In affluent circles, some boxy pro-style ranges are more prestigious than others. That's why it wasn't surprising to see Wolf ranges at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York City this spring. The show attracts design enthusiasts and upscale homeowners, among others. But at Consumer Reports, the experts in our labs looked past the styling to see how well Wolf's new GR304 and GR366 ranges simmer, bake, broil and more. Here's what they found.
The Wolf GR366, a 36-inch-wide gas pro-style, was excellent at simmering but so-so at providing fast cooktop heat. The oven is large but baking was mediocre and broiling only fair. For $6,000 you get those familiar red knobs, heavy stainless-steel construction, six burners, including five high power, and an oven with a convection option. But the oven is relatively low to the floor, so it's not very convenient to use the low-rack position or to keep an eye on a baking cake by looking through the oven window. And don't put away your rubber gloves—there's no self-cleaning feature.
The Wolf GR304, $4,900, a 30-inch gas pro-style, didn't fare as well. It was also superb at simmering and so-so at delivering fast cooktop heat, but the oven isn't large and baking and broiling were just fair. There's no self-cleaning option, but there are red knobs, four burners—three are high power—convection, and lots of stainless steel. The oven is also relatively low to the floor. When all our tests were done, neither Wolf range scored high enough to make our recommended list.
If pro-style ranges are for you, see the results of our tests of more than two dozen pro-style ranges from KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Viking, Thermador, and others. Our top-rated 36-inch pro-style range is the KitchenAid KDRU763VSS, $6,000, and the KitchenAid KDRS407VSS, $4,000, topped our tests of 30-inch pro-style ranges. Both models were very good at baking and delivering fast cooktop heat and excellent at simmering. And they both have a self-cleaning feature but the chunky knobs are black.
Our range tests also include everything from $400 electric coil models to speedy induction models, gas ranges and dual-fuel models. And since double-oven ranges are becoming more popular, we've been testing more of them too.
