Buzz
Kitchens have long been home to a rich, diverse language. Before electricity, refrigerators were often called iceboxes, and dumbwaiters helped move food trays between floors. Today, we say we 'nuke' something when we microwave it.
But there’s one appliance that often causes confusion: the range, which can have a few different meanings. Is it a stove or an oven? What about the cooktop? What sets these elements apart?
According to appliance maker Maytag, it’s easy to understand. An oven is the enclosed space that uses gas or electricity to heat the air. A cooktop is the flat surface with burners where you cook in a pan.
When combined into one appliance, it's called a range or stove. These terms are often used interchangeably, though range is technically more precise—stove can also refer to a heating device used to warm a room.
While most kitchens feature ranges, some designs keep the cooktop and oven separate. A wall oven is a built-in unit, often positioned at eye level, and can sometimes be designed as a double unit, allowing you to cook at different temperatures at the same time.
A cooktop is for boiling, searing, or frying; an oven is for baking and roasting. When both functions are combined in one appliance, it's called a range, though 'stove' is commonly used as well. And if your cooking skills are lacking, everything ends up in the bin, otherwise known as the trash.
