The 6 Best Gas Ranges Right Now, According to a Trained Chef

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab, our product analysts have tested almost 100 ranges in recent years, including more than 50 gas and dual-fuel models.

The models featured here were selected based on hands-on Lab testing of current models and prior test data from discontinued models from top-performing brands.

✔️ Fuel type: Often, this will depend on what’s available in your home, but if you have access to both gas and electricity, you can choose between a traditional gas range or a dual-fuel range.

• Gas ranges use natural gas or propane to power both the cooktop and oven.
• Dual-fuel ranges combine a gas cooktop with an electric oven, providing more even and consistent baking results, but require a 240V outlet. (Home cooks who want the power of gas burners with the precision of an electric oven for baking may want to opt for dual fuel.)

✔️ Size: Standard gas ranges are typically 30 inches wide, but professional-style models can go up to 60 inches. Wider ranges often mean more burners and additional oven space. Oven capacity usually ranges from 4.5 to 6.3 cubic feet. Any oven with a capacity greater than this is considered large-capacity, ideal for holiday meals or batch baking.

✔️ Burners: Most gas cooktops have between four and six burners, with five being the most common. While the number of burners is important, you should also consider the layout of the burners on the cooktop. Five cramped burners are no more useful than four well-spaced ones.

• Size: Burner sizes range from small to extra large and often correlate with BTUs. If a burner is significantly smaller than the pan sitting on top, the heat won’t distribute as evenly. Look for at least one large front burner that can accommodate a sauté pan or a large Dutch oven.
• Power (BTUs): The power of each gas burner is measured in BTUs, or British Thermal Units, which is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1˚F. Some range cooktops offer a variety of different burner BTUs, while others share similar BTUs. You’ll want to look for a gas cooktop with a good variety of burners—so you can do everything from quick boils to gentle simmers—and a high average BTU. A 20,000-BTU power burner for boiling water is great, but it’s best to have a couple of burners with a capacity above 12,000 BTUs.

✔️ Grates: Gas cooktop grates come in a variety of styles, but the most important thing to look for is that the grates are continuous, meaning they cover the surface of the cooktop end-to-end to prevent gapping, tipping, and shifting of pots and pans. You also want elevated grates that can be easily lifted to clean up messes. Most grates are made of cast iron, which is heavy and durable but harder to clean and can risk scratching your cookware. Some grates are enameled cast iron, which is easier to clean but risks chipping.

✔️ Oven settings: Newer gas ranges offer more oven settings, such as air fry and steam cook. While these settings will help you unlock new cooking techniques, they are not essential to make the most of your oven. Air fry settings utilize convection fans to rapidly circulate air, resulting in crispy ingredients. Steam cooking incorporates moisture, requiring less oil in your baking, and it’s great for delicate ingredients that are prone to drying out in the oven, such as broccoli or salmon.

✔️ Self-clean: Most ovens feature a self-cleaning option, which traditionally uses extremely high heat to remove grime. Newer models feature a steam clean option to loosen dirt and baked-on messes. Steam cleaning is much quicker because it doesn’t require as much heat and allows for a faster cool-down time. But while it’s quicker, it may not be as effective as the traditional high-heat self-cleaning method.

✔️ Smart connectivity: Connecting your appliance to an app might sound like a gimmick at first, but there are a few practical reasons you might actually want a smart range.

• Start or stop cooking remotely (preheat the oven on your way home, for example) or even see inside via a camera.
• Voice integration works with Alexa, Google Assistant, or other proprietary apps so you can say, “Preheat oven to 375,” without touching a button.
• Guided cooking recipes include built-in step-by-step guidance that adjusts temperature or mode based on what you’re cooking. Some can suggest oven settings based on what you’re making (convection bake for cookies or air fry for wings, for instance).
• Smart maintenance functions can alert you if something goes wrong, self-diagnose issues to help customer service troubleshoot, and get performance improvements or new features via over-the-air updates.

While burning natural gas does contribute to indoor air pollution, experts agree that it’s unlikely to be the sole cause of respiratory problems, and there are effective ways to reduce your exposure.

One of the best ways to improve gas range safety is by using a range hood. Hoods help remove nitrogen dioxide, smoke, grease, and lingering odors from your kitchen. If your range hood doesn’t vent outdoors, cracking a window while cooking can help improve airflow. For kitchens without a range hood, opening windows is essential, and using an air purifier can also help remove airborne pollutants.

Regular maintenance is another key to maintaining indoor air quality. Here are a few steps to follow:

✔️ Turn on your range hood before you start cooking: Ventilation systems take time to ramp up. Turning on the fan or vent early helps prevent smoke and pollutants from lingering in the air.

✔️ Keep your gas burners clean: Food splatter, grease, and grime can block burner ports and cause incomplete ignition, which may lead to gas leaks or higher emissions. Regularly cleaning burners helps them operate safely and efficiently.

✔️ Replace filters and maintain vents regularly: Whether your fan is ducted or recirculating, replacing filters ensures better capture of grease and airborne particles. Most manufacturers provide guidance on how often to change or clean filters. For ducted systems, professional servicing can help maintain peak performance.

Eva Bleyer is the reviews analyst in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab. She has also tested dozens of ranges (including gas, electric, and induction models) and interviewed many industry experts over the last four years to help determine the picks on this list. She is a trained cook——before working at Good Housekeeping, she spent quite a bit of time cooking on a gas stove.

Nicole Papantoniou is the director of the Good Housekeeping Kitchen & Cooking Lab, where she oversees all of Good Housekeeping's content and testing related to kitchen appliances, tools, gadgets, and gear. She's been testing kitchen appliances professionally since 2013.