Well...Im going to have to admit it..

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norgeway

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
9,376
Location
mocksville n c
John L is right about a Kenmore oven...After using the 60 Kenmore a while, I have discovered a few things about it,first, the top is just about perfect, the units heat quickly, and the 7 position controls are great....the storage drawer is the best of any I have ever seen, it rolls on ball bearing drawer guides...the oven is a different matter,It is strange, a pound cake bakes perfectly, as does a 2 crust pie, biscuits are ok...but.to get cornbread or a casserole to brown you have to turn on the d!@# broiler...wierd...and the oven door is hopeless, if you get it adjusted cold it gaps open when it gets hot...but then if you try to adjust it hot..it still gaps open!Its pretty, and I love most all things Sears, but I bake too much to put up with its odd behavior, John I apologize for ever doubting you..
 
Hans,

<span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe you need a factory trained Sears tech to come out and take a look at it.  (note the sarcasm) lol</span>
 
The kitchen is about to be...

CLASHVILLE!! because im getting out my trusty avocado Frigidaire I inherited a few years back from my neighbor who was like a second grandma to me growing up...everything works, and works correctly!
 
I guess

I will try one someday...Work has been so crazy I really have not had time to think about it...Summer is terrible anyway to me!! you cant move without being sweaty and nasty!
 
Wha Hoppen....

....To the Frigidaire that so proudly you hailed?

I agree with Sam xraytech - you will hopefully try a GE with P*7 someday.

P.S.: Sam, are you getting private messages? I've sent you a couple and don't know if they got to you.
 
What's so wrong with sweaty and nasty? 
smiley-tongue-out.gif
 
Not from work!!LOL

I like swaty and nasty from other activities!!LOL... the 60 Frigidaire Custom Imperial was beautiful, but terribly inconvienent and aggravating!
 
Oh yeah Hans, as my grandfather used to say, "include me out" when it comes to high maintenance beauty queens.
 
Hans:

That has long been my objection to Frigidaires produced after the Loewy era - the non-intuitive controls. You have to learn Frigidaire range controls. People who have learned them are highly satisfied - I get that.

But I don't have that same problem with GEs - they're all intuitive. Some of the lesser models are kind of basic, with pushbutton heat settings that take a bit of getting used to, but they all heat up smoothly and do what you'd expect.
 
Re Pushbutton

Thats mostly what I learned on, so I really like them, infinite is good, but my experience with it has been when the controls age you tend to constantly fiddle with them to keep a steady heat, especially early 60s Frigidaires.
 
On our old Hotpoint

I knew exactly how to keep the pressure dead on 10 pounds in the canner, start on high, exhaust 7 minutes, close petcock, when 8 pounds is reached, switch to 3rd and it would stay at 10 pounds!
 
1960 KM Electric Range

Hi Hans, I will have to call my Aunt Margret and tell her about your experience, LOL.

As a kid I loved everything about Sears and it was a learning experience for me to find out that everything from Sears was far from perfect. I used to question my Aunt about why she hated that range so much, saying that it can't be that bad, LOL.

This is the same Aunt that had a Kitchenaid KD-10 DWt hat I loved loading as a little kid, and while it was built like a tank and never gave much trouble it really did not clean that well, [ it was 100 feet from the water heater ]. So I replaced it with a 1972 $139 KM RotoRack DW, which worked great for almost 7 years till it was a rusted pile of crap. It was replaced by a WP SHU5000 which not only worked great but never had any problems.

John L.
 
I have to admit that I'm not a very good cook but...

I'm curious to know what exactly causes problems to the more advanced users of Frigidaire ranges!

 

I know that some of the fancier 1965-70 Frigidaire ranges do have more complicated oven controls (we simple-minded Canadians didn't get these as GM probably thought we wouldn't be able to use or fix features like the Tender-Matic controls!)

But I don't see anything very complicated with pre-1965 or the 1970's ranges! Of course, the pre-1964 40" Frigidaire ranges with two ovens had their left oven located quite low because some of the pre-1960 models had to accommodate a deep well cooker but other than that, I don't see other really annoying characteristics. Some people don't like having no glass in their oven door and that's quite common on Frigidaire ranges but what else?

 

The only control that I think might lead some to confusion is the "Broiler Grill" control on some Imperial and Custom Imperial ovens as the "Rare" setting means "HI" and "Well" means "LOW". 

To use the ovens, on most models, you simply set the thermostat to the desired temperature  (no selector switch except on some BOL U.S. and again on some Canadian models, even the fancier ones). And on all 1960 and newer ranges, the infinite switches for the surface units are graduated from "SIM" to "HI" just like they still are on most ranges today.

 

 

 To me, that's easier to understand for the first use than the 2-3 numbers on some GE pushbuttons. And even the earlier pre-1960 Frigidaire 5 heat and infinite controls, as long as they are located in a place you can read them, aren't too complicated, they just start on "High" rather than "SIM".

 

To me, the least intuitive controls on Frigidaire ranges are those for the burners of the Loewy era as they are hard to read and placed on the front of the range, too low to see what's written on them when you're standing beside the range and away from the illuminated area (see the last pic). They are also too easy to reach for kids and can even be turned on accidentally if you pass nearby. I don't get why controls at the front of the ranges are gaining in popularity today with all the concerns people and our government now have with safety.

The most intuitive Frigidaire surface unit controls are those from the 1969-79 period which display a red zone when they're turned on. If you don't like woodgrain panels on which they are mounted, just stay away from the 1971-74 models that I like so much!

 

And I can't see what else could be challenging about using these old ranges. I mean, setting the oven on newer ranges with their electronic controls is much less intuitive than that!  Or even trying to set the start time and the 4 programs on a late-1970s Amana Touchmatic II... Now, that requires some concentration! Even if you just hit the "Start Time" button accidentally!

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BTW, I took so much time writing my last post (I was on the phone for over an hour!). That the last post I saw in this thread before was Sandy's #11!

 

So apparently, many have problems with infinite switches! Not only you Hans!

If I remember well, John also told me that!  I never noticed anything wrong with mine (except with some that went bad, some because of my fault and wires that I reversed or simply because of wear!). The worn one didn't work on the lower settings on my 1960 Frigidaire Deluxe range.

The other problem I had was someone who installed 4 Robertshaw infinite switches of the wrong type that operated backwards on one of my Flair ranges. If you turned the burner on on SIM, it was on HI and if you turned it on on HI, it was on SIM or it wouldn't even heat! Within a few days, they were all replaced with used switches of the correct type which worked well. 

 

The kind of cooking I do usually doesn't require a lot precision so I can't tell much more!  

 

 
 
Modern ranges/cooktops

at least here in the States (I guess world-wide?) now have to have two step controls, that is push and turn, instead of one step controls, push, or turn.

The gas range I learned to cook on, a 1950s Maytag, had push and turn controls. My 2011 gas Whirlpool's oven is on a touchpad, and the surface knobs are push and turn.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Photo 7

Is the exact range my Parents started housekeeping with, the one shown is a 50, the very first 30 inch range marketed, if you have read my post about my Avocado range, this is the range that preceeded it...I love the controls on the front, but simmer and high being next to each other takes getting used to!
 
Re the avocado range..

The infinite controls on it work great, and I LOVE the red band that shows up as you turn the dial...Almost as good as lighted controls!
 
The 1950 range was given to me. It's the only Frigidaire appliance that I have that was made at the old Leaside plant in Canada.

 I haven't used it much but it works great. I just had to replace the Telechron motor for the clock, I reconnected a wire at the left rear burner and replaced the oven pilot light. Now everything works but I haven't baked anything in the oven yet! 
 
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