Electrolux EW30IS65JS 30-Inch Electric Induction Slide-In Range

The stainless-only appliance also features many of the conveniences modern consumers expect from an upper mid-range product. The Wave-Touch control panel displays only the relevant features to reduce clutter, while the Fresh Clean cleaning process does away with the offensive odor that usually accompanies oven cleaning. With all these features and performance to match, the EW30IS65JS seems like a sure thing, but is it worth its steep price?

Design & Usability

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Kitchen sink included (not really)

Electrolux certainly didn't skimp on features when they built the EW30IS65JS. The range has more bells and whistles than the Rio Carnival, albeit in a far more conservative package. Along with the gentle ramp-up Luxury-Design lighting, the appliance also features two Luxury Glide oven racks. Thanks to clever ball bearing use, they really do glide out effortlessly. The range itself, with its elegant stainless steel frame, black front, and striking cobalt blue interior is a prime example of transitional design, and should look great in most kitchens. A unique catalyst design is supposed to keep the pyrolitic self-clean feature from stinking up the kitchen, as it absorbs the smell of burning-off grime at lower temperatures.

{{photo_gallery "Vanity", "A Profile", "Rangetop Controls", "Oven Controls", "Rangetop 1", "Burners 2", "Burners Cleaning", "Racks", "Upper Oven Detail", "Oven Detail", "Lower Oven Detail", "Lower Oven", "Drawer",}}

The EW30IS65JS features a Wave-Touch control panel, which, until activated, hides all the control options behind an otherwise pitch black panel surface. Additionally, the control panel assists the user by only displaying the available options for the selected setting. For example, suppose you were to broil a steak. Selecting the Broil setting would deactivate and hide any options associated with baking, essentially providing users with a cooking roadmap. The Wave-Touch panel is a welcome addition, and makes managing the huge number of available options a less daunting task. The EW30IS65JS features seven standard cooking modes: Bake, Broil, Convection Bake, Convection Broil, Keep Warm, and Slow Cook. There's also as a few more esoteric features such as Perfect Turkey, Defrost, Dehydrate, Bread Proof and three custom "My Favorite" settings.

Rangetop

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Think induction is overrated? Well think again.

Unsurprisingly for an induction rangetop, the EW30IS65JS offers amazing boiling and simmer performance. Electrolux boldly touts a 90-second boil time, and based on our time with it, that number isn't far off. When using six cups of water, we recorded a blisteringly fast two minute boil from the primary burner. Need to steam some veggies while you boil your rigatoni? Worry not: The remaining burners were equally impressive taking between three and five minutes to boil the same amount of water.

Impressive boiling speeds aside, when looking at the EW30IS65JS rangetop's maximum and minimum temperatures, we must confess mild disappointment. We are not sure if this is the result of safety throttling on Electrolux's part or a performance issue, but we have seen better results from induction cooktops. The primary burner had a perfectly respectable maximum high temperature of 554ºF. That should suffice for almost all your steak searing needs, but we have seen far higher numbers from budget electric cooktops. The minimums held their own, and we recorded a butter-meltingly friendly 98ºF from the simmer burner.

Oven, Broiler, & Convection

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An admirable showing from this oven

Induction rangetops set the performance bar so high that any oven is going to struggle to match it. Impressively, the EW30IS65JS gets pretty darn close. The oven offered amazing accuracy and precision in both the Keep Warm and Convection settings. Both settings average temperatures only a few degrees off from their respective targets. The 350ºF setting—arguably the most crucial and most likely to be used by consumers—was only slightly less accurate with an average of 363ºF, but was remarkably precise with a temperature variance of only 20ºF. The oven's quality was further confirmed by our cookie and cake tests. The cookies emerged from the oven like a well rehearsed military parade: almost perfectly uniform. This tells us that the temperatures are consistent thought the oven cavity. Sadly, the cookie bottoms were slightly overdone, indicating slight airflow deficiencies.

Considering the pretty stellar temperature regulation and precision, the preheat and broiler results left us cold. The broiler was particularly miserable. Despite its best efforts, it failed to reach the target temperature of 605ºF. In fact, it reached 590ºF after seven minutes and then gave up by automatically shutting off completely. The preheat was equally disheartening. We recorded a sluggish 15 minute preheat time. Our advice: Have a good book handy if you plan on baking anytime soon.

Before You Buy

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A tough sell, despite its quality

We are a little torn regarding the EW30IS65JS. The induction rangetop, while not the best we have seen, is still miles beyond the best electric and gas rangetops have to offer. The oven also performed extremely well, despite its slow preheat and failure of a broiler. And the sheer number of features, along with the general presentation, make for an extremely pleasurable cooking experience.

So why are we not recommending it wholeheartedly? Simple: The price. Most likely a result of the expensive materials used to build its induction rangetop, the EW30IS65JS is prohibitively expensive. While induction appliances are cheaper than they have ever been, this one has yet to dip far below $3,000 on sale. With a price that falls just below truly high-end ranges from Wolf and Viking, Electrolux is going to have a tough time convincing consumers to go for the capable EW30IS65JS.

From the Lab

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We put the Electrolux EW30IS65JS through our rigorous lab tests. While the rangetop excelled, the oven had a tougher time, particularly regarding the broiler and the preheating performance.

Oven & Broiler Performance

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The EW30IS65JS's oven offered above average performance, for the most part. Arguably the weakest of the bunch was the broiler. It failed to reach the target temperature of 605ºF for the duration of our 16 minute test. The preheat also struggled with a 15 minute preheat (10 minutes when using the Convection setting).

The oven offered amazing accuracy and precision in the keep warm (170ºF) setting, which managed an impressive 172ºF average temperature during our test. Accuracy dropped somewhat in the 350ºF setting which averaged 364ºF. Thats not a major concern, especially since, precision remained excellent, with the temperature holding steady. We recorded a temperature variance of only 20ºF. The Convection setting was both accurate and precise: we recorded an impressive average temperature of 348ºF, and a variance of only 25ºF. {{photo_gallery "Keep Warm", "350F", "Convection", "Oven Variance"}} The Electrolux EW30IS65JS performed well in our cook tests. The cookie and cake tops were almost perfectly uniform; so no hot spots in this oven. While the cookie and cake bottoms where slightly overdone, indicating some issues with heat circulation. {{ gallery "Cookie Top", "Cookie Bottom", "Cake Top" }}

Rangetop Performance

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The EW30IS65JS's induction rangetop performed extremely well in our boiling tests, and exhibited a wide range of temperatures. For the boiling test we measured the length of time each burner took to bring 6 cups of water to boil. Needless to say the rangetop passed with flying colors. We recorded a 2 minute time from the primary burner, and between 3 and 5 minutes from the remaining burners.

While the EW30IS65JS's maximum temperatures where not the best we have ever seen, they were still impressive. We recorded a high of 554ºF from the primary burner and an average of 547ºF across the remaining burners. In the lower end of the spectrum we recorded a minimum temperature of 98ºF from the simmer burner and an average of 102ºF. {{photo_gallery "Waterboil", "Simmer"}}