Those great ranges were probably designed for a different type of cooking than many 2 wage earner families of today practice. Even the deepwell harkens back to a time of long-simmered soups and stews that today are either purchased ready made or put in a Crock Pot before everyone leves for the day. The Maytag deepwell was match lit each time it was used because the pilot light was the simmer flame, even though it was not centrally located under the kettle and the kettle had to be removed from the well before lighting the burner for obvious reasons although I guess it could mimic a rocket launch if not completely removed before lighting. As Greg found out when he had his, the oven is not as practical for relatively quick baking jobs like cakes and quick breads or even TV dinners because of the time it takes to preheat that great chunk of iron or steel over the burner.
One thing to be said for this stove and the MAYTAG freezers that were made by Amana is that they did not damage Maytag's reputation like the full line of appliances they came out with decades later.
