Recessed range tops

[fan-of-fans]

Why did older ranges from the 1980s and earlier tend to have the top surface a few inches lower than the counter top? Also, why did older ranges sometimes have a thicker top so there was a front lip about four inches from the cooktop to the top of the oven door? I noticed some did and some didn't. My 1985 Hotpoint for example has the lowered top and lip on the front whereas my grandmother's 1978 GE was more like a modern range as far as the top. Her's also had the upswept one piece control panel whereas mine is two pieces which is harder to clean. My parent's 1992 GE was made more like my grandmother's just updated a bit.

 

[sudsmaster]

Wouldn't that depend on the whim of the home builder, specifically, the cabinetry builder? The cabinetry can be made talller or shorter as desired. And the ranges may have extendable feet that can raise or lower them maybe 1/2" or more.

That said, I don't see much reason why a slide in or drop in range top should be appreciably higher or lower than the neighboring counter top. Preferably I think it should be flush, or slightly raised. Easer to keep clean that way, I would think. In the case of my 60's era Frigidaire Compact 30 drop-in range, the edges are about 1/4"above the surrounding counter top

 

[fan-of-fans]

I'm referring to the range itself. On some older ranges the sides of the cooktop were level with the counter top, but the flat surface the burners were on was often an inch or two lower than each side.

 

[passatdoc]

My parents recently replaced a Hotpoint electric range with the upper auxiliary oven, electric coil cooktop, full size lower oven (like the GE Americana), because their repair service could no longer find parts for it. The cooktop was lower than counter height by about two inches. Growing up with the device, I thought the height was "normal". However, having owned my own home with a standard height range for 30 years, I found the recessed/lowered cooktop height at my folks' to be annoying (I am average height). At home, I can stand at a comfortable position to cook, but on the recessed cooktop, I have to stoop forward to reach the rear burners, plus the upper auxiliary oven gets in the way---a bit like cooking in a tunnel. For a tall person, it would be awful.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I would think that one design factor in the lowered cooktop would be what PassatDoc describes with the Americana-style ranges. It was a way to have the sides of the range be level with the countertops while having the surface units a couple of inches lower to give more height under the upper oven. especially over the rear units for taller utensils. This first appeared on the Americana ranges with the push buttons beside the units in that raised portion of the top. Certain ranges in GE's line were made that way, even though they did not have an upper oven to worry about, for a more stylized look, even though it gave a smaller total cooktop area. I would guess that they used the cooktops with the raised sides on some ranges because, as the Americana-style ranges lost favor, they had to use up the cooktops made for them. Maybe they also shielded countertops from heat from the surface units.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, if the sides of the range were flush with or slightly above the counter top, but the burner area was recessed an inch or two, it could help to contain boil-overs. However I don't recall ever seeing a set-up like that.

 

[kb0nes]

I seem to recall our mid-70's Whirlpool had about an inch high lip on the sides down to the surface the elements were mounted on. I was looking for a photo of it and ran across a couple pics on Google images that show what Cole is describing

 

[sudsmaster]

It may also be a way of preventing adjacent flammable wood counter tops from catching fire.

 

[passatdoc]

yes, the sides were raised and flush or almost flush to the countertop. And the cooktop was about two inches below counter height.

 

[funktionalart]

Can't locate the pic right now, but there was one infamous (to me) range design which is pretty much what Cole describes. Was a 70s/80s Kenmore copy of the Jenn-Air cartridge system ranges. The Kenmore work surface was much lower than the side edges of the range's cabinetwork--and had ventilation grilles/ductwork canted up at an angle away from cook surfaces and ending near the actual countertop. That woulda driven me nuts…

 

[funktionalart]

Samples of Kenmore mess...

No sooner did I reply than I found my pic folder. Here they are:

 

[philr]

Often, older ranges from the mid-1950 or earlier had flat tops (first picture shows my 1950 Frigidaire), the recessed part (many were recessed just a quarter inch) was introduced as an improvement to avoid containing boil-overs and spilling stuff on the sides (many top-loading washers and dryers also had that feature in the 1960s and 1970s).

Some ranges also had a more recessed surface like the GE drop in range that Phil posted above to make it a bit easier for short people to reach above pots. Westinghouse also had the Terrace Top ranges that had two levels, the front burners were also sitting lower for the same reason (last picture).

 

[norgeway]

Kelvinator

Introduced the recessed top I think, theirs was about 2 inches lower, don't forget Westinghouses Terrace Top, the best of both, the front units were lower than the rear.

 

[circlew]

My sister's old kitchen (torn out about 6 wks. ago) had a Whirlpool built-in gas cooktop. The range base cabinet it was in was only 31.5" high with a countertop height of 33". The cabinets to each side were 34.5" high with a countertop 36" high. Her reason for having it like that was to make it easier to stir things in tall pots. I don't know if the new cooktop will be installed in the same manner or not. It is going in an island.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I remember those Kenmore downdrafts. They were still selling the cooktop version in the early 90s. I see what you mean from the Frigidaire.

I guess GE was the main one with the cooktop so much lower, but I think there were others I have seen with that feature. I am thinking maybe my Hotpoint kept that lowered top despite being from the 80s because Hotpoint may have gotten the older designs.