid, Dacor, GE Monogram, Kenmore Pro, Jenn-Air, Miele, and American Range. But recently we’ve seen a new subclass of pro-style range emerge. There are brands competing to bring pro-style to consumers at a more reasonable price, often with 30-inch models under $3,000. We test these models as well, from the likes of Smeg, NXR, Bertazzoni, Thor Kitchen, Kucht Pro, Haier, and Verona.

If you’re wondering whether a pro-style range is right for you, start with our range buying guide. CR members can read on for three of the best pro-style ranges from our ratings, in both 36- and 30-inch widths. Plus, scroll down to the end for a glimpse of two pro-style models to avoid.

Best 36-Inch Pro-Style Range

Best 30-Inch Pro-Style Ranges

Two Pro-Style Ranges to Skip

These two ranges can be found near the bottom of our pro-style range ratings and aren’t worth the money, according to CR’s experts.

Paul Hope

As a classically trained chef and an enthusiastic DIYer, I've always valued having the best tool for a job—whether the task at hand is dicing onions for mirepoix or hanging drywall. When I'm not writing about home products, I can be found putting them to the test, often with help from my two young children, in the 1860s townhouse I'm restoring in my free time.
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