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  • Design & Usability

  • Rangetop

  • Oven, Broiler, & Convection

  • Not a Bad Choice

  • From the Lab

  • Oven & Broiler Performance

  • Rangetop Performance

  • Design & Usability
  • Rangetop
  • Oven, Broiler, & Convection
  • Not a Bad Choice
  • From the Lab
  • Oven & Broiler Performance
  • Rangetop Performance

Both the oven and rangetop did what we asked, but lacked some of the refinement of higher-end ranges. Still, there aren't any flaws that would get in the way of cooking a delicious meal.

Design & Usability

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Minimalist spaceship-chic, anyone?

Ready for liftoff? We think this 4.5-cubic-foot range has just enough of a futuristic vibe to double as a spaceship for Calvin and Hobbes—although playing in an oven is a bad idea, even for Spaceman Spiff.

That retro-futuristic aesthetic is the result of sharp edges, sleek stainless steel, and a generally minimalist design. The interior of the oven, like so many others, is coated in a yet another lovely shade of cobalt blue.

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Control knobs are conveniently located on the front of the range, and easily change up the heat on the LSE3090ST’s four elements—one of which is of the dual-ring variety. Oven controls are digital, and features include some nifty extras. In addition to the standard lineup of Bake, Broil, Convection Bake and Convection Roast, there's also Warm—plus a “Proof” setting to help bread rise, and a “Favorite” function that saves your favorite recipe settings.

There’s also a self-clean cycle to keep that beautiful blue interior looking bright.

Rangetop

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Feeling hot!

This rangetop will do everything you need and do it well, but the burners have some quirks at high heat that concern us.

The two front burners (with the dual-ring burner set to its 9-inch ring) were the fastest, both bringing six cups of water to a boil in under six minutes. We love to see at least two burners on a rangetop with this kind of speed, for those times when we want to boil potatoes and pasta without skipping a beat.

Other cooking zones took more than ten minutes to boil six cups, so we’d recommend sticking to the front burners whenever possible.

LG LSE3090ST Rangetop

The rangetop boiled water quickly, but one of the burners got too hot for comfort.

Our maximum temperature test found some issues with the front burners. The 9-inch front left burner reached a high of 810°F, which is hotter than any home cook has need for. Because it’s located on the front of the range, you should be careful not to let it get too hot.

In a strange contrast, the front right burner failed to hit temperatures above 472°F. Users will have to keep in mind the fact that turning that left burner up all the way will get you almost twice as much heat as turning up that right burner.

Both back burners, as well as the front left burner’s inner ring, found their highest temps in a very respectable range of 636°F to 698°F. It might be easiest and safest to stick to these burners when you’re cooking something over high heat.

The results of our low temp cooking test were far more consistent, with all cooking zones hitting their lowest temps between 90°F and 140°F. That's good for simmering sauces and soups.

Oven, Broiler, & Convection

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Quick to broil and preheat

The oven and broiler both heated up quickly. The broiler hit our target 607°F in about five minutes, while the oven took just under ten minutes to preheat for both regular and convection settings. Not bad at all.

LG LSE3090ST Cavity

The oven cavity has a capacity of 5.4 cubic feet.

Our bake tests are where we started to see some issues. Bake tests are a key part of our testing process because they give us a chance to see how the oven can handle cooking real food. In this case, sugar cookies we baked using the convection setting had burnt bottoms and pale tops. Unfortunately, the degree of this browning changed from cookie to cookie, so it’s not going to be terribly easy to correct through methods like use of parchment paper and bake time adjustment. All cookies were definitely darker on the bottom, though, so these techniques should help at least a little bit.

Cakes fared slightly better, although we did see dark bottoms, over-browned top edges, and some variation in browning throughout each cake. However, unlike what we saw with the cookies, this variation was actually pretty consistent from one cake to another. This means that the parchment paper and bake time adjustment may actually do the trick for larger baked goods that are a little slower to burn.

Not a Bad Choice

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An affordable slide-in

The LSE3090ST isn't perfect, but it's got a lot going for it. That minimalist retro-futuristic aesthetic is fun, but the range is more than just eye candy—so long as you’re careful with those front burners. We’ve got a slightly finicky oven that should cook your food the way you want it to, although it may take some experimentation.

A retail price between $1,600 and $1,800 isn’t cheap, but it’s very reasonable for a slide-in range. If that's what you're looking for, you should check out this LG.

From the Lab

We test our ranges thoroughly to see how they measure up to their competitors when it comes to tasks like boiling water and baking cookies.

Oven & Broiler Performance

The most important part of our testing is when we put on our chef’s hats and use the oven to cook food. In our cookie tests, we bake sugar cookies in the oven and then measure the difference in browning between the cookie tops and bottoms, as well as the difference in browning from one cookie to another. In our cake tests, we take the same types of measurements as we do in our cookie tests, while also noting the degree to which different spots in the same cake vary in doneness, and ensure that our cakes rise evenly.

The LSE3090ST did have some issues when it came to baking. Cookies were the real downer, emerging from the oven with burnt bottoms and light tops. While this was the case for every cookie, it did not happen consistently enough to give any clear idea as to how to successfully combat the issue.

Cakes weren’t great, but they were definitely better. We didn’t measure as significant a variation in browning as in the cookies. However, bottoms were darker than tops, and we definitely saw some darker edges.

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In the case of cakes, these issues did seem to be near-identical from one cake to the next, so that gives us some hope for the possibility of compensating for an overzealous lower heating element. We’d recommend the use of parchment paper rather than a greased pan, and maybe a slightly reduced bake time or temperature setting. You’ll also want to pay close attention to your food so that you can make sure it gets as much baking time as it needs—and not more.

Rangetop Performance

This rangetop earned a high score for its ability to boil water quickly and reach very high or low temperatures.

The fastest cooking element boiled six cups of water in 4 minutes 5 seconds, with the next-fastest clocking in at 5 minutes 30 seconds. All but one burner reached its highest temperature above 636°F. Two of the burners hit their lowest temperatures around 90°F, while the rest weren’t far above 100°F. All of that is great.

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The issue that put a dark cloud over all this good news is that the front left 9-inch cooking zone gets as hot as 810°F. That’s just too hot, especially on the front of range where you might have to reach over it. And if that wasn’t troubling enough, the cooking zone to its right was unable to get hotter than 472°F—that’s not much more than half the temperature of its scorching neighbor.

Logically, this is an issue. The front left 9-inch burner might burn your steak, while the front right burner might not even muster much of a sear. The only advice we can really offer is to stick with the rear cooking elements when you need high heat. Otherwise, it’s just too confusing.

Meet the tester

Kori Perten

Kori Perten

Former Editor, Home & Outdoors

@Reviewedhome

Kori began her journalism career as a teenage fashion blogger and has enjoyed covering a wide variety of topics ever since. In her spare time, she’s an amateur poet, avid reader, and gluten-free cake baker extraordinaire.

See all of Kori Perten's reviews

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