Looks are deceiving with this little red range (pictures)
The SMEG C30GGRU is a red gas range that's easy on the eyes, but hard on the baked goods. Take a look at some of the features of this $3,200 and some of the testing results.
SMEG C30GGRU
The SMEG C30GGRU is a $3,200 freestanding gas range.
What's SMEG?
SMEG is an Italian appliance manufacturer best known for its 1950s-style refrigerators.
Gas cooktop sizzles
The 30-inch wide freestanding range has five burners on its cooktop. The center burner can emit as much as 17,000 BTUs of power.
What's the temp?
Not all common American baking temperatures are marked on the SMEG's oven dial.
More knobs, more problems
The burner knobs are also tricky to use because you have to turn the knob to the center to light some burners.
The convection fan
A separate knob operates the SMEG's convection fan, oven light and defrost feature.
The biscuits don't lie
When I baked two sheets of biscuits while using the convection fan, the top rack of biscuits was always lighter than the rack of biscuits that baked beneath it.
More biscuits, even bigger problems
These biscuits baked in the SMEG at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Some still had raw dough on the inside.
Simmer temperatures
The blue line represents the average temperatures of a can of tomato soup that I heated on the SMEG's cooktop and let simmer for 20 minutes. The temperature gradually increased over time, but not as extreme as the Dacor RNRP36GS, a similar high-end gas range.