X
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Frigidaire FPGF3077QF range review: Gas cooking power confounded by quirky controls

Frigidaire's $1,699 FPGF3077QF gas range has lovely looks to match its high price but is held back by a clunky control panel.

Brian Bennett Former Senior writer
Brian Bennett is a former senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET.
Brian Bennett
5 min read

Priced at $1,699, this Frigidaire FPGF3077QF range free-standing gas oven and cooktop sits on the higher end of the stove market. As part of the Frigidaire Professional lineup of kitchen appliances the machine is elegantly crafted from stainless steel and brushed aluminum. Also part of the deal is a powerful and versatile five-burner cooktop, a true European convection oven with its own dedicated heat element , and front-mounted metal burner knobs.

6.6

Frigidaire FPGF3077QF range

The Good

The Frigidaire FPGF3077QF has stylish stainless steel looks and a powerful gas cooktop, plus a convection oven that bakes and roasts evenly.

The Bad

A small touchpanel, dim status lights, and soft preheat chime make the Frigidaire FPGF3077QF tricky to operate.

The Bottom Line

Sweet steel styling and solid performance aren't quite enough to overcome the Frigidaire FPGF3077QF's confusing oven controls.

Unfortunately while the oven is a solid performer, its combination of tiny touchscreen, dim indicator lights, and barely audible alerts make it more enjoyable to admire for its looks than to actually use it. I suggest springing for the $1,649 KitchenAid KGRS306BSS gas range, which for about the same amount of money, also boasts impressive cooking abilities and a more user-friendly interface.

Design and features

Frigidaire certainly takes a minimalistic design approach with its FPGF3077QF range. The machine's blocky frame has the fewest number of lights, indicators, and buttons of any modern stove I've laid hands upon. That's not to say the appliance isn't attractive. Made from sturdy stainless steel on both sharp edges and smoothly rounded curves, the appliance possesses enough premium style to match its "Professional" line brand name.

Enlarge Image
With stainless steel construction, the FPGF3077QF boasts luxurious looks. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Continuing the range's sleek look is a wide back-mounted control panel, also made from brushed metal (aluminum and stainless steel finish), which uses physical knobs to control oven settings. It's an unusual departure from the membrane buttons or touchscreen panels gracing typical free-standing ovens.

Offloading oven controls to these dedicated dials also enables Frigidaire to cut the range's only true touch panel down in size. A tiny black square measuring 5.5 inches (diagonally) placed dead-center in the range's backsplash, this control surface only has room to display a digital clock along with readouts (and keys) for two cooking timers.

The small touch panel is tricky to use. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

What you don't see here is the oven's preheat status in clear temperature increments. Instead, all the oven offers is a preheat light that glows a faint blue while the appliance is ramping up to the temperature you select. Not only is this light (and the oven's other lights -- oven mode, oven temp) very small, they become increasingly dim if viewed from any angle other than head on. The oven will play a soft chime when it reaches the set preheat temperature as well. Unfortunately, this alert is so quiet it can be easily lost among the din of a noisy kitchen.

Another irksome annoyance is that neither timer displays seconds until the countdown drops below the one-minute mark. In addition, if you set the timer for, say, 10 minutes, the readout almost immediately changes to "9" once the timer is started (in actuality, it's changed to 9:59 and so on, but who can tell?). This can create some confusion as to whether it's counting down the correct time or not -- at least, it did for me.

Controlling the oven is managed with physical knobs, not flat buttons. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

The range's cooktop is well appointed, however, with five gas burners of varying heat output to choose from. At the low end is a 5,000 BTU burner (right rear) best suited for melting delicate ingredients such as chocolate and butter. Other options include a 9,500 BTU burner (left front) and a 12,000 BTU burner behind it (left rear).

Enlarge Image
You get five burners including an oval center heating zone. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

The appliance has a high-powered 18,000-BTU burner as well located in the front-right corner of the stovetop. Last but not least is an oval-shaped center burner (rated at 10,000 BTU) that's perfect for griddle duties. Sadly, you'll have to provide your own griddle pan, since unlike other ovens such as the LG LSRG309ST , Samsung NX58F5700 , and KitchenAid KGRS306BSS , the Frigidaire FPGF3077QF doesn't come with one included.

Underneath the cooktop is a 5.6-cubic-foot gas-powered oven which also boasts a fan and dedicated heating element for true European convection baking and roasting. Frigidaire bundles three oven racks as well, two flat and one recessed. The manufacturer also throws in a temperature probe which is designed to sense the internal temp of meats and poultry in real time.

This range abandoned the notion of having a warming drawer entirely. Sitting under the oven cavity instead is a storage drawer where Frigidaire suggests you keep unwieldy pots, pans, and baking sheets.

Performance

I put the Frigidaire FPGF3077QF through its paces, which entailed baking numerous rounds of biscuits, broiling hamburgers, roasting chickens, and boiling multiple pots of water, all under controlled conditions. After which it became clear that this range is a solid but not exceptional kitchen performer.

frigidaire-fpgf3077qf-gas-range-food-glam-shots-5.jpg
Enlarge Image
frigidaire-fpgf3077qf-gas-range-food-glam-shots-5.jpg
The oven roasted a whole chicken quite nicely. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

With the oven on convection roast mode and set to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, I was able to roast a nicely cooked whole chicken. The skin was pleasingly crisp, while the meat, which I let reach an internal temp of 155 degrees Fahrenheit ( I like to live dangerously) was moist and succulent, not overdone. Keep in mind, I let the bird rest for 15 minutes before diving in.

Using FPGF3077QF's big 18,000 BTU burner I was able to bring 112 ounces of water to boil in a quick average time of 11 minutes, 36 seconds. While not as fast as the Electrolux EI30GF35JS (11 minutes, 10 seconds), and Samsung NX58F5700 (11 minutes, 30 seconds), this showing edged out the LG LSRG309ST (12 minutes, 41 seconds) and KitchenAid KGRS306BSS (13 minutes, 33 seconds) on the same test.

Large burner boil (gas models)

Kenmore 74343 9.75Samsung NX58F5700 11.5Frigidaire FPGF3077QF 11.6LG LSRG309ST 12.68KitchenAid KGRS306BSS 13.55Whirlpool WEG730H0DS 14.85LG LRG3085ST 15.17
Note: Time to achieve a rolling boil, in minutes

Boiling 67.2 ounces of water with the range's 9,500 BTU burner took a longer 15 minutes, 6 seconds. This slower time was enough to place the Frigidaire behind the Samsung NX58F5700 (12 minutes, 45 seconds), KitchenAid KGRS306BSS (12 minutes, 55 seconds), but not the LG LSRG309ST (17 minutes, 44 seconds).

Small burner boil test (gas models)

Samsung NX58F5700 12.75KitchenAid KGRS306BSS 12.91Frigidaire FPGF3077QF 15.1Electrolux EI30GF35JS 15.25LG LRG3085ST 17.52LG LSRG309ST 17.73
Note: Time to achieve a rolling boil, in minutes

Likewise, the range was no burger broiling speed demon either. The appliance required on average 18 minutes, 24 seconds to cook batches of six hamburger patties through (145 degrees F). By comparison, the KitchenAid KGRS306BSS (14 minutes, 37 seconds), and Samsung NX58F5700 (16 minutes, 15 seconds) handled the task in much shorter order.

Hamburger broiling test (gas models)

KitchenAid KGRS306BSS 14.62Samsung NX58F5700 16.25Kenmore 74343 16.57Frigidaire FPGF3077QF 18.24
Note: Time to achieve 145 degrees F, in minutes

broil-1-1.jpg
Enlarge Image
broil-1-1.jpg
The oven broiled tasty burgers, but it did it slowly. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Moving on to baked goods, the Frigidaire FPGF3077QF proved very adept at baking biscuits. Whether baking a single or dual rack, using conventional or convection heating, the biscuits I cooked were browned quite evenly.

convection-bake-double-rack-combo.jpg
Enlarge Image
convection-bake-double-rack-combo.jpg
Dual racks of biscuits in convection mode were browned evenly. Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Conclusion

With everything said and done, the $1,699 Frigidaire FPGF3077QF range feels and performs like a dependable convection oven with premium good looks. Its soft chimes, confusing controls, and comparatively steep price, however, make other gas stoves from Kenmore, Kitchenaid and Samsung better deals.

I strongly advise choosing the $1,649 KitchenAid KGRS306BSS if sheer cooking prowess and dead simple controls are high on your wishlist. Another stand-alone gas range I urge you to consider is Samsung's NX58F5700 ($1,699), which for an equal price, offers impressive performance not to mention lots of extra features and accessories. Those who'd prefer to spend a little less yet not sacrifice built quality, usability or cooking speed should look to the $1,400 Kenmore 74343 gas range with convection.

6.6

Frigidaire FPGF3077QF range

Score Breakdown

Design 7.5Features 6Usability 6Performance 7