Samsung NX58K9500WG Slide-In Gas Range Review

Depending on rebate availability this may be a pricey oven, but it has the features and the performance to justify it. Home chefs will enjoy the variety of features and intuitive controls. True convection, which involves both a heating element and a fan (to help with air circulation) means the oven heats evenly. The outstanding results from the cookie, cake, and pork roast tests were a perfect example of why the knowledgeable chef knows the value of true convection.

Features

• True convection—A heated fan system distributes the heat evenly across the oven cavity. • Flexible cooking on the rangetop—The cooktop includes five sealed burners, with a dual-ring center burner. A removable cast iron griddle comes with the range. • Notched cast iron grates—The best position for pots and pans are marked. • A grate for woks—You can easily make a tasty stir-fry with a wok grate that fits around one of the burners. • Probe meat thermometer—Check the progress of your roast without opening the oven door. • Self-clean—The oven offers pyrolytic (heated) cleaning.

Pros

• Adds aesthetic appeal to elevate an updated kitchen. • Cookies were baked to even perfection on both the top and the bottom without using convection. • The pork loin we roasted had slices highly consistent in color on each side, indicating that it was cooked evenly all the way through. • Fast oven preheating (under eight minutes) means you can get started baking sooner.

Cons

• The temperature tests showed that the burners could not get as hot or as cool (for simmering) as burners on other ranges in this price bracket. • Convection baking was not as consistent as standard baking. • The broiler showed a number of hot spots.

What our tests showed

On the cooktop, we measured high and low temperatures, the time it took each burner to boil a pot of water, and examined how evenly a burner could cook a cast iron pan of cornbread. In the oven, we recorded the time it took to preheat to 350°F, baked cakes and cookies, roasted a pork loin, and broiled a tray of toast to map hot and cool spots.

Rangetop Results

Overall, the cooktop was fine. Time to boil 48 ounces (~6 cups) of water The right front burner was the fastest boil, doing the job in 4.6 minutes. Maximum temperature burner reached The 410°F average maximum that we discovered in our tests is low compared to other ranges. The left rear burner was the hottest. Minimum temperature burner reached The 127°F average temperature is not one of the cooler simmers we’ve seen in our tests. The coolest burner was at the right rear. Burner heat distribution The test cornbread cooked unevenly, indicating that there may be hot and cold spots within a given burner.

Oven Results

Overall, the oven knocked it out of the park. Time to preheat Preheating to 350°F was relatively fast; it took less than eight minutes to preheat. Cookies Our testing measures the color consistency and doneness of sugar cookies. The cookies we baked on the standard setting were very evenly baked in the standard bake mode. Convection, on the other hand, baked less evenly. If you want to impress at the next cookie swap, leave yourself enough time to bake the cookies on the standard setting.

Cake We test for even color on the top and bottom of the cake. The test cakes baked pretty evenly, especially the bottoms of the cakes. Cakes baked on convection came out less evenly cooked, but were still perfectly serviceable.

Pork loin In our tests, roasted pork cooked evenly on standard and convection. When we cut the roast in half, the sides were almost perfectly consistent in doneness.

Toast The broiler had multiple hotspots. If you have a toaster, you might want to use it for your morning slice.

Warranty

Samsung provides a one-year parts and labor warranty.

What the users say

The clean design and attractive looks are popular with owners, and so are the integrated griddle and meat thermometer. Owners who wrote online reviews rated it an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

No range is perfect, and this one has some detractors. Yet again, Samsung owners remind us that customer service is not the company's strong suit. If you've come to rely on next-day repair calls and the speedy delivery of replacement parts, this is not the brand for you. We can only hope it improves over time.

Should you buy it?

The Samsung NX58K9500WG has top-notch visual appeal. This model is pricey, but its abundant features and strong oven performance would delight a baker and impress family and friends.

If you’re looking for a comparison with a couple of other impressive ranges, you might choose to go with dual fuel slide-in like the KitchenAid KSGB900ESS, which also has an excellent oven, though a considerably higher price tag.

Or if you’re hot to switch from gas to induction, first read our Induction 101 article guide and then take a look at the Kenmore 95103. It offers near-perfect cooking on the cooktop, bakes very evenly, cleans up easily, and costs less. Remember, though, then switching from gas to induction often requires an electrician to install a 240v outlet before you could use it.

If you're sticking with gas, we think that the Samsung NX58K9500WG's impressive looks, strong oven performance, and useful extra features make it worthy of our top honors.