KitchenAid - 30 in. Wide 4 element 6.4 cu. ft. Self-Cleaning Slide-In Electric Convection Range - Stainless Steel

When we needed to replace an old downdraft electric range, there were few choices. Without a major kitchen remodel, we had no choice but to find another downdraft range. This replaces a 16 year old jenn-aire that was horrible. So really anything was going to seem better. The appearance is high end. The cook top has plenty of room for even large pots. The downdraft works as well as a downdraft can without being overly noisy. The only complaint is that the oven takes a good amount of time to warm up, so plan accordingly if you are baking.

Love it! Easy to clean, huge oven with really sturdy oven racks. The racks slide out for ease of removing dishes without having to reach inside the oven. A bit pricy but do like it.

Getting away from having burners that have to be cleaned and an updated convection oven

Was difficult to install being the downdraft exit was way different than my old unit. But the oven works as good as to be expected. There are a lot of different controls/functions to get familiar with especially the range top. I'd recommend spending the time to read the operating manuel vs trial and error.

If (like me), you find the need or desire to replace your older Jenn Air downdraft slide in range there are several issues to consider and your options are nearly zero. As you may already have discovered there are only two choices for upgrading your old downdraft slide in range and they are Jenn Air, or this KitchenAid. Both are now owned by Whirlpool, are the same size and the Jenn Air comes with an even more outlandish price tag than this range. With that, the "great" minds at whirlpool decided to enlarge the size of the range so that it will not fit in place of your older Jenn-Air downdraft. The counter depth for my older range was cut at 23 1/4" while the counter depth for this range requires a depth of 25" (The full depth of a standard counter). As my old range was installed in a peninsula the shorter depth worked just fine but the purchase of this new range required an additional expense to have my granite counter top cut back. In doing so, the amount of counter left behind the range at the back of the peninsula is now smaller which creates a cracking danger at the back corners. The next issue is the downdraft ventilation exhaust placement. The same "great" minds also changed how and were the vent pipes should be placed. Both the new KitchenAid and Jenn Air models require the floor vent hole to be at the very back of the range in the center while my previous range had the vent more in the exact center. In my case I was able to easily move the vent to the front center which made it work (though I had to show the installer how to do this). The next issue was the electric placement, The electrical outlet had to be moved from where it was previously placed with the old one. I was lucky enough to have just enough play with the wiring to allow this move. if you are placing this range in a peninsula or an island, you will need the Trim Kit which this very pricey range does not include. Without the trim kit you will have a noticeable gap where the back corners of the range are unable to fill into the counter cut-out of the counter. It will also have a gap along the sides of the counter where small crumbs and liquids can spill in between (and because of the downdraft system this is not a range you can just slide out and clean up). In short, I can only recommend this range if you have absolutely have no other options. If you are doing new construction and/or doing a total remodel, I would suggest doing anything in your power to ensure a downdraft system is not used. These things are costly and there are zero alternatives to one of these two (KitchenAid and Jenn Air) and nearly exactly the same Whirlpool owned products.