Frigidaire Oven - double wall Professional series Review

I've had the Frigidaire Gallery double electric convection wall oven (in black) for over 3 years now and couldn't be happier. Keep the operating manual handy--you'll need it daily for the first month, and frequently after that to remind yourself of the steps for things like timed baking or automatic-start baking.

These ovens are electric. Gas double wall ovens are a rarity. However, some cooks believe electric is better (more even) for baking than gas, and gas is best for a cooktop (heats up fast, turns off instantly). This is the setup I have (electric ovens, gas cooktop). If the electricity goes out, you can at least heat stuff up on the cooktop, although that's not much help when you have a Thanksgiving dinner in the oven, a houseful of guests, and the power fails (don't ask!).

Main features (both ovens):

--Settings: convection bake, convection roast, regular bake, broil, and keep warm. The ovens are fast to warm up; a "pre-bake" indicator appears in the control panel, and the oven emits a single beep when it's hot enough. Convection baking (which uses a fan to circulate the air and keep the oven temp even) produces amazing baked goods and no-burnt-bottom cookies. One thing you don't get, however, is that nice crack on the top of a loaf of quick bread; it comes out instead with more of an Elvis pompadour. Convection roasting, on the other hand, is flawless: Moist, juicy meat with a nicely browned outside.

--Convention conversion button. If you've never used convection cooking before, you can enter regular baking time and temp, press "convection convert," and the oven recalculates the whole thing for you.

--Timed baking/cooking. Have a pie recipe that calls for baking at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then 350 degrees for 40 minutes? Program the whole thing into the oven and let it do the temperature-changing work.

--Timed oven on/off (aka delayed baking/cooking). Have a nap before dinner! Put your meal in the oven, program the start time and temp, how long to bake, and when to switch to "keep warm" setting. Obviously you can't leave food in a cold oven all day and tell it to start cooking at 4 p.m., but you can pop a frozen pizza in the oven, run out to pick up a kid at an activity, and come home to a hot dinner. If you're a few minutes late getting back, the oven will keep your dinner warm (or shut off if you're too late.)

--Auto safety shutoff. So you don't unintentionally set your house on fire. Note that this feature can be overridden if you want to use Sabbath mode--a special feature that lets you leave the oven on an extended keep warm. (This lets Orthodox Jews have a hot meal on the Sabbath.)

--Self-cleaning. Two modes, light and heavy. A disadvantage is that you can't use the other oven while you're cleaning one. You'll need to remove the racks before self-cleaning. I've found that regular light cleanings are better than infrequent heavy ones. Definitely don't do a heavy self-clean cycle (phew!) if you can't leave the house windows open for fresh air!

--Three racks per oven. You can get 6 trays of cookies (3 per oven) baking at once. Sometimes it's tricky getting the right rack configuration, but I wouldn't consider this a dealbreaker. With 3 racks per oven, you can usually figure something out.

--Electronic timer. But you can only time one oven at a time.

Wall ovens are great for saving your back (minimal bending over), and because the doors typically are over the heads of small children, I think they're a bit safer than a traditional range if you have small kids. However, they are more expensive, and unless you're having them installed in cabinetry, they don't provide cookware storage. My ovens have a black glass front and handles, so like stainless steel, they show fingerprints. But everything can be wiped down quickly and easily with a damp cloth.

I've had no problems with this oven in more than 3 years and expect many more years of happy cooking.