Time to replace the stove any suggestion ?

[toploader55]

My Two Cents

For what it's worth, I've been a Chef for 37 years. When I moved into my studio, there was a nasty old Hotpoint Range that barely worked. I went to Sears and bought a next step up from BOL for $299.00. It's an Open coil amd I have to tell you, that Range Cooks and Bakes like any TOL Range. I am just amazed at the performance of this stove. I use it daily and in 5 years, I have never had an issue.
My Parents just did their kitchen over with Bosch Appliances. The Dishwasher is good but I really do hate everything else. They have the Glass Cooktop which I can't stand, and a wall oven that has never worked right since the first day. The Techs that work on these things have no clue what they are talking about and make no sense. It' is a typical clone renovation of what you see in almost every house today. I am so sick of "Cherry Cabinets, Granite Counter tops and Stainless Steel Appliances". I watch some of these home shows and seems like every GD Kitchen these days have the same crap in the Kitchens. I wonder when all that is going to fade away ???
Back to the Range, I feel that if you know how to cook you can get by on just about anything once you get the feel for the stove, but here's a pic of my range

 

[petek]

Great Kitchen Eddie. and I see some neat appliances.. is that a Sunbeam electric can opener on the shelf with the drinking duck.. and what mixer is that with the two KA coffee grinders.

 

[jetcone]

My 2 cents

Induction Induction Induction, and throw a convention oven in underneath.

 

[petek]

Answered me own question.. I think that's a KA mixer

 

[rp2813]

My $.02

Steer clear of JennAir.

Go for dual fuel if you can afford it.

And it's worth paying more for substantial grates over the gas cooktop burners instead of the flimsy cheap ones that rattle, lose their finish and can sometimes become deformed from the heat. If you can find a model that has grates that cover the entire cooktop, those are most convenient for sliding pots and pans around over the surface.

We have ceramic glass surface under the gas burners on our Electrolux Icon and so far it hasn't been any more work to clean than your standard surface.

I have heard more bad than good from owners of smooth top electrics. I'd avoid those. I grew up with electric (remember the '49 Westy I was trying to find a home for and which ultimately ended up with oldhouseman Greg?) and switched to gas as soon as I had the opportunity. I prefer the responsiveness of a gas cooktop burner.

I don't like gas ovens. Unless you have a very well ventilated kitchen, go for an electric oven.

Ralph

 

[toggleswitch2]

Now that is interesting.

I have had flimsy and I have had fat and substantial ones (*COUGH*) but I have to say all the heavy and thick ones do is collect grease, and show it.

I prefer black grates no matter what the color of the stove is. Once they get ruined (naturally, over time) my grates go in the DW and the (pyrolytic) self-cleaning oven for a good de-greasing/ incineration.

What I find fascinating are the variety of viewpoints avaiable on small simple issues.

 

[toggleswitch2]

I'm wondering if those who dislike smooth-top cermic cooking surfaces have decent thick-disk-bottomed pots and pans or flimsy/cheap warped jobbies.

Who is going to "invent" a standard-sized freestanding cooker with two gas burners and induciton burner and a coil that is not a fortune? HUH? HUH? HUH? *LOL*
Throw in a gas broiler and an electric oven and I'll be ecstatic.

 

[danemodsandy]

Toggles:

I've used a smooth-top range with All-Clad and while there were not too many performance problems, I still resented the #$!@*! out of the cleaning routine needed to keep the top looking like it did in the showroom.

BTW, there may be another consideration with fancy-schmancy ranges: resale. A Realtor friend tells me that he's seen people decide against otherwise suitable houses because of a high-end range that appeared to be either intimidating to learn or too high-maintenance. Could be something to consider; it's definitely a buyer's market.

 

[toggleswitch2]

You don't $$%^&-ing cook anyway, why do you need that st

Thanks Sandy.

I always cleaned my cooktop surface after each use no matter what the style or the energy source so to me, who cared?

*LOL* fools. Buying a house and don't like the range? Change it to something "suitable". Perhaps buyers don't like dealing with pretentiousness.

 

[danemodsandy]

Toggles:

A lot of buyers would just change an unsuitable range, but my Realtor friend tells me that two other factors are at work. One, in this market, a qualified buyer can afford to be almost infinitely picky. Two (and this is undoubtedly not the case as much it was two years ago), there are buyers who qualify, but who don't have a single extra nickel to replace anything; they're buying every bit of house they can afford, and then some.

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Steve,

Heavy bottomed Circulon and Esteele here, I've found the cheap flimsy stuff seems to get hotter, but burns and is terrible to clean.

Our old cooktop was glass with raised radiant coils, if I could get a new version of it back I would.

 

[rp2813]

Too Intimidating

. . . is something I can relate to. I was really happy to leave our Jenn Air range behind when we moved. It was all gas, had a huge oven that could handle two turkeys, and one decent 15K BTU burner but I hated hated hated the touchpad to get anything happening with the oven. Half the time, if not more often, one of us would end up shutting off the oven by accident when trying to do something else on the pad.

What I like about our Electrolux is that it's completely simple, 6 big knobs across the front, no timer, no clock, no nonsense. It is the least intimidating thing we looked at, the price was unbeatable, so we bought it on the spot. The cobalt interior and gliding racks made for love at first sight.

Togs, what's wrong with a heavy thick one collecting some grease and then showing it?

 

[toggleswitch2]

Great to look at, nice to handle, but not always practical.
Lawd knows you get muscles just from lifting it. Then again regularly applied soap and water fixes a mutltitude of sins!

Loved my Tappan "Millenium" by Frigidaire (bought actually around that time). Had one circular knob (with markings) that set the computer. Dial as one woudany old-fashoined stove and press start. LE VOILA. So simple, so intuitive.

GE did this for a while. Later a digital read-out was added, as well as the dial pointing to a printed temp on the control panel.

I was sorry to see these (i.e the sytle) go. I suppose If I could, I'd get a self-cleaner (pyrolytic) without a "computer" control board. Closest I have seen lately was a double electric wall-oven with the traditional two knobs for each oven: "selector" / and "temp".

 

[toggleswitch2]

.....and it was a nose-up-in-the-air brand and QUITE a few drachmas in price.

Still, it was purdy............

 

[toggleswitch2]

Pero Quiero Pernil Ahora!

Randy: (No, not my mood, his name!)

Self-cleaning is a good option, even if not used.

1- Oven is insulated much better than one that is not self-cleaning. Gas (or electricty)is saved with every use of oven.
2- Self-cleaning the oven (pyrolysis) is a very high-heat cycle that incinerates anaerobically (i.e. with limited oxygen) the grease and dirt off, until it becomes ash. Figure two to four hours depending on soil level.
3- Less expensive (for energy used) and said to be "greener" than use of chemicals to clean the oven.
4- This will get you a broiler up in the oven rather than near the floor in a drawer. Crreates room for a storage drawer under the oven. [but use of oven and broier at same time can't happen].
5- Better stoves have porcelain-coated racks that can withstand self-cleaning in the oven. More MOL and BOL stoves have chrome-plated ones that are best hand-washed, in that they lose their shine permanently once self-cleaned.

I have found a way to clean oven racks (from a 30" stove) in a 24" DW. Either remove the top DW rack if this is easy to do, or angle the stove racks on a 45* angle between the upper and lower DW racks. Mine came out of the DW sparkling!

Is is my understanding and ovservation that traditional Hispanic cooking makes minimal use of the oven. But for the $75 extra for self-cleaning I'd say is well worth it!

Stainless steel? Thanks but I'm not into cleaning fingerpritns off constantly.

Ta ta for now!

 

[toggleswitch2]

I LAUGH that all those super-expensive "mock" commerical ranges for home use are not self-cleaning.

The heat output is hellatious!

Does anyone realize the specialized heavy-duty venting those things require? And they may require a reinforced floor as well.

Think twice, y'all.

 

[cleanteamofny]

Togg's

Those who buy those resturant industrial stoves buy them for show more than its use!

It's funny how some homes are built with two kitchens, upper for friends and lower for family.
The maid will be with you in a minuet.....

 

[toggleswitch2]

FEH

My kitchen (in my house) had an adjoining dinette, that seats 4. Not more.

I HAD to put a kitchen in the basement to be able to seat more. Lovely with gas and electric stoves. But HATED IT! OMG the duplication of the crap, the supplies, the equipment! cookware dishes, sitableware.

I should have left the upstairs ("main/first") kitchen empty

NEVER AGAIN. UGH!

 

[panthera]

Induction

is no more expensive in Europe than is good resistance heating, I keep wondering why that isn't so here in the US.
Personally, I have never seen as good a stove as my honey's 1953 Westinghouse Rainbow. Perfectly even baking, room to actually cook on the range top...
Now, I have had ceramic tops in Germany since 1991. None of the horrible cleaning problems people are mentioning here. None. Nor do they take overlong to warm up. Of course, I am clean and tidy but am not the typical obsessive-compulsive clean-freak most gay men are, so that may play a role.
Self-cleaning gas ranges are not as expensive today as they once were, I'd go that way if convection isn't possible.
But, really, why buy new when vintage is so much better made?

 

[rp2813]

Self Cleaning

Is something I insist upon. We almost went vintage but between the fact that I'd have to clean the oven myself and the need to try and legitimize an outdated 80-year old kitchen, substantial looking modern appliances won out.

With the Electrolux range it won't even allow the self clean cycle to start until you have removed not only the racks but also the guides for them on each side of the oven, which lift out easily. I also like that the oven's heating element is hidden below the surface, supposedly to provide a "softer" heating process. Wiping out the oven after cleaning is a breeze without an element to maneuver around on the oven floor.

 

[toggleswitch2]

How about vintage-looking AND self-cleaning?

Dual-fuels anyone?

http://www.elmirastoveworks.com/gallery/

 

[ronhic]

I just don't get....

....why people have issue with cleaning ovens...

I use my oven weekly and to make splatter matters worse, the grill/broiler is in the oven...

I only clean mine every couple of months but it is a complete doddle....after you've finished cooking and whilst still warm, put a large dish of boiling water in it with a lemon cut up and squeezed in it. Do this twice. Now wipe it out with an old dishcloth lightly wrung out with hot water and dishwashing liquid....

Problem solved and no harsh chemicals used.

 

[iheartmaytag]

"If God had meant for man to clean ovens, he would have given us seven foot long arms with scrub brushes attached."
"Besides, only cats are self-cleaning"
--Erma Bombeck

 

[cleanteamofny]

Why people have issue with cleaning ovens?

It's because it used to be a long process to clean every nook and cranny with Brillo/S.O.S pads with Chore Boy.
Using Easy-On or Easy-Off, requires extream rinsing or chemical residue will be transfered into all food until it is burned off after 3-7 uses.

Now since I've brought that GE SS Range, Self Cleaning is the way to go and with the area where grease is not burned off (Door Area).
Liquid Bar Keeper is the bomb for cleaning the SS top as well as the burned on grease inside.......
This stuff puts the recommended Cerama Bryte stainless steel cleaners to shame.

 

[xraytech]

I have found that I liked the General Electric and Tappan ranges are the nicest I have looked at.
STAY AWAY from the Frigidaire and Kenmore(made by frigidaire)ranges. I have the Kenmore version with the ceramic top, the oven is slow, about 75 degrees off and the ceramic top is a bitch to clean not to mention my cast iron and my beloved Club Aluminum pans scratch the top. But last week the front burner thermostat went and it was on high at any setting and even worse yet the burner would not shut off and I had to unplug my stove. A friend has the gas Frigidaire range and also hates it same issue with the oven temp and no one can seem to fix it, Grandma has a custom ordered 40" Frigidaire range with the standard calrod burners, the stove top is fine but the oven is too fast, about 50 degrees.All of us bought these stoves within the past 2 years.
My other grandmother has a newer GE electric range I love and my aunt has a nice Tappan range I love too.

Sam

 

[toggleswitch2]

Chris:
What does the lemon do?

We fuss over oven cleaning probably because we eat WAY to much meat/protein in this coutntry and it's a bit greasy!

SAMSUNG agrees with you.
They have a quick "Steam-clean" cycle that heats the oven to 140*F. (60*C)You simply dump about 10oz (1.25 cups) of a water (Say 285 to 300ml) into a recces on the oven bottom and the steam loosens the muck. THEN you wipe-down the oven.

If funds weren't scarce and low this oven would be mine, as much as it kills me to buy foreign major appliances.

With my gas oven, the oven floor is removable for a quick scrubbing in the sink. The racks go on the DW. I wash the door and the window in the door(must be cool enough or it will crack when water is appled) when the mood strikes and the oven is still some what warm. keeps it looking rather decent untl the time comes to incinerate the muck. I scrub near the door and around the gasket with a soaped steel-wool pad and get great results with only a 2 hour self-clean cycle.

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...subtype=electricrange&model_cd=FTQ386LWUX/XAA

 

[ronhic]

Lemon....

....helps cut the grease...

If I think it is going to be particularly bad to clean I spray a little citrus multipurpose spray (for benches, tiles ennamel etc) first and then do the lemon/boiling water...

Works a treat

 

[danemodsandy]

CleanteamofNY

If you use an oven cleaner spray, the quick way to get rid of the chemical residue is to rinse well, then wipe down the interior of the oven with white vinegar and water. After that, preheat the oven to 500 degrees, then turn it off. You should not have any odours after it cools.

The oven cleaner is highly alkaline, so the acidic vinegar neutralises it.

 

[cleanteamofny]

Thanks, that's good to know!
I don't use oven cleaner anymore, that was years ago before we got self cleaning ranges!

At one time, we had one continous cleaning and that was full of crock to keep clean.
Vinagar was wiped on after using soap and water for it to be effective. NOT SO!

 

[toggleswitch2]

~The oven cleaner (LYE)is highly alkaline, so the acidic vinegar neutralises it.


Acid + base (alkaline) => salt + water. So the salt streaks left behind will notify you of more rinsing in the spots needed.