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.

Double wall oven with cooktop on an island

WHAT IS AN OVEN?

An oven is an enclosed space where you cook food. In a range/stove, it’s where you might bake cookies or roast a chicken. Ovens are also available as standalone appliances without a stovetop, called wall ovens. Ovens can utilize gas or electric fuel, though most single and double wall ovens, like the full lineup of Maytag^® wall ovens, come with electric heat.

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.

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.

WHAT’S AN OVEN VS. 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. Learn more about cooking without an oven.

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.