Samsung's fancy new gas range has good looks, can cook

Looking for a stylish new range but also want one that just performs well? With the Samsung Chef Collection NX58H9950WS slide-in gas range (MSRP $2,799), you get the best of both worlds.

The beautiful, functional stainless steel design is the initial draw, but the NX58H9950WS also heats quickly and cooks evenly, both on the rangetop and in the oven. The included features are unobtrusive, and—as the name suggests—aimed at relatively serious chefs.

This range isn't cheap—$2,299 is a good sale price—but if you're willing to pay more for great performance and design, we'd recommend you give the Samsung NX58H9950WS some serious consideration.

We'd love the Samsung NX58H9950WS for its cooking power alone, but the gorgeous design is a welcome bonus. This stainless steel slide-in range is a real beauty, with modern edges and angles that distinguish it from a simple box. The 5.8 cubic-foot cavity should fit dinner for a crowd, and the three-setting warming drawer below can keep your meal ready while you wait for stragglers.

The oven settings are controlled by Samsung's clever Guiding Light system, which does a great job simplifying the process by essentially providing users with a cooking roadmap.

The oven also has a few welcome additions: The Healthy Cook setting lets you choose from six preset modes, while a temperature probe ensures your meat cooks just right.

The oven itself offers true convection with three fans, and convection settings include both Convection Bake and Convection Roast. The cavity comes with three oven racks, including a gliding rack.

On the rangetop, removable black grates cover five burners. There's also a reversible cast iron griddle that can sit over the center of the rangetop. Pancakes, anyone?

Boiling times varied from one burner to another, but the front burners were fastest. The quicker right front burner boiled six cups of water in just over 4 minutes, while the slightly slower left front burner took almost 6 minutes for that task.

Maximum burner temperatures didn't reach impressive highs, but that's to be expected with gas rangetops, which excel at accuracy but can't hit the high temps we see with electric and induction. Still, most burners will serve you well enough during high-heat tasks like searing meat.

The left rear burner was the hottest, hitting a maximum temp of 436°F, while the other round burners fell short of 400°F—but not by a lot. The only burner we'd recommend only for lower heat tasks is the central fish burner, which failed to reach even 300°F, something not totally unexpected from this kind of burner.

Low temperatures were more impressive. Burners hit their lowest heat between 112°F and 193°, which means you'll be well equipped to simmer soups or melt butter.

The NX58H9950's 5.8 cubic-foot oven is no slouch either, as it did a pretty good job baking cakes and cookies.

Confections baked with the standard setting featured uneven browning, but were improved significantly with the use of convection.

The lesson here is to use the convection setting liberally. It's not a miracle solution, but it does result in some improved baking quality. Still, we'd urge users to keep a close eye on cooking food and use parchment paper to prevent burning.

The NX58H9950 also offers a downright speedy preheat, reaching 350°F in about 7.5 minutes. The broiler won't keep you waiting either; it took just over 7 minutes to reach our target 605°F broiling temp.

If you're shopping for a gas range, you'd be hard-pressed to find something better for under $3,000. The Samsung Chef Collection NX58H9950 slide-in does well in every category, coupling solid cooking and baking performance with good looks and some nice features.

If the steep current sale price of $2,299 is still too much, and if looks and features matter less to you, the Kenmore 75232 andFrigidaire FGGF3054MF offer good performance for less than half the price, but both lack the sleek stainless, smart design choices, and high-end features you'll find in the NX58H9950.

However, if you're willing to shell out the cash, this gas range may prove worth the splurge.

To see all ovens ranked and rated, head to Reviewed.com.