RANGE VS. STOVE VS. OVEN: ARE THEY ALL THE SAME?

Some people use the terms range, stove and oven interchangeably, but there are some differences. When it comes to kitchen appliances, an oven is an enclosed cavity for baking, a stovetop or cooktop is an open, flat surface you cook on, and a range or stove is the standalone appliance with both. Read on to learn more about what distinguishes these appliances.

RANGE

The common cooking appliance that combines an oven and a stovetop/cooktop.

OVEN

The cavity inside a kitchen range/stove that’s responsible for baking, broiling and roasting.

Wall-mounted appliance that features only an oven cavity with no stovetop/cooktop. Any enclosed chamber designed to expose materials to a heat, particularly food, like an earth or pit oven.

STOVE

The same thing as a range: The common cooking appliance that combines an oven and a stovetop/cooktop.

Any device that burns fuel to create heat, such as a wood-burning stove.

LEARN MORE ABOUT RANGES VS. STOVES VS. OVENS

WHAT IS A KITCHEN RANGE?

A kitchen range, also called a stove, is the classic cooking appliance that you’ll find in many American kitchens. It combines an oven for baking, roasting and broiling with a stovetop/cooktop for boiling, searing and sauteing. Ranges/stoves use electric fuel, gas fuel or both to cook food and are available in a few different sizes and styles. Explore Maytag^® ranges, including gas and electric models and freestanding vs. slide-in options to learn more about what these versatile appliances can do.

WHAT IS AN OVEN?

An oven is an enclosed space where you cook food. In a range/stove the oven is where you might bake cookies or roast a chicken. In the past, ovens were typically powered by wood or coal, whereas nowadays they are predominantly operated using electric or gas energy, and are offered in both conventional and convection models. Ovens can either be integrated into a cooking range or exist as standalone appliances.

WHAT IS A WALL OVEN?

Unlike the oven of a range, a wall oven is a built-in oven installed in the wall of a kitchen. Also known as wall mount ovens, these appliances differ from kitchen ranges because they don't have cooktops. Instead, they are dedicated exclusively to baking, broiling, roasting and so on.

Slide-in electric range between cabinets

WHAT IS A RANGE OVEN?

If you’ve heard the term range oven, it likely refers to a standard range. Appliance manufacturers don’t use this term because it conflates two unique things: a range and an oven. A range combines an oven and a stovetop, while an oven is either a part of a range or a separate appliance completely. Ranges are also sometimes called stoves.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RANGE AND AN OVEN

An oven is an enclosed cavity for baking, while a range is a standalone appliance with both an oven and a cooktop together. Learn more about the differences between ranges vs. cooktops.

Black freestanding range in a white kitchen

WHAT IS A STOVE?

When it comes to cooking appliances, the terms stove and range can be used interchangeably to describe that familiar appliance where all the action happens. Strictly speaking though, stoves existed before the modern kitchen range to heat homes and aren’t always used for food preparation. Think of a cast-iron, wood burning stove in an old log cabin.

WHY ARE STOVES CALLED RANGES?

How range became the word for the cooking appliance is largely unknown, though it likely dates back to the 15th century. Range, when used as a noun, originally meant a row or line of things. It’s been speculated that the word started being used to refer to a row of ovens in the large kitchens of wealthy homes.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN OVEN AND A STOVE

In the kitchen, an oven can be part of a stove or its own appliance called a wall oven. An oven is the enclosed cavity that heats the air inside to cook food. A stove or range is an appliance that combines both an oven and a stovetop. When it comes to cooking, you bake, roast and broil in the oven, while you sear, boil and stir fry on the stovetop/cooktop.

All stoves/ranges have an oven as well as a stovetop above it, but ovens are also available as stand alone appliances called wall ovens. Wall ovens come with one or two oven cavities for added capacity, including Maytag^® wall ovens with up to 10 cubic feet of cooking capacity.