1966 Westinghouse range their first self cleaning oven

[combo52]

I’ve had this range for 30+ years got around to working on it today got the self stirring burner working added a second automatic burner and generally checked it over and did a few things to it needs a little detailing it running through a clean cycle now.

Other unique features is the no turn speed broil.

John L

 

[combo52]

I forgot the best picture

Self stirring agitator at work

 

[mattl]

Beautiful Range!

 

Was not aware of any ranges with a stir option, would love that option.  Does it have a rotisserie? I see a motor in the first picture, I use mine from time to time and enjoy it.

 

[repairguy]

That’s cool!

 

[luxflairguy]

WOW and double WOW!

 

[gredmondson]

How does the self stirrer work?

 

[appnut]

I remember seeing TV commercials for the stirrer.

 

[combo52]

Self stirring Westinghouse range

It has a motor that you can see near the top slightly to the right from the rear that drives a cable like a speedometer cable on a car which spins a little drive or under the burner.

In the medallion of the burner there’s a magnet mounted on a bearing that spins, and that drives the white magnet which is part of the agitator you said into the pan, the only restriction is you have to use non-magnetic cookware the opposite of what you use for an induction range.

So you have to use aluminum or glass basically or even pure copper.

To my knowledge Westinghouse is the only company that ever offered it it came out around the time of this range and they continued it for just a few years they sold it on Hilow models as well.

John L

 

[appnut]

No Turn Speed Broil

John, the oven rack is placed between the upper and lower two broil units. For regular oven baking, I imagine you return that upper oven rack to a more normal position in the oven, or does that rack always stay up there? In normal baking setting, does the lower broil element supplement browning in baking as in how GE and Frigidaire ovens use them or what? I"ve never seen a physical arrangment of this no turn speed broil.

 

[jamiel]

Consumers Reports tested this stove in 1967 and quite liked it...I think I've got the issue at home somewhere.

 

[combo52]

Hi Bob, the extra broil element just unplugs when you’re using the oven for normal baking etc. you can also do normal broiling of course without the second element.

A few more pictures of how the auto stirring burner is built, and you can see that the oven cleaned beautifully it was cleaning last night, I love these early self cleaning oven they were super insulated weren’t so big they heat up fast, and there’s no stupid window to get soiled on them just a super insulated door.

I remember when Consumer Reports tested the auto stir feature and they used it with one of the early cheap Teflon pans with the brown Teflon and they said after extensive hours of use it wore the Teflon a little bit lol

John

 

[turbokinetic]

Hi John. Thanks for sharing this!  I had no idea that any home stoves had magnetic automatic stirrers! Fascinating. I've only ever seen that with laboratory hot plates. 

 

 

[qsd-dan]

That's one fascinating range! 

 

There should be a YouTube clip displaying the operations of its unique features.

 

[peteski50]

Westinghouse!

Hi John this is a Fascinating range I never knew anything about the Self stirring feature Best of Luck with this beauty!
Peter

 

[ea56]

John this certainly an impressive range! A true testament to the former greatness to Westinghouse and their excellent appliances. And your restoration is a testament to your skill and talents. Thanks for sharing your photos and commentary about this marvelous range with all of us.

Eddie

 

[circlew]

Interesting idea

I vaguely remember when these were introduced, as Swallen's had one on display at their Wooster Pk. store. I always wondered how the stirrer worked.

 

[rp2813]

That is an awesome range!  And I love seeing Corox burner elements still being used on something so advanced compared to my mom's '49 Commodore.

 

I'm curious about the no-turn broiling process.  There must be double the spattering.  Where does the broiler pan go?  Am I missing something (if so, I'll blame it on time-change fog)? What's involved with the clean-up process?  Westinghouse seems to have thought of everything with this range, so I assume there's a specific methodology. 

 

[combo52]

Thanks for the encouraging comments Eddie and Ralph.

No turn speed broil really didn’t make that much of a mess the oven racks have very fine spacing and you put the meat directly on the rack and then you put the bottom of the broiler pan on a rack below the meat and you put some water in that so the fat etc. drips into that.

I’ve used this feature a number of times and it actually works quite well and didn’t seem to make that much of a mess, other than the oven rack itself gets a little messy.

I just spent the last hour and a half replacing the right front infinite switch this was a common problem on the Westinghouse Clorox type infinite switches they tend to lose the low heat setting.

You actually had to turn the switch all the way to medium low before the heat would come on at all, this type of switch is still in use in many ranges and still a problem people start complaining that when they turn the burner to low it just stops heating.

I think I’m now officially done with this range buttoned it all up the storage drawer is filled with enough extra parts to fix about anything it’ll go wrong with it including spare heating elements etc. onto the next project.

John L

 

[ea56]

Water in the Broiler Pan

this something I always do when I use the broiler, makes cleanup so much easier. And I always cover the broiler pan rack with foil and cut slits into it for each of the slits on the rack. Makes broiling a breeze when the cleanup is so much quicker and easier.

Eddie