Our New Double-Compartment Oven - The GE JB850DTWW

Recently we noticed our oven door's glass insert had broken. It's about 10 years old. My solution is always to call an expert. Would have cost something like $70 to look at it, more to fix it. Monique is very can-do, she looked the problem up online and found out how to fix it. Got the part number, ordered the glass. When it arrived, the three of us worked together and fixed the oven. Only cost $20. And nobody got hurt, which is usually my part in these events.

Then, a couple of weeks later, the oven started beeping, and flashing an error code non-stop. Monique rolled up her sleeves (again) and started surfing for answers. Found out the most likely part, found instructions to install it... but it was a $200 part, with no guarantee of being the actual (or only) thing wrong. It was just too expensive an investment for our poor old oven. 10 years isn't very old for an oven. But the investment in fixing it was just too steep, even for do-it-yourself-ers.

Mom decided to just buy a cheap replacement oven. After she went to bed, Monique and I talked until late that night. Monique is our primary cook. Mom will cook occasionally, and I can make very simple things. But if you put Monique on the tv show Chopped, those other chefs might as well hand over the money. She'd blast them out of the kitchen.

To me, that gives her voice the greatest say. She cooks the most, she knows what she needs, and she's most impacted by the kind of oven we wind up with. She's like a kitchen ninja, doing lots of things all at once. I'm more linear. If I'm going to cook eggs, bacon, and french toast, I make eggs. Then I fry up some bacon. Then the french toast. If someone wants toast and butter, that's another phase of the project. They either eat as I'm cooking, or wait until everything's all done (and some of it's cold by then). Not Monique. She's got multiple burners going, something different in each hand, and it's kind of like watching a juggling act.

So while we were talking, she made it plain that a double-decker oven would mean a world of difference in her cooking. You know, the kind with a big oven and a little oven in the same unit? If Monique says it makes that much difference... and she's going to be the main person using it over the next decade and more... then I think she ought to get one. After some discussion, we pooled our resources, Monique set a budget range, and she began researching.

She chose the GE JB850DTWW. Catchy name, right? Yeah, it got stuck in my head all day long... :^)

In more normal language, she picked a GE brand oven, with a double range. It was somewhere in the $1,000 price range, but of course she shopped around to trim the price as low as possible. It was delivered for free (yeah, that made me laugh too) by a passel of big strong guys. I figured since we're spending this much money, I'm at least going to get a hub out of it. It was during my workday, so I asked Monique to take a few pictures for me. She was willing, but a little shy about shooting the workers delivering it. She snuck pictures from the windows, and also took some while holding the camera unobtrusively by her side.

For the most part, it worked really well. Got some great shots. One really cool one where the front guy's looking straight at her and the camera. We're thinking she was busted. She was mildly embarrassed, but they didn't say anything to her. I told her don't worry, chances are he leaned over to his other workers and said something like "Dude, don't break anything... she's taking pictures!"

My boss teased us about not being able to cook turkey any more. Said those dual-compartment ovens can't fit a full turkey in the cooking space. I asked Monique, just to make sure. She told me it IS big enough... she made sure to pick a double oven with a full-size compartment. The way they made it large enough yet kept the oven to the dimensions we needed was to delete the bottom drawer space. The oven's got no storage drawer... but a very roomy larger compartment. She told me to invite my boss over for turkey... :^)

Dimensionally, the GE JB850DTWW weighs in at 223 pounds (Thank goodness the delivery guys actually installed it!), and measures 28.88 x 29.88 x 47 inches. It's a perfect fit for the space our old oven took. 6.6 cubic feet of total oven capacity. (That's 2.2 cubic feet Upper and 4.4 cf in the Lower one.)

There are 5 heating elements, including a Tri-Ring element, and a Fifth Element Warming Zone. (I told Monique the Fifth Element was a great movie. She said it's not a movie. I asked if she meant to say the Fifth Elephant... which is a very funny book... I don't know why she gets so exasperated with me.)

It also comes with TrueTemp Oven System. This doesn't specifically mean it keeps a thermometer-exact temperature. TrueTemp means it uses a sophisticated temperature sensing system that maintains an even and steady level of heat throughout the entire interior oven. It specifically senses any sudden or significant heat loss, and compensates. So the oven will cycle on and off every 2 to 3 minutes as part of its normal operation. Maintains a very consistent level of heat.

It's a self-cleaning oven. There are plenty of included features that make for dry, uninteresting reading. Rather than duplicate them here, I'll just give you a link to a site that really gets into specifics: The GE JB850DTWW Self Cleaning Freestanding Double Oven Electric Range - Specs

...Just so you know- I'm not affiliated with the site this link goes to... they just have very good details available for the oven. If you're truly going to buy this whopping big monster through the internet and pay that monstrous shipping... then buy from my Amazon links, please!!! :^D

I will say I'm impressed with the crisp digital display on the top. And I really like the fancy glass-top with the different heating elements. There's one spot all by itself just to keep things warm. There's another spot that has 12"/9"/6" element, so you can use only the size and power needed for the pot you're cooking in. There's a 6"/9" Powerboil Element also.

If, like me, you tend to... lean... on nearby things, you'll be pleased to know there's a bright red light to let you know when the stovetop is too hot to lean on.

That's an important feature for me. Been burnt before. Try not to do it any more. When somebody tells me "That's hot", I take them at their word. Using a finger to confirm their warning is NOT an acceptable test procedure.

In terms of how the oven's working out, I'm pleased. I mean, Monique's meals are always perfect, and this oven's not going to make them any more perfect. But it makes the job easier, and take less time in general, which makes her happy. And if it makes Monique happy, it makes me happy.

One thing I've really noticed -- she's always cooked nice meals, but with this oven, she seems to pull out the stops more often. We've had fancier meals a bit more often than used to be the case. I'm guessing this means she can do more, with more control, in less time.

Speaking as the person who gets tasty, fancy, super-enjoyable meals nearly every day of the week... I'm in favor of the GE JB850DTWW Dual compartment oven. And speaking as the well-fed husband whose wife really wanted this oven... if it makes her happy, I'm happy.