57 GE Liberator in Bethann Pink

[gansky1]

or PANK as some like to call it!

I've spent about 12 hours cleaning and restoring this beautiful GE range and was able to move into the (mismatched) kitchen a few weeks ago. So far, I absolutely love this GE range, what a difference it is cooking with compared to the gas maytag and even the Frigidaire. The burner elements are much more responsive and easy to control, the "limits" of five heat choices have not presented any problem at all.

 

[gansky1]

Full frontal - with a crooked grin?

 

[gansky1]

Gleaming in chrome and floro lights!

 

[gansky1]

These pushbuttons are color coordinated to the temperature selected so you can tell from a glance, across the room, what the range is set for...

 

[tlee618]

Oh my Greg, it is just beautiful!!! It looks like a brand new range. You just have to love those colored lights on the buttons and that beautiful lighte console!! Another great job!! Thanks for sharing. Terry

 

[gansky1]

A few weeks ago while Steve (gyrofoam) was in town for a visit, a friend of mine tipped me off on another pink GE range. We went over to a contemporary furnishings store to have a look and ended up buying it! I won't keep this one, the parts are like gold - an entire working range with many similar or same parts for the low, low price of $50!

It is pretty though - 1959 had a few changes from the 57 model; a rotisserie, actual Farenheight settings for the automatic Calrod, newer clock style, large oven windowed door, but no plug in griddle and no chrome strips on sides of oven doors.

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Wow!

That's gorgeous! Gotta love pink appliances!

Even my mother glanced over my shoulder and said "wow! thats pretty; look at all of the space next to the burners."

Too bad a range that size wouldn't fit in our kitchen.. I bet I'd be able to sneak one of those into the house--and not have her mind.

 

[petek]

It really is fantastic looking. I'd love to have one like that in my kitchen.

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Stunning

Is the panel below the controls glass or plastic?
Goes flawlessly with the pink tile!!!

 

[toggleswitch]

oooooh fabulous! Enjoy

Psssssssssssst. Tell me privately brief or boxers... er.... I mean which is better gas or electric. (Let's not open up THAT can of worms again).

I had the chance to use a fixed-heat type GE elecric stove; I had no problem with it at all.

It really is a beaut! Gorgeous restoration!

 

[irishwashguy]

OMG !! That is so Beautiful

It is so nice. I am a big fan of pink appliances, i would love to see what beatiful cakes could be made with this Range.Congrads Greg----Ritchie

 

[hoover1060]

wow that is snazzy!

I love the look of that all lit up too! Why can't anyone make fun stuff like that anymore?

 

[veg-o-matic]

Oooh, now I'm moist! That's beautiful, just beautiful. Looks like it was just delivered--by men in uniforms and hats.

It'd look really great with these cabinets...

veg

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/fur/158982064.html

 

[Unimatic1140]

Greg, its just beautiful, GE and Hotpoint ranges are a my favorite by far, and the pink is stunning. Back to nice electric cooking, YAY.

With the exception of boiling milk on the stove top, I prefer electric cooking over gas.

 

[mixfinder]

Pushing My Buttons

We had a BOL 40 inch General Electric Range when I was kid.
We bought it used, after being in a high School Home Ec Lab.
It had skinny, hard to clean between, white push buttons
High was great for burning anything
Second was perfect for frying
Third just right for boiling
Simmer and warm did just what they said.

I was learning to cook and would put everyting on second and then stay close by. Mom would come behind me and push Third. One day in frustration I asked her why. Her response: "I cook everything on medium, that way I have a 50/50 chance of getting back before its burnerd."

Same mom, same stove. I was putting something in the oven and it was a mess. I was upset and asking her why she didn't clean it. Her response was a lifted from Erma Bombeck: "When the oven gets so bad I can only bake one cupcake at a time, I'll buy a new stove."

It was a great stove and baked like a dream. The oven door on ours lifted off for easier access to cleaning.

Frontloadotmy,
I believe the material below the clock was a soft textured metal.

Kelly

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Thanks Kelly

But it looks like a material that would slightly enhance
my already over photogenic face; kind of like Lucille Ball
for her "Mame" role, don't you think? Soft, harshness reduced,
filtered!!!!

 

[mixfinder]

Cosmetic Enhancement

Textured, forgiving greasy fingers and splatters. Isn't that a perfect face material?
Kelly

 

[southernmdgeguy]

Moist hell...

clean up in isle one!

That is just awesome!! What a restore you did, it does look brand new! Motivating me to clean up mine, and find the parts I need. I agree, my 54 is the best working/cooking stove I own. I have the smaller hard to clean buttons on it, like we had on our 61 Hotpoint cooktop (still my dream to find again) I never knew there were the lighted colors behind the larger pushbuttons, awesome! I like that sliding control for the automatic burner, I had not seen that type up close before. Does the meat probe work? Does it shut off the heat when it reaches the desired temp?

Thank you for sharing that and motivating the rest of us.

 

[swestoyz]

Greg - that range is breath-taking. Looks wonderful, and sounds like it is great to cook on! A dream come true!

Ben

 

[gansky1]

Check out the wiring!

Thanks everyone for the great reviews, other than needing a very thorough cleaning and detailing everything seemed to work just fine. With ranges, the most work is in the cleaning. There were only a few minor repairs that needed to be done - one of the colored plastic panels behind the buttons had broken and fallen down an the plastic General Electric lettering in the panel had warped from heat so I removed it and cut out each letter individually and re-glued them back in their spots - painstaking, but worth every minute! I still have some lettering to touch up on the panel but otherwise it's pretty much done. I can imagine the smaller pushbuttons are harder to clean around, but those larger buttons seem to have their own set of maintenance issues - to clean all around the buttons and the colored panels behind them, disassembly is the only way to really get at them properly. Did someone mention OCD?

The gray panel of the backsplash is textured aluminum which cleaned up beautifully. Below the panel is ribbed glass, also easy to clean.

I haven't tried the meat probe feature yet, but there is a buzzer that sounds when the desired temp is reached.

 

[bethann]

Wow Greg!

She looks wonderful! I know what your saying about he cleaning thing. Pain in the butt, but worth every minute. Do you have the griddle? I'm still on the hunt for one. From what I've been told and from what I've found out through trial and error is... Start everything on high, then get it to temp and back it way down. I can get a large pot of water to boil a lot faster on the Liberator than on the gas stove! I've used the meat probe too. When I first used it I thought it didn't work, but it doesn't seem to start registering until late in the cooking process. Could be a malfuction, but I really don't know! Meat still came out fine.
Pinky is charming, I'm glad she has a new home!

 

[toggleswitch]

It is so gorgeous. I'm envious!

I just thought of something.The fixed heats on the surface elements work BECUASE we have an electrical system that allows both 220v and 110v.

This type of range can NOT be found in Europe or Asutralia or 220v land. [well without some funky transformers and custom rigging!

It is uniquely this continent, and dare I say *American*?

 

[gansky1]

Bethann - I do have the griddle for mine but I'll keep my eyes open for another one for you. I found the exact same thing to be true about boiling water - we did a big pot of water for pasta last weekend and the water was boiling in a flash and this is the first range I've ever used that even after adding the pasta to the boiling water, there was no delay in bringing back to a boil - it just kept right on churning. It is far and away faster than the Maytag gas range, I couldn't believe it!

That's interesting to hear about the meat probe, I'll have to try it. I'm not all that carnivorous or keep big hunks of dead flesh in the house, but we do have the traditional roast or ham family dinner now and then. I wonder if the probe would work on caramel-cinnamon rolls? ;-)

 

[rickr]

Great job Greg! That range looks clean enough to pass for NOS
The pink colour gives the whole thing such a wonderful warm glow with the panel lights on. Congratulations on a beautiful TOL classic!

 

[appnut]

PANT PANT PANT!!!

 

[gregm]

GORGEOUS

looks awesome Greg, congrads ...........

 

[westytoploader]

New for '57...liberate yourself!

Greg,

BEAUTIFUL GE range...you did a great job on the cosmetics! Love the button illuminators; so much different from the other General Electrics of the time, IMHO. Can't wait to see it in person!

--Austin

 

[cadman]

Greg, that is one great looking range! Congrats! -Cory

 

[customline]

Cripes !!!!!!

Flippin' Hell that's beautiful. Thanx so much for your time and photos. A much inspiring restoration.

 

[panthera]

beautiful beyond my wildest dreams

I think this must be one of the most perfect mixtures of function and form there could be. What a beautiful restoration! I would kill for either of the two.
My grandmother had the little GE pushbuttons - built into the range hood. It was such a perfect solution - didn't get dirty as easily so not quite as hard to clean...but right there where you needed them and could easily see them. GE sure did a lot of things right with their stuff back then.
Hmm, Steve, you are right - the 2x 110V system has a lot of advantages. In the attached diagram, you can see how we poor old Europeans have to cope with the problem. I can no longer do the math to prove it, but the US system would also be offering a noticable efficiency increase, too. Anyone know for sure? At this time of the day, my head just spins when I try to figure it.
The same system applies, of course for solid units (no, you don't want to know, they take forever) as well as the radiants used in the earlier glass-ceramic hobs.