Whirlpool Electric Range Review: Baking is Better With This Range

Our house started out with appliances I hated. One by one, they were replaced. One of the most recent was our Whirlpool Super Capacity 465 Range. We purchased this fromSears about 2 years ago, and it fast became an indispensable addition to my kitchen. 

Our last stove had taken a beating from the frequent spills. The electric burners were fairly shot and underneath had been stained and cleaned repeatedly. With that in mind, I already knew I wanted one of the Ceramic Glass Cooktops. 

We chose this model because of Whirlpool's reputation, the price, and the ease of use. 

The delivery men dropped it off and my husband hooked it up without any problems. It comes with an anti-tip bracket that needs to be installed. This keeps the oven from tipping over if an adult or child leans on the open door. I unpacked the contents and began reading how to use it. 


CONTROL-PANEL FEATURES: 

The Range's control panel is above the cooktop to the rear. This eliminates the worry of little hands touching the controls. There are four knobs which rotate to control the cooktop as labeled. The clock and timer is digital. Next to the clock are seven indicators which light up to let you know if you are baking, broiling, preheating, cleaning or if you are programming the timer, if the oven door is locked, or if you have to press START. 

The START button is one of 7 push buttons below the clock. The others are BAKE,CUSTOM BROIL, AUTO CLEAN, TEMP/TIME, CLOCK and TIMER, and OFF.


OVEN FEATURES: 

The Range comes with two wire metal shelves that adjust on five different levels to provide better heat and air circulation while allowing you to maximize the Range's capacity. Always adjust these shelves prior to preheating the oven. The directions tell you how to adjust the shelves for best results depending on the food and its size. 

When baking, the cooking element at the bottom of the oven heats up, and when broiling the element at the top of the oven heats up. There is a light in the oven that will come on when the door is opened or when you use the manual switch at the top of the Range. 

When baking, what is nice is that the Range counts down to let you know when it's done preheating, so there is no guesswork. Broiling is a snap, and broiling temperatures can be adjusted so you are not stuck on a high temperature. 

Cleaning the oven is a snap. I sweep out any loose particles and turn it on. This is a 3 1/2 hour cycle automatically, but you can set it for more or less as you desire. You have the choice of taking out the racks or leaving them in, but leaving them in will eventually wear on them if you clean often enough. 

The oven vents near underneath the control panel at the left side of the oven. This area has to be kept clear and anything left near it while the oven is on may inadvertently get hot. 


COOKTOP FEATURES: 

The Cleantop ceramic glass cooktop is the best feature of this Range. When cool, thisRange is an extension of my counter. 

There are four circles on the top which show you the cooking area of each element. Flat-bottomed pots and pans work best with this kind of top. The pots and pans should be matched as closely as possible to the size of the cooking area to prevent damage to theRange. When I turn on the knob, the element immediately lights up and as soon as that area is warm, an indicator light comes on showing me that it's hot. This will stay on afterwards turning it off until the element has completely cooled. 

These surfaces require special care and cleaning, even though clean-ups are much easier that the other models. There is a special chalk-white cleaner that we spread on about once a week, let dry, then wipe off similar to a wax. The top is made of glass, so dropping anything heavy on it can cause it to break. Jiffy-Pop is a no-no since this will scratch the surface.