What Kind of Cookstove Do You Use?

[Bird]

When we bought this house in September, 2005, it had this Kitchenaid ceramic glass cooktop stove with convection oven, etc. It appeared to be new and unused (single man was living here), but I learned it was actually a 1999 model. At any rate, we have really liked it, until this dummy fumbled a Pyrex measuring cup Friday. Yep, busted that glass. Now I don't know what parts for other brands might cost, but this one is $302 plus tax and I'm letting a pro fix it, so the grand total is going to cost me $520.93. It's been a long time since this old man did something dumb enought to throw away that much money all at once for nothing, and I sure hope it's even longer before I do it again.

So if you have a glass top stove, be more careful than I was. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[jimbrown]

Wow We have a Kenmore that we bought in 2002 when the house was built. I don't remember but I don't think it was not much over $600 if that much. I would have sure looked at just buying a new one. But then again finding one exactly the same size could be difficult. They cut our counter top to fit the stove.

[Bird]

Jim, I did a little shopping to try to decide whether I should just buy a new stove, and comparable stoves start around $1,200 and go up to over $2,000. And, except for the broken glass, this one still looks new. My wife does a pretty good job of keeping it clean and looking good. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Bird, I am just too old fashioned, stubborn, set in my ways, and such because I just don't like electric stoves tops of any type, smooth top, coiled elements, infra-red, or whatever. I have a 5 burner stove top fueled by propane. I can see the fire and easily estimate how much I want. When I turn it off it quits cooking, now not in a few to several minutes. The grates are contiguous so I can slide a pot from a to b just as well as a smooth glass top stove.

I don't mind an electric oven and think they are better than gas with better temp regulation and choice of conventional or convection or broil. My Sears Kenmore range has two electric ovens with the larger one doing broil, convection, or regular bake. The smaller oven will bake or broil but no convection.

When we have an electrical power outage we still have the use of the stove top with the only change being having to light the gas flame manually. Now with a standby generator even that will not be required.

A friend of ours accidentally left a "burner turned on with a pan on it with his glass smooth top range. The pan was "welded" to the stovetop. He tried lots of ways to get the pan loose but couldn't do it without breaking the glass. He is now (dare I say it... once again) cookin' with gas!!!

Pat

[egon]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
old fashioned,

[/ QUOTE ]

Back on the farm I recall it was big step toward modernization when the old wood/coal fired cook stove got replaced by a propane fired model.

On other occasions when touring some older houses I noticed that the wood/coal cook stove would have been modern when compared to a cooking fireplace.

Now I suppose the fireplace was a great improvement over a circle of stones on the ground and open to the elements. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Pat, as you would expect, at my age, I've used cookstoves with natural gas, LPG, and electric. Each has advantages and disadvantages. I can understand your preference for gas, but I actually prefer electric. And in my current situation, I don't really have a lot of choice. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] There is no natural gas available in my neighborhood, and the only LPG is 3 homes I'm aware of that were here before the town existed, and of course, those 3 are on big lots. (Another thing that does not exist in this area is street lights that most cities have)

Now I do have two 20# propane bottles and four outdoor propane fired cookers. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] There's the smoker and the grill on the patio, then I have a big turkey fryer in the shop that I move out onto a concrete parking area when I use it, and then I have just a burner that I've used inside the shop for a fish fryer.

So, in the event of an extended power outage, I can still brew some coffee, and I won't go hungry. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Bird, I have cooked by open fire, fireplace, wood stove, coal stove, alcohol stove (with oven), diesel fueled stove, electric coil, flat top electric, but... I prefer cooking with gas on the stove top and electric oven. I like the heck out of microwave and have 4 appliance garages in the kitchen for microwaves but only have microwaves in 3 of them.

I have seen but not tried it myself... solar cooking. An insulated box with a glass front and reflectors on the sides to capture more sunlight. Didn't take all that long to roast a chicken and bake 4 big potatoes and some ears of corn. I'd hate to rely on it with our variable weather.

Pat

[Bird]

I told my wife, day before yesterday, that we may not be able to afford for me to get out of bed much longer if I don't quit breaking things. I've told you I busted the ceramic glass cooktop (new one was delivered yesterday and the service tech is supposed to be here Monday morning to fix it), but then Thursday morning I put a big brisket on the top shelf of the refrigerator in the shop. That afternoon, when I went to take it out again, the shelf came part of the way out, fell, and busted. I never did think glass shelves in refrigerators was a good idea, but anyway . . . with my usual luck, none of the 3 Sears Service Centers in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area have that $30 glass in stock, so the shipping cost is $10.99 + tax, of course. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] It's supposed to be here Tuesday.

Now my wife says problems usually come in threes, so we're wondering how expensive that third one will be, and when. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Well, I broke the glass cooktop on Friday, 5/29/09, and called KitchenAid. The guy there made the appointment for A&amp;E Factory Service to come on 6/2/09. I'd never heard of A&amp;E Factory Service, but it's owned by Sears. In keeping with their usual policies, the technician didn't come to fix the stove, only to "diagnose" the problem, order the part to be delivered directly to me, get paid for the part, and make another appointment to come back to fix it. He made the appointment to come back yesterday between 8 a.m. and noon. The part arrived via UPS Friday, 6/5/09, and someone from A&amp;E called Saturday, 6/6/09, to ask if the part had arrived (it had) and confirmed the appointment of 8 a.m. to noon.

Yesterday, the technician called at 10:30 a.m. to say he had 6 or 7 other calls and it would be 1 to 1:30 p.m. before he could get here. He called back an hour or so later to say it was going to be 2 to 2:30, then he called at 3:15 to say he was on his way and got here at 4 p.m. He was through and gone in 30 minutes.

Now I don't mind tackling most jobs myself if I have either (1) someone to tell me how to do it, or (2) the instruction manual, but since I had neither, I let the pro do it, and sure enough, it's quite simple. Had I known, I could have saved $250 to $300. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]