Stoves Stoves Stoves.....My opinions..

[norgeway]

Well, as most of you know, I started with a 47 Norge, The Hart thermostat went bad and I could not find another,or I probably would still be using it, tiny oven and all, I had the big 41 1/2 inch Norge which baked beautifully in both ovens, but had rust and cracks in both oven liners, I still miss the griddle, and those perfect heating ovens, I tried a new glass top Hotpoint...Ok but everytime I looked at it all I could think was.CHEAP NEW JUNK, as I think about most new things, then I tried a Kenmore or two, great units, terrible ovens, a GE made a brief appearance...fair but a fairly bol that I never liked, then a Hotpoint that was beautiful but I hated the uneven heating oven, thought a new element would fix it, as it has a wall oven bake unit, it still burned some things on the bottom, I had several gas stoves, which I loved to ,...in the winter, NC in the summer is hot and humid, and I am NOT putting up with a hot house, then a Westinghouse,bad thermostat and I couldn't find one, and while beautiful, it was terrible to keep clean because the original owner scrubbed all the gloss off the top, meanwhile the other perfect performing range made a appearance or two, my favorite neighbors 74 Frigidaire which is the only other stove that worked as well as the Norges did, but is in like new condition, the only problem was it was vomicado green.....then I tried a Monarch, probably the heaviest best insulated stove I ever saw......but two issues, the  ovens has some rust, this in itself could be fixed as these ovens are easily removed from the range frame and they could be repaired easily because the shelf guides are removable, making the liners essentially one bug square box, the real problems are these, the small oven  is unusable because the thermostat is bad, it will hold the correct temperature, but the broil unit wont turn off , the large oven bakes beautifully, but I cant make anything like a cold oven pound cake in it because it has automatic preheat, the broiler comes on full when you turn it on and then turns off a few degrees before the temperature is reached, ok for normal cooking, not for  certain things...so, even though Donald thinks the Frigidaire is ugly, it has a lot of sentimental value, and looks and works perfectly, so it made a reappearance,..I have NO time for things that don't work, and way too much temper and too little patience,,If I could find a Frigidaire that was white ,I probably would try it, but this old 30 inch Frigidaire works with NO issues at all. And im tired of wrestling stoves, im nearly 50 and my back aint what it used to be!!LOL

 

[goatfarmer]

We've got a Magic Chef gas, circa 1986 or so, that been on the job since I found it on a scrap pile 10 years ago. Temps are good, looks good, does everything we need it to.

 

[gansky1]

Was the white 40" 1958 Frigidaire you found a few months ago too far gone?  I don't remember what the final verdict was, but I do remember you said it was really dirty.

 

It sounds like Frigidaire is your brand, at least for now.  I will keep my eyes open at the estate sales and try to find you some vintage dish towels, canisters and other doo-dads in green, orange, gold and brown to help integrate that vomicado color into your kitchen.   Maybe a gold Mixmaster and a coppertone skillet?  If the colors look intentionally chosen, then nobody will dare scoff at the range!  At least it's not gold - lol 

 

You have so many beautiful small appliances and accessories to make up for one green range and honestly, it's not the worst color.   From what I've heard of your cooking and baking from those who've enjoyed it firsthand, the stove isn't ever going to change the generosity and love that comes from it.

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

They do make high heat enamel which might work in the ovens' rusted areas, but you might have to have the range outside during the initial heating because of fumes.

Sounds like you need a white Frigidaire.

 

[firedome]

Frigidaire and GE

both have their good aspects. 40" free standing ranges w/ double ovens are nice, and imo the GE/Hotpoint configuration of tall skinny oven on the L is more usable than brands that have the lower mounted square oven on the L, perhaps because of a 65 yr old back, in this case! Two large and 2 small burners oriented to the L make for more work space, self-cleaning P7/Electri-Clean, a thermostat-controlled big burner, coil size selector, all must-haves. All this can also be had in a double wall oven & cooktop setup, more convenient due to higher mounted ovens. Have had good luck with even and consistent baking with both GE/HP and Frigidaires. RadianTube burners, while a bit slower to heat. seem to put out more than Calrods in big-pot water boiling and canning situations. GE/HP seem to have been made well a bit longer than FD, due to the late '70s WCI takeover. These observations reflect our experiences, YMMV!

 

[norgeway]

Re Thermostatic unit!

Just ONCE I would like to see one work properly....Ive had many of them thru the years, either they were changed to a regular switch...or I changed them because they didn't work!,,LOL..One reason I have always been afraid of self cleaning....To many things to blow up!If I could have a Norge brand new, I wouldn't trade it for anything, best oven I ever saw on an electric range,as for really good even baking, I like a old gas stove with the modulating type control, most people think electric bakes best, as good maybe, but not better than gas.I would really like to try a Chambers just once, I have always heard that oven was the best by far.

 

[firedome]

We have a Chambers "In-A-Wall" oven in our VT place.

that we bought 4 years ago, and had never been used! Still had the wrapping paper inside on the NICKEL plated racks and broiler pan. Chambers made both gas and electric (much more rare) models, both using the same very expensive super-insulated and heat sink (cast iron plate) design with precision ground cast iron door seals (no gaskets) and mechanical door latch: their slogan was "Cooks with the Fuel Turned Off" (which is accurate). We've also have had a 1960-ish MH-9T 37 aka Model D gas range here in NY. This still has the griddle/broiler between the 4 burners and still had the deep well up to the mid 60s. The griddle with broiler underneath is a great feature. Same construction as Models B & C but more modern looking. All Chambers are wonderful, but their drawback is a rather small oven, located rather low, and extreme heavy weight. And of course Pilot ignition in the good (pre-70) models. They got sold several times, but allegedly after the late '60s some were badge engineered. The Model D had the "Plane of Flame" dual row burners that put out more and more even and more adjustable heat than the older single row "daisy" type in Models B & C. These can be retro-fitted and it's worthwhile to do. At camp we still have an uninstalled 27" 4 burner (no griddle) In-A-Top Cooktop in Antique Copper that matches the wall oven, but are leaning towards using a Frigidaire REG-38 range in addition to the wall oven, rather than the gas cooktop. But if you want to cook with gas, you cannot do better than a Chambers, imho, they were the Rolls Royce of cooking for their time and far better than any modern range imo.

 

[firedome]

Re: thermostatic burners

the ones we've had that were of the hydraulic type, ie: mid 50s, GE/HP, and later GEs after they went back to it, have worked just dandy!

 

[norgeway]

Re Pilot lights..

IMHO..LOL, I would not have a gas stove UNLESS it had pilot lights!!! No electricity needed and that pilot makes the oven a perfect proofing cabinet.I hate that click-click-click.

 

[mikael3]

Hans, thank you for summing up your experiences.  I have always found your comments (and recipes) really helpful, and this is great information.  You are part of the reason I ended up with a Frigidaire range, along with a few other voices here!!

 

[mikael3]

Roger Firedome, could I ask a couple of Chambers questions?

 

I’ve heard that those surface broiler contraptions are very effective but impossible to clean.  Is that true?  And how deep are they?  They don’t look like they could handle anything thicker than a steak.

 

Do you have any idea how powerful the plane-of-flame burners are?  My problem with all older gas ranges is that there is a serious lack of BTUs on top, but I’ve read that the POF is much hotter than the older daisy burners.  Even so, how hot do you think it gets?  Similar to MOL ranges at 12k BTUs, or could it be hotter?

 

I’m all electric right now, but I keep dreaming that one day I’ll have both a Frigidaire and a Chambers in the same kitchen!!

 

[firedome]

POF burners...

Mikale3... I'd estimate about 30% hotter, based on experience and the larger # of holes in the burner, plus the design widens the flame footprint, but not sure of the exact BTU output. I have a POF burner to replace one of the old style ones on my 27" cooktop, but don't think we'll be using it, it'd be fun to have both gas and elec there but we don't have room at camp so electric wins. As you note, the broiler is somewhat shallow, you can't broil a whole chicken, for example, and cleaning isn't the easiest, but you can take it apart with some effort for deep cleaning, and they do work great for steaks, chicken breasts, burgers, etc.

Hans... agree about pilots, but we're only there in the warm part of the year, and we can only run off Propane... kind of expensive and hot to keep running all the time. Many gas suppliers, at least in NE, won't hook up to anything not up to their current code, which means trying to convert to electronic ignition... not!

 

[norgeway]

Its somewhat

More relaxed here,  I just hooked an extra line to my gas log tank and ran it to the kitchen, the propane company didn't say a word.