As I said in last weeks Thermador review, we will be looking at the most popular appliances and review them individually against their competitors.
This week is the Jenn-Air JGRP430WP pro gas 30-inch range. We will break down the features and compare against Wolf, Miele, Thermador, and BlueStar.
You will be able to better understand the range and the category. By the way, popular doesn’t necessarily mean it is right for you and your family. It is important to always understand how you will be using your new stove. There is no one best product in any category for everyone.
First, we will briefly look at the brand.
Early in my career, Jenn-Air was the premium American high-end brand along with Thermador. They were the first to market with downdrafts and convection
Then, they were purchased by the then imploding Maytag brand and laid dormant for almost 10 years.
In 2007, new owner Whirlpool spent 300 million reanimating the brand, mostly on this range and a new line of wall ovens
You are about to learn if 300 million was well spent in this 2-minute video. Included is a feature-benefit analysis along with competitor comparisons.
Transcript:
The Jenn-Air Professional 30-inch Range is fairly new, being around for only about 5 years. It has some interesting technology. We will review some of their best features and compare Jenn-Air to some other popular professional ranges like Thermador, Wolf and Miele.
Starting from the top you have one powerful 20,000 BTU burner, along with 2 15,000 and one at 5,000 for simmering. Comparing Jenn-Air to the other brands, Thermador has all 18,000, Miele has 3 at 19,000 BTU. Wolf also has three burners over 15,000 on their burners.
Their simmer is decent at 850 BTU, but does not compare to the Thermador 200 BTU or Wolf 500 BTU. So the top is just ok.
However, the control panel is a user-friendly full-color LCD touch screen. It allows you to control the normal oven modes and time of day.
It also has Auto Convection Conversion, which can convert your normal recipe to a convection recipe automatically. In terms of oven control, Jenn-Air is very good. Only the is more robust with automatic controls for just about anything, including bread.
Jenn-Air also has twin convection, allowing for more even heat distribution than just a single fan. Twin convection has become the standard for luxury brands like Wolf and Miele. However, in all gas, only Miele and Jenn-Air offer twin convection. In a dual-fuel system, the convection works differently.
The Jenn-Air all-gas model is self-cleaning, and Miele is the only other manufacturer to offer that. In fact most professional gas ovens like BlueStar, Capital, and most Vikings, even Wolf and Thermador are not self-cleaning.
In terms of price, Jenn-Air would be the best value at $3,999 plus a $1300 credit towards your next Jenn-Air appliance. The Jenn-Air pro is competitively priced, even for something like a high-end gas slide-in range.
[Should you buy a Jenn-Air?]
Jenn-Air may not be the hottest stove on the market, but with good technology and twin convection. It may be one of the best values.
See more details about the Jenn-Air JGRP430WP
Additional Resources
Want to learn more about professional ranges? Get the Yale Pro Cooking Buying Guide with features, specs, BTU outputs and detailed profiles of every brand like Wolf, Thermador, GE, BlueStar, Jenn-Air, Viking and more. Well over 195,000 people have read a Yale Guide.
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