rocketwarrior
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Tripped over this on Omaha CraigsList
called "Retro Gas Stove"
called "Retro Gas Stove"
1050's Magic Chef
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Great old stove!
polkanut
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rocketwarrior
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Down side?
So, if one had an auxiliary space for informal entertaining, plenty of room, and is currently using a broken unit, is there any downside, performance-wise, to getting this old Magic Chef?
So, if one had an auxiliary space for informal entertaining, plenty of room, and is currently using a broken unit, is there any downside, performance-wise, to getting this old Magic Chef?
laundromat
Well-known member
Magic Chef/ Tragic Chef
That is the gas stove they built in to the houses in the developement where I grew up in Baltimore(Rosedale).The ones we had did not have the clock and were 36 inches wide.They had a tiny oven on the left and storage on the right.I HATED IT!!! It may have looked nice but was a bitch to have to manualy light the oven. I still have scars to proove it.Live better electricaly!!!
That is the gas stove they built in to the houses in the developement where I grew up in Baltimore(Rosedale).The ones we had did not have the clock and were 36 inches wide.They had a tiny oven on the left and storage on the right.I HATED IT!!! It may have looked nice but was a bitch to have to manualy light the oven. I still have scars to proove it.Live better electricaly!!!
Other than parts availability,
this is a good, solidly made stove. The oven thermostat is still likely to be highly accurate, and the whole stove will weigh what seems to be a ton. Two tons, in comparison to today's stoves.
I would strongly consider it, but I am a fan of gas cooking.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
this is a good, solidly made stove. The oven thermostat is still likely to be highly accurate, and the whole stove will weigh what seems to be a ton. Two tons, in comparison to today's stoves.
I would strongly consider it, but I am a fan of gas cooking.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
rocketwarrior
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Two Ovens
According the the owner of the Magic Chef in the first post:
"TWO ovens. One is like our stoves today, the other opens like a lazy suzan."
According the the owner of the Magic Chef in the first post:
"TWO ovens. One is like our stoves today, the other opens like a lazy suzan."
Nice stove
I guess I don't mind lighting the oven. I always remember my grandma having a match dispenser by the stove. I don't even remember what her stove was, but I wish I could have saved it.
It was a double oven, fours burners on the right with a folding top and a griddle on the left with a folding top. :-(
I guess I don't mind lighting the oven. I always remember my grandma having a match dispenser by the stove. I don't even remember what her stove was, but I wish I could have saved it.
It was a double oven, fours burners on the right with a folding top and a griddle on the left with a folding top. :-(
polkanut
Well-known member
I'm with Lawrence on this one, I too prefer gas cooking. If you know what you're doing, lighting the oven shouldn't be dangerous. The one big up side to having a gas range like this is that even with a power failure, one can still cook a full meal, unlike an electric stove. Stoves from this era were built to last, so I for one wouldn't hesitate about getting or using it. It would be wise however, to get it thoroughly checked before use.
cehalstead
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two ovens?
no, this stove didn't have two ovens. the space on the left, with the lazy susan door was a wonderful broiler. i have never seen a stove with a better broiler...broiled things to perfection,with no smoke ever. we had this stove from about 1960 until 1966. my parents bought it used, at an auction. after we switched to electric, it sat in the basement for over twenty years, unused and unloved...lol. wish i had kept it when the house became mine...
no, this stove didn't have two ovens. the space on the left, with the lazy susan door was a wonderful broiler. i have never seen a stove with a better broiler...broiled things to perfection,with no smoke ever. we had this stove from about 1960 until 1966. my parents bought it used, at an auction. after we switched to electric, it sat in the basement for over twenty years, unused and unloved...lol. wish i had kept it when the house became mine...
toggleswitch2
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What is a Lazy Susan door? Side-hinged?
This Avanti brand (Turkish-made) stove in the link may also be used during a black-out. Even the oven and wasit-high broiler burners may be lit manually! Available in widths of 20" (50cm +/-), and 24 (60cm +/-). There was a 30" (75cm +/-) briefly but I no longer see it listed.
Sealed top burners
One oven cavity with an upper [broil/grille] burner and a lower [bake/roasr] burner.
Pilotless ignition.
Here is how the oven burners differ form American engineering:
One turns the oven thermostat to the bake temp or broil position desired, pushes IN the oven thermostat and the customary CLICK-CLICK-CLICK of a top-burner-style ignitor ensues. This lights a pilot-light. One then holds the thermostst in for 30 seconds until igniton is "proven". At that point one lets go, and the flame is self-sustaining.
Same procedure to light oven burners with a match during a blackout. The lower burner has a match port as one would see in a pre-1950's era (totally non-electric) gas stove/range.
Temperature is maintained with a flame that actually changes size and the stove has a minimum-bypass flame when the thermostat is satisfied. The drawback of this system over today's on & off cycling is that keep-warm temps are not available. On the unti I had lowering the thermostat by say 100*F meant the flame went out. But I think that was an error in how the unit came adjsuted to me. (Minimun-bypass flame too small).So there you have today's equivalent of the desired "cook-in-a-blackout" features.
I have seen/heard of a number of "early" gas-to-electric cooking conversions to get a self-cleaning (pyrolytic) oven. Lack-of-surface-unit-control be damned! Of course the introduction of gas self-cleaners (by Caloric, IIRC) changed the need to convert for that feature.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programme. Sorry for the diversion.
http://www.avantiproducts.com/index.php?page=products&cat=39
This Avanti brand (Turkish-made) stove in the link may also be used during a black-out. Even the oven and wasit-high broiler burners may be lit manually! Available in widths of 20" (50cm +/-), and 24 (60cm +/-). There was a 30" (75cm +/-) briefly but I no longer see it listed.
Sealed top burners
One oven cavity with an upper [broil/grille] burner and a lower [bake/roasr] burner.
Pilotless ignition.
Here is how the oven burners differ form American engineering:
One turns the oven thermostat to the bake temp or broil position desired, pushes IN the oven thermostat and the customary CLICK-CLICK-CLICK of a top-burner-style ignitor ensues. This lights a pilot-light. One then holds the thermostst in for 30 seconds until igniton is "proven". At that point one lets go, and the flame is self-sustaining.
Same procedure to light oven burners with a match during a blackout. The lower burner has a match port as one would see in a pre-1950's era (totally non-electric) gas stove/range.
Temperature is maintained with a flame that actually changes size and the stove has a minimum-bypass flame when the thermostat is satisfied. The drawback of this system over today's on & off cycling is that keep-warm temps are not available. On the unti I had lowering the thermostat by say 100*F meant the flame went out. But I think that was an error in how the unit came adjsuted to me. (Minimun-bypass flame too small).So there you have today's equivalent of the desired "cook-in-a-blackout" features.
I have seen/heard of a number of "early" gas-to-electric cooking conversions to get a self-cleaning (pyrolytic) oven. Lack-of-surface-unit-control be damned! Of course the introduction of gas self-cleaners (by Caloric, IIRC) changed the need to convert for that feature.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programme. Sorry for the diversion.
http://www.avantiproducts.com/index.php?page=products&cat=39
cehalstead
Well-known member
lazy susan door
the reason this is called a "lazy susan" door is that when opened, the broiler swung out, too. it was attached with a hook and eye type "thingy" that caused the broiler pan to swing out as the door opened...
the reason this is called a "lazy susan" door is that when opened, the broiler swung out, too. it was attached with a hook and eye type "thingy" that caused the broiler pan to swing out as the door opened...
I'm a gas fan for the cooktop but prefer electric for the oven. We're on our 2nd dual fuel range and I was happy to leave the all-gas range behind when we sold our other house. I just couldn't get used to the smell when the oven would be heating up. Even with the hood's exhaust fan going I felt like I was being "gassed" or something and would stay out of the kitchen. I think the only way I'd have a gas oven is if it was vented through a flue the old fashioned way, not through some into-the-kitchen vent at the base of the backsplash.
toggleswitch2
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Cheap and easy becomes less appealing as one matures.
Electric cooking is:
Faster, cleaner, statictically safer*, cooler and theoretically healthier (no poisonous exhaust gasses).
*There are more electric stoves in this country than gas, but fewer reported accidents with electric.
Gas cooking is:
Cheaper (in most areas), visual, intutive, easy.
Friends in south Florida (read: where nearly everyone cooks electrically, gas is too hot) have a "popcorn" ceiling. I was wondering how it gets painted. They looked at me indignantly and said "Who would paint a ceiling and why do you need to? This one has not been p[inted in 25 years!The byproducts of gas combustion (plus the cooking greases that are emitted by the oven vent, which is necessary to support combustion by allowing oxygen to get to the flame) create a yellow-brown film that gets on nearly every surface in the kitchen and indeed the house.
So when one factors-in the cost of cleaning, and washing walls, floors and ceilings constantly, and painting every 3 to 5 years, the realtively tiny premium in the cost of electrical energy over gas, to me, is well worth the price.
Well at least a vented range-hood is a help and highly recommended with gas cooking.
In a study performed in the UK years ago, children who grew up in homes with gas cooking had asthma and repiratory ailments at twice the rate of those who had electric cooking. Inhaling carbon-dioxide, sufuric-oxides and nitrous-oxides simply can't be good for ya.
I had both gas and electric soteves in my basement (entertaining) kitchen and found I did nto use the gas stove nearly at all-- the smell of combustion became a big turn-off "once I knew better" meaning came to appreciate electric cooking.
For safety, I'd illuminate via the range-hood when a top-burner or the oven was on (i.e. with my elecric stove). This served as a reminder that the burners were energized. Also never left anything on the stove unless actually cooking. These are the types of mistakes that some users make that can lead to accidents.
To each his own, eh?
Electric cooking is:
Faster, cleaner, statictically safer*, cooler and theoretically healthier (no poisonous exhaust gasses).
*There are more electric stoves in this country than gas, but fewer reported accidents with electric.
Gas cooking is:
Cheaper (in most areas), visual, intutive, easy.
Friends in south Florida (read: where nearly everyone cooks electrically, gas is too hot) have a "popcorn" ceiling. I was wondering how it gets painted. They looked at me indignantly and said "Who would paint a ceiling and why do you need to? This one has not been p[inted in 25 years!The byproducts of gas combustion (plus the cooking greases that are emitted by the oven vent, which is necessary to support combustion by allowing oxygen to get to the flame) create a yellow-brown film that gets on nearly every surface in the kitchen and indeed the house.
So when one factors-in the cost of cleaning, and washing walls, floors and ceilings constantly, and painting every 3 to 5 years, the realtively tiny premium in the cost of electrical energy over gas, to me, is well worth the price.
Well at least a vented range-hood is a help and highly recommended with gas cooking.
In a study performed in the UK years ago, children who grew up in homes with gas cooking had asthma and repiratory ailments at twice the rate of those who had electric cooking. Inhaling carbon-dioxide, sufuric-oxides and nitrous-oxides simply can't be good for ya.
I had both gas and electric soteves in my basement (entertaining) kitchen and found I did nto use the gas stove nearly at all-- the smell of combustion became a big turn-off "once I knew better" meaning came to appreciate electric cooking.
For safety, I'd illuminate via the range-hood when a top-burner or the oven was on (i.e. with my elecric stove). This served as a reminder that the burners were energized. Also never left anything on the stove unless actually cooking. These are the types of mistakes that some users make that can lead to accidents.
To each his own, eh?
toggleswitch2
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...and I can't stand how gas heats the room and creates hot pot handles. Only 30% of the heat from a top-burner gets in to the food. That means that 70% of the energy/heat is literally in your face as you stir.
IIRC watts x 3.4 is BTUs. The wattage of most top-burner elements is nowhere near the equivalent of 9k to 15k BTU of a typical gas top-burner; yet electric cooking is faster.
IIRC watts x 3.4 is BTUs. The wattage of most top-burner elements is nowhere near the equivalent of 9k to 15k BTU of a typical gas top-burner; yet electric cooking is faster.
I suppose induction is another option but over time we've spent a tidy sum on the better grades of Magnalite and Calphalon and we'd have to get rid of all of it and replace it with induction-compatible cookware. That adds to the already high cost of an induction range. And for the occassional use of cast iron, I don't think you can beat a gas flame.
I don't like the way gas heats up the kitchen and can pollute the indoor air but a hood that can ventilate things adequately solves the problem pretty well. I just can't warm up to electric and my partner is way too rough when he cooks for any electric element to last very long. This is why Mom's old Westy had to get passed to Greg ASAP or its burners would have been toast real fast. Smooth top electric isn't an option. We have friends who got one and hate it, as after just a few years it has already gotten squirrely on them and it's apparently difficult to keep the surface looking good.
I don't like the way gas heats up the kitchen and can pollute the indoor air but a hood that can ventilate things adequately solves the problem pretty well. I just can't warm up to electric and my partner is way too rough when he cooks for any electric element to last very long. This is why Mom's old Westy had to get passed to Greg ASAP or its burners would have been toast real fast. Smooth top electric isn't an option. We have friends who got one and hate it, as after just a few years it has already gotten squirrely on them and it's apparently difficult to keep the surface looking good.
