Frigidaire vs Frigidaire

[mikael3]

If I were perfectly practical, I would buy a 1963 Frigidaire Custom DeLuxe RCD-71-63, and be done with it. I’ve cooked extensively on Frigidaires from that time period and I love them.

The problem is, I love the appearance of the models from the early ’50s—an RO-70 or an RT-70 in Stratford Yellow—and something like that would fit my house a lot better than a ’60s model. I’m worried, though, that the older models won’t make me as happy as a ’63.

One thing I don’t know is whether the surfaces burners on the early 1950s models are essentially the same as those on the 1963, or if I should expect some differences in performance there. Related to this, I’ve seen suggestions of switching out the front elements, but I think that would somehow mess up the look of the unit. Any thoughts?

I’m also a little worried about the sealed rod bake elements, which (I’ve read) cause a lot of problems with the porcelain. Is that going to be completely annoying?

The ’50s models have the thermiser (which I don’t really need). They don’t have a speedheat or heat-minder burner. They don’t have the somewhat-handy pull-out ovens. Would I really miss those things?

So, if you had the choice--and you really wanted a Frigidaire range--would you vote for the 1954 or the 1963?

I’ve learned a lot from this site in a very short time, but there's so much to learn, even after endless cups of knowledge from the Searchalator.

 

[danemodsandy]

John:

I can only speak from my experience with the RK-70 I grew up with, which was the TOL 40-incher from 1948. And it was a long time ago, plus the '48s used different burner elements than the Radiantubes introduced the following year.

It was a solid performer, very heavy and durable. Oven temps were very accurate and stable; I remember having to do some real mental adjustment when Mom got a Roper-built Lady Kenmore smooth-top with self-cleaning to replace the Frigidaire. That oven was prone to temperature swings as its elements cycled, plus hot and cool spots. Nothing baked in the Lady K ever browned evenly, ever.

Cleaning on the RK-70 was not really any worse than a modern range, except that the oven door didn't remove for cleaning (which even the pull-out Frigidaire models didn't). The dark blue-black oven liner did make it hard to see every last speck of oven soil. And now that oven cleaner has been downgraded to about the strength of baby shampoo (not even Easy-Off's grill cleaner is very strong now), that might make it a little harder to clean one of these vintage beauties.

Cooktop performance I can't really tell you about, since this was the last year before the fat Radiantubes. I can tell you that other manufacturers sold their elements, such as GE's Calrod brand, for converting Frigidaires away from Radiantubes.

I can tell you that I personally chose to go with a '70s GE range with P*7 self-cleaning as my vintage beauty - I love the Loewy Frigidaires, but the lure of "Set it and forget it" self-cleaning won out.

 

[mikael3]

Yeah, those GE P*7s are apparently pretty amazing. I've seen the posts that praise them. I don't know much about them, and the "look" isn't quite right for me, but I need to learn more. I'm indecisive enough as it is, so I was hoping my best choice would be a brand I already knew a bit about.

 

[danemodsandy]

Not to Worry....

If you're a Frigidaire fan, you can have self-cleaning if you want it - Frigidaire introduced Electri-Clean self-cleaning in '65. From some posts I've seen on this site, Electri-Clean was as good as P*7. While all pyrolytic (high-heat) self-cleaning ovens work on the same principle as P*7, there is a huge difference in how well some brands clean. Frigidaire obviously troubled to get it right.

The one drawback to Electri-Clean was: For several years, Electri-Clean ovens were not available with windowed oven doors; Frigidaire evidently took a while to come up with a window protection system that didn't violate GE's patents for its sliding window guard. But a lot of self-cleaners in the late '60s/early '70s had the same lack of a window, for the same reason.

Later, someone figured out that putting a reflective coating on the inside glass of the oven window would protect it sufficiently from the cleaning cycle's heat. So, now, all self-cleaners have windows, and all use the reflective coating. Even GE, because that coating is a helluva lot cheaper than the sliding guard they used for a while.

 

[norgeway]

Personally...

I would rather have the late 40s early 50s models, I am using a 60 Custom Imperial now, I would much rather have the 5 heat controls than infinite heat...with the fixed positions the heat never varies, with the infinite , as the controls age they drift, Im not a fan of pull and clean, the outside of the range tends to be much hotter..Frigidaire came out with Speed Heat and Heat Minder in 55...Two of the most troublesome gadgets ever put on a stove, some swear by them....I swear at them!..I think the finest ranges they ever made were the ones made before the easy clean oven design introduced in 53 or 54, this was problematic and was gone by55.

 

[mikael3]

One additional concern I have is that the thermizer has to be adjustable to make a regular burner. I don't know which year that started, but it rules out some of the models from the '40s. Also, aren't the burners on some of the '40s really different? I don't know anything about those--especially availability of replacement parts.

Now for my ignorance--what was an "easy clean oven", and what was the problem?

Norgeway, you answered a previous question I had about a 1950 L&H. Which would you take, one of these ca. 1950 Frigidaire's, or that L&H?

 

[bluejay]

I'm partial to our '63 RD-39-63. It's been a fantastic stove and is ridiculously easy to operate and clean. Could you aim for a late 50s oven? They may fit in better with the overall aesthetic of your kitchen.

 

[tomturbomatic]

My TOL RT70 from 1954 has the raisable Thermizer element. It is of lower wattage (1700) than the front 8" element (2050). During this time, I believe some Thermizers in lower end units still used an open coil element set in a ceramic bed and those were not raisable. I liked the way that the 5 heat switches have Simmer right next to High so just as something comes to a boil, one hand motion switches it to Simmer and the timer is set for 2 minutes less than the total cooking time to use the stored heat in the unit. With 5 heat switches, there is never any guessing and no fiddling. You soon learn which heat is right for the task so there is no need to consult the beautifully porcelained heat settings guide on the pull out drip tray under the surface units. Those ancient, but very correct, heat percentages will serve any cook very well when cooking with induction: full, half, third, quarter & eighth correspond to the 5 heats in descending order.

 

[mikael3]

I've seen your stove in some of the posts, Bluejay. It's incredibly beautiful. My grandmother's sister had the 40" version, and that's the range I learned to cook on. If I were to buy a '63, I'd get the Custom DeLuxe, because I really want a second oven. And of course, I'd get it in Stratford yellow!!!

I'm torn, though, because the "look" of my kitchen is more 1950 than 1965.[this post was last edited: 6/3/2014-12:51]

 

[philr]

If you use a lot the rear 8" burner, all those with the deep-well cooker (even the latest with the infinite controls) have a much lower wattage. 

 

The Speed Heat and the Heat Minder could be a source of problems but I like them anyway. I have no experience with the early Heat Minder controls but they look quite complicated compared to those of 1960 and later. The one-year only Heat-Minder system on my 1959 range was missing some parts so I just converted it to the newer style that works fine.

 

Just like the 5 heat models, the early ones with infinite switches (before 1960) start on high and then simmer. 

 

Here on my 1959 range with infinite switches:



 

For daily use, I like to have a self-cleaning oven so that's what I use daily, but appliances from the 1960s and 1970s look OK in my kitchen... 

 

I just switched the panels from my white 1971 Frigidaire Deluxe range to 1973 Custom Deluxe that was harvest gold just because I wanted the Heat Minder control and a full glass control panel!

Before:



Harvest Gold...



 

After (I bet uninformed visitors won't notice the subtle change!):



 

The Deluxe going to the storage with it's new Harvest Gold panels!



 

 

 

 

 

[circlew]

If you are looking for Stratford Yellow, that will limit you to models produced between mid-late '54 and late '57 (55,56 and '57 model years). Frigidaire replaced Stratford Yellow with Sunny Yellow, and Sherwood Green with Turquoise for the '58 model year.

 

[mikael3]

I'm a little disappointed that old ranges were all white.  I could send one off to be painted, of course, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being true to the vintage style.  That's also why the '54 model caught my eye.  The yellow paired with that design is really beautiful.