Editor’s Note: This product has been removed from our side-by-side comparison because it has been discontinued. You can still read our original review below, but Top Ten Reviews is no longer updating this product’s information.
The Maytag MER8700 is a top pick for many large families. Its huge oven and powerful baking and broiling elements make it a good electric range for frequent bakers. The electric oven can produce up to 3,600 watts with its broil element and 3,500 with its bake element. This is notable because in most ovens there is a significant power difference between the two. The oven on this electric range has a 6.2-cubic-foot capacity, easily big enough to fit several large dishes. When you have guests for dinner, you can arrange the oven racks in seven different positions to accommodate for a crowded oven.
The stovetop on this oven has four standard burners and one expandable element. This feature allows you to expand the small 6-inch element on the front left side of the stove to a 9-inch burner. This gives you room for large pieces of cookware to heat simultaneously. The two largest elements sit at the front of the electric stove, so you don't have to reach over any hot areas to pick up large pots or pans. There are three 6-inch burners aligned along the back of the electric stove. While there's no power boil feature, this stove can produce up to 3,000 watts so it should still boil in reasonable time.
The powerful convection fan inside the oven circulates hot air produced by the electric elements. The moving air doesn't produce higher temperatures, but rather it raises the intensity of the heat. Compare a cold day to a windy day of the same temperature. Hot moving air inside the oven eliminates cold pockets in the chamber, so your food cooks faster and more thoroughly than in ovens without convection heating.
This Maytag model has a unique self-cleaning feature that doesn't use high temperatures. Most self-clean cycles on electric ranges heat the oven chamber to soaring temperatures reaching up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Maytag uses a special oven coating called AquaLift to keep food spills from attaching to the oven walls and floor. To clean the oven you simply need to pour water into it, close the oven door and activate the 40-minute cleaning cycle. Once the cycle completes, you remove the remaining water and wipe the soils off. One of many convenience features of the Samsung NE59J630 is an automatic turn off feature.
This electric range has plenty of useful features, but it is missing some industry standard features such as a preheat tone and an automatic shut off. This means you have to pay close attention to this oven's timer or gauge time yourself.
Summary
This range is well suited for large families. It has two large burners in the front, an expandable burner that grows to nine inches and a standard 10-inch element. The oven is large with a capacity of 6.2 cubic feet. Inside the oven, there is a powerful convection fan and an easy-clean coating. While the Maytag MER8700 has some cool features, it's missing some standard features like a preheat tone and an auto shut-off.
