Our review of the ILVE kitchen and range: a couple of cooks

Here it is: our renovated kitchen with a new ILVE range! This brand has won us over with its elegant features and functionality.

This post includes our honest review of our ILVE range and hood, gifted to us by ILVE. All opinions are ours.

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and no more than in our house! As professional recipe writers, our kitchen gets splashed and pounded on a daily basis. So Alex and I decided after 9 years of heavy use, it was time to give the kitchen a little facelift. We’ve already teased it on Instagram long enough, so here’s the big reveal! The main innovation? we made room for this ILVE 40 Inch Induction Range! Switching from gas to induction is a big deal – here’s why we did it and all the things we love about this beauty.

Table of Contents

What is an ILVE range?

What is IVE? ILVE (pronounced “il-vay”) is a brand of kitchen appliances handmade in Italy, including stoves, ovens, range hoods, refrigerators, microwaves, and more. The brand was founded in Campodarsego, Italy in 1952 by two Italian friends. The appliances are commercial grade and highly regarded as some of the best kitchen appliances on the market.

Why did we want an ILVE range? First of all, the sustainability of the induction cooker. After learning that induction is more sustainable than gas, Alex and I decided we were ready to make the switch (whoops!). Second, we wanted a chic European range that would make our kitchen look like an eclectic French country house. After doing some research, we found ILVE! It is a stylish range offered in both gas and induction.

Why cook with induction (sustainability and health!)

You’ve probably heard it before: Gas stoves are the best for cooking.! But guess that? That is not true. In fact, much of the passion for cooking with natural gas stems from the gas companies convincing all of us that gas is better. After doing some research, here’s what Alex and I learned about gas vs. induction cooking:

Burning natural gas produces nitrogen dioxide, sometimes carbon monoxide, and other pollutants, which can be harmful to people and pets. (Fountain)
New efficient appliances have a lower carbon footprint. So they’re better for the planet! (Fountain)
Induction cooktops are much higher quality than the old school electric cooktops with coils. It’s incredibly easy to control the temperature and cook with even heat. (See below.)
You can boil water in 2 minutes! It’s an incredible time saver. Everything heats up faster!

Want to read more about induction vs gas? Here are some resources: Give Up Your Gas Stove to Save the Planet (NPR) and Kill Your Gas Stove (The Atlantic).

Our review of the ILVE range

The ILVE range that the brand gave us was the ILVE Majestic II. We previously had a 30 inch stove that was on its last legs (one burner was permanently inoperative and had a ton intensive use). After much deliberation, we decided to remove a kitchen cabinet to make way for a 40-inch stove. While this involved a lot of construction (cabinet removal, new backsplash, trim, etc.), it was all worth it in the end!

We have been cooking on the ILVE Majestic II induction cooker for a month. The take on these two professional home cooks and cookbook authors? We couldn’t love him more. Here are some details:

Induction cooking is far superior to gas. We are more than satisfied with the induction cooker. While we switch for health and sustainability reasons, we fall in love with how you cook food. It heats up incredibly fast and is much hotter than gas.
The range shows you the heat level and boils water in 2 minutes! We love that the stove shows the heat level it’s on. You can also use a “Power” mode to boil a huge pot of water in just 2 minutes! On our old gas stove, it took 10-15 minutes.
The cooktop is very easy to clean. This is actually a great lifesaver. We are pretty messy cooks, so just a rag on top makes it beautifully clean. No grates to come off or caking messes.
It’s lovely. (Drop dead beautiful.) This is subjective, but the ILVE ranges are the most beautiful and elegant ranges we have seen on the market. The way the brass knobs shine in the light makes our hearts race. But in all seriousness: there really is something about using an appliance that is functional. and beautiful. It’s more fun.
The ovens are very reliable (plus the little one has a rotisserie!). Our ILVE range model has a large oven and a small side oven, which is good for when you want to cook things at two temperatures. If we had the space, of course we would want two large ovens! But the side oven is great and even has a rotisserie. We’ve been using it to roast a whole chicken and it comes out amazingly moist! The oven’s baking capacity is perfect – we’ve tested several of our recipes and it’s amazingly accurate in baking time with very even heating.
It has many other great features. There is a warming drawer where you can store pans while the oven is off or keep food warm when it is on. There are many different oven settings depending on what you’re cooking, and it even gets hotter than a standard oven (up to 575 degrees, which is great for pizza!).

Do you want to know more about ILVE? Here are some of the ILVE Range Models and comparisons between the different features that each one has. Or browse ILVE.com.

Note: The largest oven in the 40-inch range is a bit too small to fit a standard half sheet pan. The oven comes with a custom baking pan that fits perfectly. We also bought a 16″x12″ pan that has about the same surface area.

More about our kitchen update

We use our new ILVE range as an opportunity to freshen up our kitchen a bit! Eight years ago we did a major renovation to our kitchen when we moved into our 1926 home. Putting in this range required some construction to change from 30 inches to 40 inches, but there was no major reconfiguration of walls or framing. Even so, we took the opportunity to update a few things to give it a new look of French cuisine. This is what we changed:

Backsplash changed to Zellige mosaic: Because the width of the range changed, we had to redo the position of the backsplash. We had always loved the look of handmade square Zellige tiles, so we went for it! We love the irregularity and uniqueness of the look.
Added a pot rack: There was one theme running through all my kitchen photos on Pinterest when I planned this reindeer: a pot rack with copper pots! All the hanging pots and ladles are the ones we actually use. We had to buy new pots because of the induction range! Here is a link to our copper pots that work by induction.
Brass fittings: To further update the look of our kitchen, we swapped out our stainless steel hardware for vintage-look brass pulls and handles. We love the unique things that make the kitchen look.
brass faucet: We changed our island faucet to a brass one as it was wearing out badly. Overall, we wanted a mixed metal look, so we opted for a stainless steel ILVE hood while keeping our old stainless steel shelves.
Wooden bar stools: We changed our stainless steel bar stools for wooden ones with backs, to add more warmth to the room.

We love how everything turned out. Thanks to our designer Tiffany Skilling for helping us choose all of these elements to put together the look!