The Kenmore Range in CR's Lab That Just Won't Quit
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Tara Casaregola, the test engineer who oversees Consumer Reports’ cooking appliances lab, has been evaluating ranges for more than a decade. In that time she has broiled thousands of hamburgers and baked at least as many cakes in basic and pro-style models.
One of the best ranges she has ever tested is the unassuming Kenmore Elite 99122, an electric smoothtop model that was sold in white, black, and, yes, bisque, back in 2005. And though it didn’t come in coveted stainless steel, the Kenmore was so good that we kept it.
“Even though we only have space for five to eight ranges in the lab at one time, the Kenmore has earned a permanent spot,” Casaregola says.
The Kenmore Elite 99122 turned in decent enough performance from the burners, heating 6 quarts of water to a near-boil in less than 14 minutes, on par with its peers at that time. It also simmered steadily.
But when it came time to subject this Kenmore range to the more demanding baking and broiling tests, its oven performance really shined. The oven turned out batch after batch of perfect cookies and layer cakes. And the broiler seared as well as the best we’d ever tested—beautifully browning burger patties, replicating results you’d get on a grill and setting a new benchmark for broiling.
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