Did GE test-market a GAS range in the 1950s?

[toggleswitch]

I remeber that one. Instead of two burners, top and bottom (broil and bake) and a convection fan in the rear as most ovens do, this one had the fan hidden and the oven's heat came from a series of holes in the top of the oven cavity.

Heat and fan would stop when the door was opened.

The best you could hope to do was "mimic" broiling [and IIRC that is EXACLTY what the instruction manual called it] by turning up the heat all the way and putting the pan of meat right under the series of holes, through which the heat was conveyed/delivered.

 

[toggleswitch]

Here is a free-standing Gas self-cleaning "dual-fuel" standard sized oven ( 30" / 75cm) THAT WORKS ON 120V.

It has standard gas oven and broiler burner tubes. Broiling is done with gas as is surface cooking.

There has bbeen a small 120 v electrical heating element added to the bottom of the oven. Gas pre-heats the oven to within a few degrees of "target" temperature. Electric element swithces on; gas is cut off. The electic element will maintian the oven temeprature. Should the door be left open for a period of time, wherby the temperature falls below a certain nubmer of degrees below "target" the gas element will again fire-up to bring the oven back to the range where the electric element can maintain the temperture.

Quite an interesting gimmick. Great for those who can't run a heavy-duty 220v line for a standard "dual-fuel" or pure electric range/ cooker.

Remember here, on a 120v line, the wattage that can be squeezed thorough a 20a appliance circuit is quite limited.
Same wattage on lower voltage has a greater ameperage, requiring heaver gauge (thickness) wiring.

Watts = volts * amps
Watts/volts = amps

3500w / 240v= 14.6a
3500w / 120v= 29.2a

This cooker only requires a 15a 120v dedicated circuit so I'd say it's 1,400 to 1,800 watts, max.

http://www.geconsumerproducts.com/pressroom/press_releases/appliances/cooking_products/dualfuel_06.htm

 

[jamiel]

I remember that it did a wonderful job gratineeing french onion soup, of all things. Carole Mary was a good baker (I'd go to her house because I enjoyed grating the carrots for her carrot cake, plus she had a wonderful poppy seed cake) and she got the "mostest of the bestest" stove at the time.

These houses were built in about 1957 (typical baby-boom community) and there were only so many things you could do with the kitchen...an option when built was the built-in oven/cooktop. I'm not sure if there was a dishwasher option (they were scattered around the kitchens of most everyone). My mom had a Sears portable dishwasher made stationary, then next to it an old GE 24" stove (couldn't have a 30" stove because the pass-through to the back door would have been way too small) with a Westinghouse exhaust fan right over. Other people had either a 30" or even a 40" stove, and a dishwasher built in under a peninsula separating the kitchen from the dining room. Others (like Carole) had a portable dishwasher that stood in front of the sink (until she remodeled). Above all this was a vaulted cathedral ceiling, indirect lighting (I still like the airiness of these houses) big picture windows in the living room... ah memories.

 

[neptunebob]

My brother has a magazine ad from 1969 that shows what looks like a Caloric range that is self cleaning and is gas (don't think they had dual fuel then) it was an over-and-under range. The neighbors also had a range like this since about 1980 that had the microwave oven on top and gas self cleaning below. They just remodeled their kitchen this past year and I think it still worked but replaced it because it just looked 70s. The gas self cleaning oven was a little on the small side from the thick walls and the door did not have a window. There was no storage drawer either, just a solid panel. Later on, the company much have changed the mechanism to have a storage drawer.

I can remember some time in the 80s at Sears where they had both electric and gas self cleaning ovens on display the end of the aisle and the units looked much different from one another, as if from different manufacturers. The gas oven, which may have been made by Tappan, had about a 3 inch metal band across the top of the oven, as if it were an afterthought, making the oven cavity only about a foot high. It would have been impossible to cook a tall cake or even a turkey in there. It didn't seem until maybe 1990 that self cleaning gas ranges had the same size and amenities as electric ones did. Now I hear even today, expensive brands like Wolf and Viking don't offer gas self cleaning. Maybe because chefs like Emeril have workers to clean their ovens.

 

[appnut]

I remember friends had a rental house with a double oven gas self-cleaning range (Caloric) I beliveve if I remember correctly--kinda like a Gas versoin of a GE Americanan. I saw this range about 1978 or 1979. Anyway, I do remember that when you decided to self-clean, it locked both the oven door and the broiler drawer below and went through the cleaning cycle. I think the upper oven may have had removeable panels that went in the lower oven. Was quite impressed with it. I remember when they moved to a house they bought, they werre lammenting the new house was all-electric.

 

[mavei511]

Sears Kenmore ranges

In the late 1800s and early 1900s Sears had a stove and range foundry in Newark,Ohio named the Wehrle Company that built coal,wood,and gas stoves and heaters.

Roper built Sears gas ranges for many years-who built their electrics? I think some were built by Preway.Also read that Canadian Sears Kenmore electrics were supposed to be built by Kelvinator.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Right now, I have a Magic Chef (the only tragic chef in my kitchen is me...), and if I move, and have to replace the new kitchen appliances, which is probable, I'll probably get Kenmore...but I really like the GE's best of all, because they seem so roomy inside.

My main concern is that I wind up with self-clean rather than continuous clean (I really do believe they are continuously dirty, rather than clean...)

 

[neptunebob]

Oh, oh, did I roast something I wasn't supposed to.....

My younger sister has a late 70s GE self cleaning electric over and under range. You place the panels from the upper oven into the lower one and self clean everything. When it gets cold is usually a good time to self clean because it warms up the house nicely. She was complaining to me once that they had a mouse problem and she was finding "evidence" under the cooktop. I told her go ahead and self clean and any mice will stay away.

She started the self clean and the worse odor erupted, we had to open the windows!. Now I am wondering, could we have roasted a mouse that maybe somehow got trapped between the insulation? I would think they would run away as soon as it got too hot. Or could we have just cooked the "evidence". It's cold, she wants to self clean, and I don't know what to say. Any thoughts on this.

P.S. I will try to get that magazine photo when I figure out how to scan.

 

[toggleswitch]

I'm thinking burning hair smells bad. Otherwise it should theoretically smell like any other roast........

With any luck you just toasted a nest and not a slow one.

Are you sure there was not some plastic in the storage drawer that sacrificed itself to the god of pyrolysis?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=pyrolysis

 

[coldspot66]

Roper also made electric ranges........most Kenmore cooking back then (gas & electric) was Roper.

 

[neptunebob]

Another fact about George...

I don't think that Westinghouse made a gas range but I have to wonder why. George Westinghouse also founded Equitable Gas here in Pittsburgh along with Duquesne Light. If anybody should have come out with a dual fuel it should have been Westinghouse.

P.S. My sister self-cleaned her oven again (nice way to warm up the house) and this time no bad smell.

 

[toggleswitch]

Excellent keep it clean and it smells less. yup!

 

[agiflow]

The Tappan range that is currently being used here has one drawback-the size of the oven. Though it is a fine cooker with an oven door that is very heavy with all the insulation.

It figures that only a couple of years later, GE comes out with their new XL44 self cleaning gas ranges. Those seemed to be extremely large ovens back in 1990..which was very nice. They probably still make the best mainstream ranges today.

I have to say though, i really want one of the new Bosch DF ranges. The design of the back guards on their ranges, definitly looks like it should house a full length flourescent light. :-(