Lets vote! What kind of electric surface unit is best!??

[norgeway]

I say Frigidaire Radiantube 1
Westinghouse Corox 2
Chromalox 3
Calrod 4
Why do I have this opinion?? Having used every kind of electric range,The Frigidaire is to my mind, the most nearly perfect, definately the longest lasting,it is NOT however the fastest, but quick enough, The Westinghouse is about equal, but I like the porcelian drip pans of the Frigidaire best, The Chromalox used on many ranges was as good as the first two until they kept cheapening it ,we had a 69 Kelvinator with plug in Chromalox units that burned out at least one a year, My old Norge by comparison, has Chromalox units that are heavy built and wonderful, Why do I rate Calrods last...they heat faster and are more responsive,,True, they also rattle when you walk across the kitchen floor, the old ones with the attached trim rings are terrible to clean, and as a rule they burn out more often than anything else...At least when you do a lot of canning. What are your ideas,?? I havent mentioned induction or smooth top, im concentrating on vintage.

 

[circlew]

I vote for Westinghouse Corox as #1.

 

[dj-gabriele]

What are the wattages for those vintage American units?
I tried "traditional" electric with coils only a couple of times while in the UK before my friend switched to induction and it was terribly slow. The big burner was like using the auxiliary on my gas hob.

Also, could I have a visual aid in what are the differences between those kinds of heating coils? Thanks!

 

[norgeway]

I will!

Post some pics, But basically, Frigidaire Radiantubes, as well as TK Monotubes, are considered Monotube units, they are thick, about 1 inch wide and rest on a seperate three pronged spider, Westinghouse Corox units are also thick, but not as thick as a Monotube, they can be one coil or two wound side by side, depending on the control, if they have five fixed heats, they will be two coils, if controlled by an infinite heat control, one single coil, Chromalox units are similar, also they are permanently fastened to the support frame under them, Calrods are one or two coil units, sometimes three coils, adjustable to pan size, they are very thin units, about the size of a small pencil, they too are fastened to a support spider,also, many of the older units have the outer trim ring permanently attached, making cleaning difficult.

 

[norgeway]

Frigidaire

Radiantube.

 

[norgeway]

Chromalox

On my 55 Norge

 

[norgeway]

57 Kenmore Infrarod.

Also Chromalox.

 

[norgeway]

As you can see,

The Frigidaire unit is flat, the coil itself contains two or three wires, depending on which type control is used.Being wide and flat, it makes better contact with your cookware.

 

[norgeway]

Early two coil.

Chromalox on a 47 Norge.

 

[norgeway]

1961 General Electric

Calrod unit.

 

[norgeway]

wattages///

The wattages ranged from 1250 for most 6 inch units all the way to over 3000 for the three coil Calrods, some speed heat units operated as high as 5000 watts for around 30 seconds, this was done by switching 220 volts thru a 120 volt 1250 watt unit for a set time , usually 20 to 30 seconds, good in theory, but the controls usually didnt last as long as they should, and if they stuck on 220, the unit would burn out quickly, sometimes with explosive results.

 

[supersuds]

I loved Corox when I had a Westy range back in college, thought it was better than Calrod, but can't really compare since I never used a Frigidaire.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Thanks very much for the complete answers and photos!
I see why they can be a nightmare to clean, I hope that the coils can easily removed and put back at least. I used a cooker Calrod like, with thinner coils.
Are they faster reacting than solid plates "European style" even in the thicker version or do they still react slowly? Solid plates in my opinion are the worst thing to cook on! Even worse than vitro-ceramic radiant/halogen as they take ages to adjust in temperature.

 

[lordkenmore]

Some electric burners are easily removed--they just plug in. Others are fixed. The fixed ones (at least the ones I've seen) can be moved a bit, for example to remove the drip pan.

 

[appnut]

The first electric cooking equipment I encountered and used on any length of regularity was Frigidaire.  I thinnk those are the best.  Not really used what Westinghouse had, although neighbor across the styreet loved the Westinghouse cooktop from 1960/1961 with infinite control.  She'd had a Chambers range for 14 years and said the Westinghouse was just about as good and flexible as gas.  I've had a GE slide in for 26.5 years. 

 

[westingman123]

Why,

Westinghouse, of course, is my number one pick. I've never been happy with any other range, but I've never experienced a Frigidaire range.

 

[combo52]

Best Convental Electric Elements

1 The more modern thin Chromalox elements., most even heat, fast heat up and fastest cool down, and they tend to stay flat if not abused.

 

2 GE-HP Calrod, also excellent for reasons mentioned above, but quality suffered in the past 20 years or so.

 

3 The older real Westinghouse elements, these were high quality and offered a good compromise between the above style elements and the much less satisfactory thick Mono-tube type elements.

 

4 Frigidaire and other Mono-tube style elements, these seldom stay flat when heating water etc. on high heat. I have very seldom found flat elements so you usually end up with significant RED areas and slow cooking. They also build up more heat so it is more often necessary to move pans off the burner, also because of the heavier element they end up wasting more heat-power so they are a little more expensive to run.

 

5 European cast iron surface elements, these are absolute the worst elements to cook on, slow heat up, very slow cool down and the most energy wasting design ever. The only good thing about this style element was they are very safe because of the built in temperature limiter that keeps the surface temperature limited to around 850 degrees, regular elements can easily go to twice this temperature.

 

[firedome]

Older Calrods and Frigidaire Radiantube

work best imo, and never had any problem with flatness with any of the latter, but always make sure they aren't abused (overheated). We love having access to these electric units for most cooking, along with Chambers Model D "Plane of Flame" (much improved over the Model "B" and "C" single row burner) gas cooktop burners for the most delicate saute and sauce work, tasks at which they truly excel...but in general we're happy with either the GE or Frigie electric element types, and have both.

 

[norgeway]

I Also!

Have a gas range in the laundry room, I use the gas oven when baking layer cakes ETC as I like the even ness of the heat, I use the gas burners when frying as I like the quick control, I dont use the gas stove as much in the summer as it heats up the house more than the electric...My gas range is a Hardwick.

 

[mixfinder]

How we cook

I don't fry, sear or saute on the range. The mess is too hard to clean so I use an electric skillet or the burner on the gas grill. For eveness of heat nothing can touch a Frigidaire. Day in and out, simmer soups, gently boiling candies and frostings, knowing what heat is good for cooking vegetables, cooking pancakes and durablitity Frigidaire gets my vote. I haven't experienced the unflat burner that Combo and Tom refer to but I use very heavy flat bottomed cookware and never run them on high for an extended period. A range in my house may work 8 to 10 hours a day but it is treated like a Pearl of great Price.
GE Calrod is the clear winner for speed and they coll back quickly but they tend to buckle and become uneven if over heated. Newer GE ranges tend to lose the finite heat control over time and become a whole or not too much and not much in between. Want to ruin a GE range in one summer? Just can on it. Nothing in the universe is harder on wiring, burners, pocelain and enamel than canning. I refuse to do it.
Westinghouse would be my clear second choice over a Frigidaire. I like the burners and the ovens. They made great stoves.
Whirlool, Kenmore, Magic Chef and Tappan have two burner options. One has more coils closer together and heat more evenly while the cheaper once take forever and are hard to control. The plug in connectors have been more problematic to me as a landlord than other brands.
If coils weren't the issue I have been happy with smooth tops and I pine for an Induction range. My experience has been with GE and in every case they are nothing short of phenominal.

 

[lotsosudz]

I have used all of them at one point, use GE calrod elements now. Like the old frigidare elements, but they were definately slower to adjust, and to cool down completely. Ge calrods, adjust quickly, heat and cool quickly.
hugs,
David

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Little wonder that Charles Klamkin favors WESTINGHOUSE electric ranges! The coil-or ordinary Rod-Type elements, as he calls them--seem to be energy efficient, quick to warm up (and maybe cool down), have an infinitely adjustable regulation that beats the competition (like GE's ONLY FIVE push-buttons) and of course, are easy to replace--they plug in & pull out!

The better Frigidaire Radiantube ranges have a "Speed Heat" element, which Klamkin cites that because of the extra wattage it would have to carry & the fact that cooks in a hurry would give it a very inordinate amount of use, it would be the first to burn out!

GE's Calrods improved, in that General Electric eventually made 'em plug in units on both the GE & Hotpoint line of ranges (though that was unobtainable w/ the Power-Saver/Temperature Controlled Elements, I believe), but, yes, I remember what the rattling was in my apartment kitchen as I walked by the GE stove that it had (well, the flooring could have been uneven, too!)...

Best electric element design for ME? NONE! Give me a GAS RANGE! (Ducking & running...!)

-- Dave

 

[norgeway]

This has been interesting!

Im glad for all the input....I still like Frigidaire the best, I have never seen but one Frigidaire unit warp, and that was because the support under it bent, I do agree that Calrods are very responsive, seems many folks love Westinghouse, I agree, just never see many of them here, Dons Mother had one and has never liked another stove since.

 

[tomturbomatic]

One time when I was home, I went to visit an older couple who were some of mom's friends. They had a mid 50s Frigidaire range and two of the rear surface units were so warped that the inner loop of each was standing in the air. I do not know if they were still used with a heavy pan to push them down or not. Not knowing them well but knowing the husband was a bit of a bitter old man, I did not offer to bend them down. I have done that with other elements, but it generally takes some adjusting and does not always last. I honestly don't know what people do to them to cause them to warp up like that, but they are not attached to a frame like the other major brands of surface units so that might be a factor. If you read any range reports from the 50s in Consumer Reports, they remark on how each Frigidaire surface unit has to be leveled individually which involved playing with the positioning of the spider under the unit. The older stoves had trim rings with three posts inside on which the spider is to rest, but some of the old spiders have weakened with heat over more than 60 years and they will sag if the unit is used on High. I can cook on all three. Once you get used to the response time of the units, you know when to switch heats: faster on the Frigidaire elements.

Westinghouse switches, at least on a range I had in a condo from the 70s, did something that affected the usual response time for surface units. When you switched from a higher to a lower heat, the switch kept the current off for a longer initial period to let the element cool faster and I learned that I could not switch the heat as fast if I wanted to keep stuff cooking. This was especially noticeable when using the pressure cooker. With 5 heat switches one or both parts of the element keep heating at a lower rate and one part might even stop heating, but there is a transition phase to raise the pressure the last couple of pounds after the switch. With the Westinghouse, turning the heat down did not give that much of a transition phase and the pressure would stop rising and even fall if the heat was changed too soon. John explained the feature to me decades ago, but I don't remember if that is because of a load balancing switch or not.

The main factor I consider about the various types of surface units is if they start flat & stay flat.