Mid-Century Washday

[panthera]

My darlin' is far closer to being the perfect housewife than I shall ever be, but he does let me do the laundry.

The last week, I have been washing in a 1958 (OK, some parts are '59) Thumper *and she's PANK*, drying in a Westy Slantfront DR-3 (late '40s, but when? Anyone know how to date her exactly?) and pressing on that beautiful Ironrite mangel from the late 40's.

Absolute heaven. Everything comes out clean, fluffy and wrinkle free.

Of course, we don't do synthetics.

Except for microwave ovens, I can't think of a single household appliance after the late '50s worth having. Neat!

 

[turquoisedude]

Ah, I look forward to the day that I can proudly unload the '56 GE Washer-Dryer combo in the new kitchen! Of course, in the meantime the '66 Inglis washer and dryer are now being used on a regular basis and they outperform the 2004 GE set I have in Ogden.
BTW - the oven thermostat is working beautifully!! Thank you again for your help in getting that across the border!!

 

[panthera]

My pleasure,

so not a problem and glad it worked.
Anytime you need anything, just ask. Don't know how often people here have helped us with stuff, good to be able to give back some.

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Keven,

There are three things I would add,

1) The Bamix, although that was 1954 in parts of europe, just not the rest of the world until the late 60's/70's,
2) The Fan Forced Oven
3) Spray arm based dishwashers.

Other than that, most things of use have been in existance since then.

 

[paulg]

Avocado green with envy...

I am envious. I hope someday to have a pastel-shaded laundry-pair to make my workload vanish.
Admittedly, I am extremely happy with my Speed-Queen 2005-year pair. Sigh, I sure wish they had been available in Sunrise-yellow or Turquoise.

 

[panthera]

Good point

on the convection ovens, tho' I do wonder if they are really all that knew?

I have used my Stabmixer perhaps once every two years or so the last 26 years...and when I needed it, it was indispensable.

Actually, our KA cleans wonderfully with European dishwasher detergent. The phosphates and enzymes together with that hot, hot spray just strip everything off the dishes. But yes, spray arms sure made it possible to clean glass.

Still, the quality and fun built into these appliances...just isn't there in the MBA designs, built to fall apart and made to make the managers company, not us happy.

Not to mention the sounds. Gosh, I promised to upload that a while back. Have to get crackin'

ps: Bamix is a hand held mixer which can be used to puree or mix foods much the way a blender does, but without the mess and inconvenience.

 

[syndets2000]

I have a nineties kenmore triple dispenser thing- it serves all of our three rental apartments !! & after retiring the 65 kenmore dryer, its place has been taken by a (radio shack special) WP super capacity electric dryer- I love the moisture sensor in it, but the washer sounds tired-it LOOKS pretty tired too, but keeps a goin!

 

[maytagbear]

Self cleaning ovens,

and frost-free refrigerators are innovations to which I cling.

Also the Cuisinart/KitchenAid food processor.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Keven,

Convection ovens have been everything other than BOL here since the Mid 70's and are seen as indispensible. Our ovens here are more euro sized, but I can still cook on 3 or 4 levels at a time and get consistant results. I guess in the US people are less used to them and when you've got an oven 60-90cm wide internally, you can just fit more on each shelf, rather than going verticle. Thus negating the need for convection.

I love my bamix, I've recently had my 1970's model reconditioned with a new gearbox, capacitor and speed control resistor for around $100 AUD and am giving to a friend who has a baby about to start on solids. I bought the new Swissline to replace it. Unfortunately the quality has gone down on the new ones and the Swissline was the first model in the range that felt anywhere near as solid. With a drive that does around 20,000 RPM its a bit of a jump from the 11,000RPM of the old one. Power is up to 240W from the 100W on the old.

I use mine 3 or 4 times a week, from mashing potato, to making smoothies. I love that you can submerse it into a stockpot up to just below the switch and then rinse the whole thing off. I work with 20L stockpots and the times I've tried to Puree Soup in the Food Processor or Mouli I just end up with a huge mess. This way you can just plunge it in and get on with it. I do like the German name of Staub Mixer, better than Bamix, which comes from the French equivilent words, Beat and Mix.

Cheers,

Nathan

 

[panthera]

Nathan,

I was shocked the last time I went into a good store and saw what had become of my BrAun Stabmixer - twice the watts, but oh my, the quality was like those plastic toys they give away in breakfast cereal.

Convection ovens in the US are improving, the good ones are labeled 'Euro-style' or 'true' convection, meaning that the element is out of the cavity.

What's a typical Australian cold soup you'd need the Bamix for?

 

[toggleswitch2]

It thought true-convction means there is a heating element wrapped around the convection fan itself.

 

[panthera]

Toggles,

it need not be wrapped around the fan like those cheap plastic space heaters (tho' mine in Germany is), it can be a sealed element in a space behind the oven cavity, with the air blown past it into the oven (Bauknecht, back when they were a real company) or even with the air drawn through it, into the blower and out into the oven (Siemens before B/S/H).

The main thing is that it is not just a blower stirring up air heated by the bottom element as many US ovens do.

That doesn't work very well as the product on the lower racks tends to brown too quickly on the bottom.

It fascinates me endlessly how Whirlpool, which owns patents to superior European technology and American technologies from back when Americans actually had technology and not MBAs, insists on re-inventing the wheel for the American market...builds crap...then, after pissing everyone off, digs into their already purchased technologies and offers a good product. Anyone who is an early adopter of their technology nowadays is just asking for a disaster.

Of course, if you take the trouble to design a conventional oven properly, you need not use convection. My honey's 1953 rainbow stove from Westinghouse (and it carries the Betty Furness seal of approval!) has the bottom element outside of the cavity, circulating panels behind the side walls and bakes on all levels perfectly, evenly and at the temperature you pre-set, with swings less than 25F. If they could do that in 1953, kinda makes you wonder what happened in the meantime.

 

[brisnat81]

Pumpkin Soup is probably the main one I do the most often, I use the grinder to powderise oats for thickening and then the Bamix to Puree the rest.

Potato and Leek is another, When I do Pea and ham, I puree the carrots into the cooked split peas and then add the chopped ham back in and fresh peas into the mix.

Vegetable soup, I'll puree the Carrots, Onions and Celery and then add capsicum, Diced Parsnip and beans.

The best part about it, is that it sits on the bench, You can use it in an instant for anything (Can whip 1L cream in under 2 minutes) and then it rinses off under hot water and goes back on the stand for next time. The one thing I dont like about the new ones are the silly safety switches that you have to hold on. Give me a rocker switch that stays on any day.

Australian Convection ovens usually had the element wrapped around the fan sucking air in through the middle and venting it around the top and bottom. These days most of the ovens are multi function and have top elements, Under the bottom elements, and an element around the fan at the back. That way you can pick and choose what works best. I havent lived in a house with a conventional oven since the mid 80's.

 

[ronhic]

Choice tests....

...have shown that the ovens made here by Electrolux (but effectively not changed since before electrolux days-I a version of both) and marketed as Chef, Simpson and Westinghouse are as good a performer as Miele and better than every other European brand they have tested...including ASKO, Bosch and Smeg...

The last 7 houses and flats I have lived have all had Chef ovens/stoves in them and they have never given me any trouble. Only the last 2 (which I have renovated) have had fan forced.

I am currently using a Chef badged version of the oven in the link...fantastic (ahhh a pun!) results.

http://www.westinghouse.com.au/product/display/model/POP667W