Hardwick Brand Gas Stoves

[toggleswitch]

[A novel AGAIN! LOL]

From another thread, I was reminded of mom's Hardwick brand gas stove From late 60's early 70's.

There was a waist-high broiler (in the main oven cavity)in the shape of a large "U". Broilers in this location were not very common before self-cleaners. (except perhaps in TOL models.) They were normally found in a drawer at the bottom of the stove and used the same burner tube as the oven.

The stove had pilot-lights (and was totally non-electric assist)and the broiler drew its ignition from the top-left suface burner. It was so cool! Its pilot light was not full-time. Turning the oven dial to "Broil" sent gas to the upper (broil) burner's pilot light. There was a tube that ran up to the upper left surface burner's pilot light and the flame there would "POP" and ignite the rising (from the broiler) gas. Once ignition of the broiler's pilot light was "proved" a two-way valve would divert the flow of gas from the oven burner to the broiler burner. Neither burner would light if the pilot to the oven (bake) burner was not lit and "proven" by the safety valve.

If the broiler were to go out, or if the pilot light had never ignited, the oven's (lower) bake burner would ignite. You had to check for a broiler flame...and sometimes you can see them flaming, and other times it's not so obvious.

In its day and for something totally mechanical (did not need electricity for the controls) it was very KEWL

Where did this brand "go" ? I heard that gas-self-clearners pretty much wiped out the tranditinal gas-stove manufacturers who could not afford to re-tool and go with the revised engineering.

Who made the first gas-self cleaner and when?

The issue was limiting oxygen to the oven cavity (or the food soil would burst into flames during the pyrolytic self-clenaing incineration process) while at the same time ensuring primary and secondary air/oxygen for complete combution of the gas. I think this was resolved by putting the venturi jet outside the box, and have holes of LIMITED size for secondary air to the burner tube.

I MUST be a closet novelist!!

 

[goatfarmer]

I believe Maytag aquired Hardwick,about the same time they got Magic Chef.I had a Hardwick by Magic Chef stove in the shop recently.

kennyGF

 

[agiflow]

Hardwick

I know a friend of mine who's mom has a Hardwick range in avocodo,30" and non self cleaning. She has had it since the 70's i believe.

She's a Korean woman who from what i have seen used the oven for pots and pans storage.

It seems that self cleaning ovens, the early ones anyway,had small ovens and the top broiler took up so much room. Judging by the Tappan i have, a lot of wasted space with no storage drawer underneath.

It figures right after we got the Tappan, Ge comes out with the 4.4 self cleaning ovens. There is at least one place i know that might still have the last of the 30" ranges with the cooktop light. Love them cooktop lights.

 

[maytagbear]

Hardwick stoves, Gas self-cleaners

Ma and I bought a "Hardtag" in 1985. It was a Maytag badged Hardwick, and I loved it. It was not self cleaning, but cleaning a gas oven is a lot easier than cleaning a non-self cleaning electric.
This one had a removable oven floor-- loosen two screws, and it came out, and the door slid up and off the hinges for ease in cleaning, as well.

It replaced a Maytag stove from the late '50s. So far, the "Hardtag" was the best home stove I have ever used. The thermostat was right on.

(The best electric I have used, so far, is a coil element Hotpoint self-cleaner from the previous apartment.)

As for gas self cleaning ovens, they took a few years to come out, I don't remember hearing about any until around 1971-2. The first print ad for one I remember was for a Caloric.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[toggleswitch]

Sounds about right

I thought it to be Caloric as well. I'd say the oven cavities were so small due to extra-heavy insulation.

Here is a quote from a book called "Kitchen Science" by Howard Hillman Coyright 1981 ISBN 0-395-33960

P.18
How does a self-cleaning oven work?

"When the oven is heated to nearly 1,000.F at the "self-clean" setting, any clinging grease on the walls disintegrates into fine particles thet either free themselves or can be wiped away with a damp cloth. Dont expect to find such a feature on gas ovens found in today's market because unlike electric ovens, they cannot be heated to the required minimum self cleaning temperature."

1) Fine particles => a.k.a ASH... you putz!
2) Can't get to 1,000.F HA!
Ooven burners' heat outputs were upped from 12k Btu/h to maybe near 20k BTu/h. I think he is trying to say can't figure out how to limit the oxygen!!!

PS I keep the book because it is SO DATED.

My first self-clean was a Gas Caloric with a mechianical timer and thermostat (electronic was just becoming available) the year was 1991. The burners were not sealed by choice, because I could put that older style in the dishwasher and then "Bake" them dry in the oven. The sealed burners at the time were a PITA to keep clean and gunk-free.

The oven used to fire-up the boiler first durng slef-clean then jump to the bake burner. Why... I don't know. Maybe that stupid "Ultra-ray" infra-red mesh boiler had a faster heat output than the oven burner. I'm guessing so, since it was a hot-as-heck way-too-fast broiler.

All the other gas self-cleaners just heat from the bottom for cleaning.

 

[toggleswitch]

Speaking of Tappans

I used a buddy's Gas double-ven Tappna the other night.

Yes, the fluorecent cooktop light was awesome!
The two oven lights were on the same switch and would light when then lower oven's door was opened.

Funnierr even was that the backspalsh's fluorescent light woud shine into the lower oven by way of the air holes in the bottom of the oven and could be seen through the air holes over the burner! LOL

The upper oven was continuous cleaning, and the lower over was self-cleaning.

..and it looked (and smelled figuratively ) like a very early GE self-cleaner.

Did GE use Tappan @ first (as Whirlpool used Caloric) to break into the gas cooking line and then eventually engineer their own?

IIRC there were only "small" names in gas cookng till self-clean came out and the big three got in!

 

[agiflow]

Right around 1987 CU reported on gas ranges. The early GE gas stoves were indeed Tappan made. Then in about 88 WCI swallowed Tappan whole and was producing GE gas ranges until ge started making their own 4.4 gas models in around 1990.

Pat

 

[toggleswitch]

Thanks for the info

Good to know. Thank you

WCI really screwed everyhing it touched, didn't it/they?

What would the opposite of the Midas touch be?

 

[david]

The

Hardwick ranges-hmm, lets see. Had a dream about one a while back- one of those old early 50's, light the oven, no timer or clock type ones. Saw many of those growing up in both Louisiana and Arizona. Anyway, I dreamt that I pulled open the oven door and this straight flame shot out from the match hole, like the hight of the inside of the oven and maybe a little beyond, accompanying it was the roar of a dragon like spot on the munsters-I haven't forgot that dream although I generally forgot the rest. What a fun stove a Hardwick must have been HAR-HAR-HAR-!

 

[david]

BTW-thanks for that whirlpool-caloric connection

I have been racking my mind lately about a dear old deceased friend of my mother's who had a like 57, 58 somewhere along in there RCA whirlpool gas range. It was a 30" model with a window and complete works, rare for those days on a gas range unless it was expensive. This is the only one I ever saw; since the house was built in 1957 or 58, I assume the stove to be about the same age. She also had the oldest SQ washer I have ever seen (tl-auto-ss tub), probably from that same time. I never saw Whirlpool gas ranges again until the mid-60's, and by then electric ones as well-we had a built in coppertone WP, bol. Anyway, I thought either Tappan or Norge may have made RCA WP stoves because their designs and features were so similar.