BS: Stove (range, oven) question...

Subject: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:04 AM

Okay, here's the problem... The P-Vine wanted a cook top electric stove a couple of years ago and has found:

1. it hard to clean

2. no good for canning

3. hard to regulate the temperature

So, we're back to square one. Any suggestions on what kind of stove will be more satisfactory. And, yes, we do have propane available but not natural gas...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: beardedbruce
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:17 AM

Gas stoves will not be easier to clean than a glass-top electric, but otherwise are far better to use. The biggest problem I have seen with electric is that the burner does not stop heating when turned off- one needs to move whatever is cooking off the burner. In theory, temperature control should be ok, but I have never seen an electric burner that was as easy to adjust as a gas one.

Propane should be similar to the NG that I am used to- just have to be sure the burners are set up for propane.




I will presume you do not want to go with coal or wood....


8-{E

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Alice
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:27 AM

In the last 15 years I've owned two smooth cook top stoves. The first had a white surface, the one I have now is black. I find it MUCH easier to clean than any other stove... just use baking soda and vinegar or cream of tartar and vinegar. I don't understand why you find it not good for canning.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:47 AM

I always found gas easier to cook with because the heat can be regulated 'by eye'. Stoves are easy to clean unless stuff gets 'baked' on. Ranges are the ultimate for a musician, because "Home, home on the stove" jus' don't cut it. LOL.

(Hey, it's first thing in the morning here, and that's the best ya get from me. Suck it up and live with it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:48 AM

In the meantime, do what pro chefs do to regulate temp. Keep a back or side burner going on a lower temp, and move the pot to it to get the right temp rather than try to micro-adjust the burner the pot is on.

Me, I move the pot, turn down the burner I was using, blow on the too-hot element to cool it off a bit, and then put the pot back. And using cast iron, the pan sometimes holds the heat long enough to scramble the eggs just right even if I take it off the heat entirely.

I've been known to get a sauce just right by putting the pan on the heat and then holding it in midair to whisk it, then back on the element for a bit, then back in midair, and so forth.

With electric, you just have to think outside the box, and remember, the heat may not regulate immediately but the pot is under YOUR control.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Azizi
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:49 AM

Um, Bobert, what happened to your cleaning lady?

If you have a cleaning lady does it matter what kind of stove is easier to clean?? Just leave all the mess for the cleaning lady to take care of.

Oh right, I remember. P'Vine would make you clean up before the cleaning lady came.

Forget my question.

LOL!

Peace,
Azizi

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:50 AM

Home, home on the stove,
Where the deer and the antelope cook,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
Or is seen a discouraging look.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:54 AM

Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
What the hell can an antelope say?

(I heard this one years ago.)

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:59 AM

I've got a new smooth-top, black, and like Alice, I find it easier to keep clean and have no problem regulating temps. It also has a "light on" function which stays on after a burner is turned, until it cools to the touch, as a reminder. I wouldn't have any other kind, now. In fact when we moved in, this place had natural gas and I said, "no way, I want electric!":-)

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Barry Finn
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 10:09 AM

Hi Bobert

Since building a kitchen I've been swimming in kitchen magazines. It's seldom that I see any electric stoves being made use of. If you watch any of the cooking programs you'll aways see the pros using gas ranges. With the gas stoves, LP or natural gas, you have a stove that's very controlable & responsive, can put out far more BTU's than an electric (up to 24,000 BTU's), fast heat recovery & as safe as any electric. Depending on your preference you can get them with 4 up to 6 burners, plain or with fills, grills, griddles, steamers & deep fryers ovens with duel fuel combos, anywhere from 30" to 60" in size. They come in all sorts of styles, from ultra modern to classical to antique wood cook stove with a side section for summer cooking (summer stove or oven). It seems as if a large share of the high end market are the European made which can deplete you bank accont by thousands of dollars. Some of these ranges worth looking at, even only if it's to see what's available, are: Dacor, Jenn-air, Caldera, Thermador, La Cornue, Wolf, AGA, Elmira, Viking, 5 Star, Gaggenau & etc. For the more domestic & common name brands I'd first consulate Consumer Reports magazine, you really can't go wrong following their recommendations. Good luck

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: jimmyt
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 10:23 AM

We had a Jennaire cooktop with those cast iron burners and found it to be difficult to deal with as it 1) never turned red when on hot, 2) was very slow to cool down. We now have a Maytag glass cooktop and I find it to be pretty easy to regulate, although nothing beats gas for microadjustment. I sometimes take the pan almost off the cooktop to regulate it a bit and have found it to be pretty decent to deal with.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 10:56 AM

Barry, nice to see you!

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 10:56 AM

WE've got an Amana glasstop about 10 years old now and we love it. If I had my druthers from a purely cooking standpoint, I'd choose gas but I have very little trust in all the downside of gas (open flame with kids for instance).   But I have cooked with electric for years and it's simply a case of learning how as Susan said.

ANd for ease of clean-up, take the glasstop!!!   What a great setup and just dead simple to clean. We wouldn't have anything else!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 11:20 AM

Spaw:
"Open flame with kids" is probably preferable to an 'invisible' heat source.
One of my son's girl friends (approx 20 y-o- student)likes sitting on the work surface in her kitchen. She wasn't aware the heat was still on and placed both her hands behind her to raise herself onto the work surface. One hand got badly burnt.

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: mg
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 12:41 PM

ouch. that is why I would never have an island in the kitchen with a stove top on it...kids always want to climb up there...and I don't want gas lines coming into my house because of earthquakes etc.    mg

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: sian, west wales
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 01:00 PM

Do you have halogen stoves in the USA? A friend of mine has one and the heat control is pretty immediate. She'd prefer gas too, but lives out in the sticks. I must say it is a great improvement on most electrice stoves (British = cookers)

sin

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 01:00 PM

On ours, you can see the element through the top and it is BRIGHT red. A large and prominent light also lights on the back panel when ANY burner is still too hot to touch even after it's turned off.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Alice
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 01:22 PM

My stove top has a red warning dot that glows on the front of the surface as long as the top is warm, even when the burners are turned off. I think that is what kat described, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: kendall
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 02:08 PM

I've used both gas and electric over the years, and I much prefer electric. It's just a matter of geting used to it, and besides, I've never heard of an electric stove blowing your house to kingdom come.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 02:14 PM

Must have been the grease . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 02:25 PM

How much are you planning to spend, bobert?

I'm a frugal person. I just bought a Magic Chef(Maytag) apartment-size gas stove from Sears. I like it real well. It cooks better than its predecessor, and when the top is really messed up, I can take it off, put it in the sink and hose it down. This stove was not on the Sears web site, but the salesman found it in his little brown book. It cost $300 or $400.

It is not electronic, which means we can continue to cook when there's a power outage.

A tip - don't ever clean it with steel wool (SOS or Brillo). It produces a rough surface that food can bake onto.

I am waiting for the Utopian day when stove tops come apart into pieces that fit in the dishwasher.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 06:21 PM

Ahhhhh, first of all, MiziziAzizizi, we do clean between and before the cleaning lady visits!!!

Now as fir cleaning the cook top, the P-Vine says that the cleaning creame she gets yakes a lot of works to get it clean... I don't know? She has had me scrub with the stuffa couple times and it does seem hard to clean. Maybe we're just using the wrong stuff?

As fir canning? I'm not sure why it doesn't work but I think the burners aren't large 'nuff...

I'll get the P-Vine to read this thread and make her comments...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 06:37 PM

Hey Y'all!

Well, you sure offer lots of differing opinions! I've cooked w/electric all my life and understand all its eccentricities; however, for a brief period I did have a gas stove and found it far easier to manage the time. You're right....it's not easy to clean unless you do it right away but then the smooth top requires the same thing.

Judas! The comment about blowing the house to kingdom come has always been my biggest fear since I saw my mother light the gas oven and blow in her face when I was in 4th grade. The canning is the biggest factor since we can at least tomatoes every summer. The manual declares not to use a canner because it won't get hot enough to boil since it's so much bigger than the burner itself. It also says you can't use a cast iron skillet because of the uneven heat and I love to cook fried chicken, etc. in cast iron. See the dilema?

Barry, you had great ideas and we'll look into them; we have a couple of months. We're going to have to build out a bedroom, hopefully w/a walk in closet and 3/4 bath (shower) as well as a kitchen/dining/great room and since it'll be our last house, it'd be great to do it "right", wouldn't it? I'm heavy into simplicity and places to store stuff and not have it sit out on the counter, like a microwave so any suggestions you guys have are well worth the time to sit here and read them. (I guess you've figured out the computer has me by the throat when I sit down and I just want to run out and start digging in the garden to get free of it, so I'm entirely grateful that you all took the time to give your opinions)

Bob loves you all to pieces and I can see why...I just can't spend the time here since he doesn't do the cooking, cleaning, washing, blah, blah, blah.

Thanks so much!

P-Vine (Eve)

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 06:45 PM

"blah, blah, blah", my butt!

See what I mean about womenz?

I mean, like I get up every mornin', stick my butt and everything it's attached to into my pickup truck, and go off and spend from mornin' to evenin' runnin' a construction project... See, but that don't count...

Awww, nevermind. This is a stove thread and not a womenz thread...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 07:17 PM

Sorry I got to this topic so late. I thought I'd put my dos centavos in as I sell appliances for a living (a couple of my brands Have been mentioned in other posts).

Electric cooking is cleaner, no schmutz on the bottom of pots and pans, but it is generally less controlable as some have opined. If you ever go into a restaurant kitchen you'll find only gas burners for that reason. Electric is better for baking, gas for roasting, which is why some high-end ranges have both electric and gas ovens.

Electronic ignition is better than a standing pilot because it saves energy. In the event of an electric outage, those ranges may be safely started with matches, so one needn't worry that they cannot cook during that time.

May I suggest that you buy from a reputable local, independant dealer rather than a big box store. The prices really are comparable excepting possibly the the advertised item. And if you consider the long life of an appliance, you're pay a premium of only a couple of dollars a year...if that...and you're helping a neighbor stay in business.----John OTSC

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: dianavan
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 09:57 PM

I've had electric, gas, propane and wood stoves in my home.

Propane has its limits but will do in a pinch.

Electric is O.K. but it has no soul.

Gas is pretty darn good but the oven and broiler are a bit tricky.

The best of all is wood, especially if there is a warming rack and water jackets. Perfect temperatures all around the stove top and the oven cannot be beat. The warming rack holds four loaves of bread. Of course there is no broiler but you can always resort to the great outdoor barbeque.

Everyone tries to improve but what is wrong with heat, hot-water and cooking stove all in one? Oh yeah, pollution but then again, with all the destruction caused by dams and gas lines, maybe burning wood was not such a bad idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Boab
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 01:34 AM

Alice---Ta for the tip about bicarb and vinegar. Cream of tartar? Jeeze! Can't afford it.
   I do a heap of canning--fish, Tomatoes, plums etc., and have no problem with my glass-top electric.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 03:12 AM

That's probably because of the acid in tomatoes which makes a pretty good cleaner itself!

We have a gas burner and electric oven. I love the burner but hate the oven as it's a particularly nasty and temperamental piece of equipment. The bottom element isn't enough to get the oven really hot for bread, but the top one is too much and burns the top of everything before the bottom is cooked. Makes great roast potatoes though, if you boil them first!

If you get a reliable and glitch free electric oven, then I'd say they were best... Stove top - Gas burners give you much more control and you'll always be able to make hot water/food if the electricty goes off.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Llanfair
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 04:21 AM

I have an oil-fired Rayburn, which heats the house, dries the laundry on the overhead rack, dries fruit, eggshells and anythoing else in the warm bottom oven, keeps the earl grey hot (doesn't stew like ordinary tea) and cooks a full roast dinner, including yorkshire puddings, which need a VERY hot oven. True, it needs to be turned up a couple of hours before you cook, but then Rayburns, like Agas and such are a way of life. I don't think you have many of them in the States.

I also use an LPG hob for "quick" cooking.

We've just finished moving the entire kitchen into the room where the rayburn is so that the VERY expensive oil is made to multitask!!!

Cheers, Bron.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 04:47 AM

I'm surprised at all the pro glass top comments. One of my brothers had one. I don't know if it was a couple of spills that got "burnt in" or whether the pans they used were unsuitable for the surface or what but it became an uncleanabe mess with rough circular patches in no time. My impression is that they may be OK if you treat them with kid gloves and for all I know even have to change all your existing cookware...

I find that people have very different likes with types of cooker. Pip gets on well with the old solid electric plates and knows exactly when to change the heat (including turning off for the last bit of cooking) but I struggle with something that slow and am constantly juggling saucepans as I find something has got too hot.

My ideal combination is a gas hob and a fan assisted electric oven. I had that set up when I had a flat and liked it. I found the hob easy to clean too. The top burner parts just lifted off so I washed them in the sink and gave the top a clean before putting the bits back on.

Barry, are you talking complete output for oven and hobs? According to the manual, the total output for our electric cooker is around 10KW which I get to 34,000 btu/h.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 04:50 AM

Gas hobs for cooking. By far the best. As many others have said, they're what the pros use.

An AGA type oven though is the best oven. Large, always on ranges like that are a way of life, and are not cheap to run, but they are the heart of the house. They'll heat the house and hot water in a small house, means the kitchen is always warm, (This is good in Britan. Less good in Arizona..) halve the ironing, and provide by far the best oven for baking, or preserving.

Bunnhabhain.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 12:44 PM

Hiya Bobert!

We have a gas stove set up for use with propane. Having had a gas stove at the last house we lived in, I can't see a difference at all. I am NOT a fan of an electric stove simply due to the inability to regulate the heat as quickly as I'd like. When I want a hot pan, I don't want to wait for a few minutes (ok, I'm impatient) and on the other hand, when I want the heat lowered or off, I can do that immediately as well. Moving the pan is also an option. For lowering the temp, a gas/propane stove will obviously change more quickly than the electric. And hey...gas/propane work without electricity...always a nice thing to have.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Alice
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 01:25 PM

Forget that cleaning stuff sold for glass tops!

Sprinkle baking soda or cream of tartar on the surface then pour on some vinegar. Use a paper towel or two, a little more baking soda if needed to scrub spots, and you have a clean cooktop faster than any of those commercial cleaners. It's non toxic and cheap, too. If you have a baked on spot on the top or in any pan that has been sitting dirty too long, just put some water and a denture cleaning tablet on it. Takes it right off with no effort.

For the fastest cleanup, I keep a pump spray bottle of 50% water and 50% rubbing alcohol in the kitchen. Spray that on the stove top and clean up very quickly. The vinegar and soda is needed only for bad messes. The alcohol and water cleans up grease and stuff very quickly.

alice

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bobert
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 08:28 PM

Alice,

What great advice for the glass top! Thanks so much...can't wait to try it on the spot I produced the very first time I used the thing and had no idea how picky it could be. The various opinions are just amazing and varied and Bob and I have much to research in the coming month or two. I so appreciate you guys taking time to respond; it's so helpful and I'm encouraged that we're not alone in this whole huge looming project. Wow. I'd love to simplify and not have so much stuff sitting around and really don't love sitting here researching but would welcome any ideas for same. We have to build out a bedroom with walk-in closet, 3/4 bath (with shower only) and kitchen/dining/great room enclosed with glass on 3 sides.   Like we weren't busy enough before this!!! Not to mention bringing 3/4 acre of plants, trees and shrubs and perennials to some sort of heeling bed situation until I can design a plan for them all. I'm sort of overwhelmed...can you tell?

P-Vine (Eve, for real)

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 10:45 PM

Household cleaners

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Boab
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 01:43 AM

In spite of my stated love for my glass-top, I must register my agreement with those who recommend the close control attainable with gas. Pays to remember, however---for every cube of gas you burn, THREE cubes of WATER is added to the atmosphere in the kitchen [-in the form of steam, of course].

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 07:55 PM

I fell in love with the look of the (expensive) DeLonghi Wood stove in the catalogue I got with my mini (portable) fan assisted oven. Italian, you know....


I have cooked everywhere (sounds like a song!) and my gran used to bake beautiful spponge cakes in her wood stove with no dials, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 08:34 PM

Who'd want sponge cake with dials?

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 08:51 PM

Well, I've had wood stoves for, ahhhh, hmmmmm? Like forver... And I'm thinkin' that at this point in my life I might not want another one... May a pellet stove... But wood?... Nah... They are messy and I'd hate to think back on many cord of wood I've cut and hand split in my life but it's in 3 digits...

Yeah, I'll keep one in the double decker bus/cootage and maybe one in the barn but as fir the house... I am done! I don't care how well they cook stuff... I'm done...

(How do you really feel, Bobert?)

I'm done...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Peace
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 08:53 PM

However, when the cost of electricity and gas are outta sight, wood will be a nice option.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 09:27 PM

I have also cooked on all of the above--wood, gas, and electric. Mostly I haven't had a choice, it was whatever the housing came with. Mostly I've used electric, so it is what I'm accustomed to.

I can't imagine having to cook something so fast that you need to heat a pan so quickly that the difference between gas and electric is really going to MAKE a difference. I have no problem overheating (!) my pans if I turn on the electric and put the pan on the burner empty. Whether gas or electric, you can still do a lot of damage in a hurry if you're not right there paying attention the whole time you're cooking.

P-Vine, you're a woman after my own heart. I also love cooking with the cast iron pans, and was told several times that they won't work on the flat stovetops. (My aunt had a very early one that required special pyrex flat-bottomed pots. Are they still so picky?) The thought of losing access to my pots makes my decision very easy. The style of cooking with cast iron is probably like cooking with electric--you have to sense when things are just hot enough and how long you have before you have to turn it or pull the pan off of the burner. The pan holds heat when it's off the burner. Like Susan says, you have control of the pot. I can see the small burners being a problem for cooking with big pots. I haven't canned (I want to start, though--my mother always did a lot of canning, and I have several friends who do) but I do grow tomatoes. LOTS of tomatoes. So I need to learn to can. (At this point, I know how to blanche to remove skins and freeze!)

On my electric burners I make the best popcorn, and I've always made it on an electric stove. Put some oil (usually more than you think you need, to get enough) and a few kernals in the pot, and with the lid in place, turn it on high. Once those start to pop, I dump in the measured amount, then using two hotpads on either side to hold the lid in a just slightly off-kilter position to let the steam out, I shake the pot over the electric eye, still on high, for anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute. I've never actually timed it. But in no time flat, I have the best popcorn around. Makes that microwave stuff look like packing material. I can do the same thing with a gas stove, and I could probably even pop corn on a wood stove, but I'd have to give it some thought. (Probably better over the fire in one of those special fireplace poppers). Anyway, as easy as it is to make popcorn, it's always easier to burn it faster over gas. The electric averages out the temperature more effectively for something that has to cook hot.

Bottom line: Whatever you cook on, you have to pay attention.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Gypsy
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 11:27 PM

I've lived with all the above. The glass tops are pretty, and easy to maintain. But i not got the pots that work on them, or gas capabilities in my house. 6 months of the year, i cook with electric. the other six months, with the wood stove. For canning, i have an out door gas stove with a 7 gallon bottle. I would go broke trying to can the amount that i can with an electric stove. Could mebbe do a half dozen jars of jam, but not 30 cases of fish! LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Homeless
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 12:07 AM

If you want the best qualities of gas and electric, look into an induction stovetop. It's got the flat glass of an electric, and the immediate temp control of a gas range. It will heat a 3 qt pan of water to boiling in less that 5 minutes (I timed it!) and you can take the pan off the burner area and with the burner still ON immediately press your hand against the top of the burner and not get burned. The heating mechanism heats the pan, not the cooktop.

The downside? You cannot get an induction range, only the cooktop. Meaning you need a separate oven. And because of the heating mechanism, you have to use flat bottomed, iron or steel pans. For safety and ease of cleanup, I've not found anything better.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: open mike
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 12:42 AM

i only use propane in the kitchen,
how-some-ever I am now enjoying
some soup cooked on the wood stove.

i recently replaced an old set of
burners (stove-top only) with a
combination stove/oven. this freed
up a whole bunch of wall space that
was taken up with an oven/broiler
which was a built-in unit. Although
the storage shelves which were under the
stove top burners are no longer there,
the space where the oven/broiler is
now opened up for shelves--and the
storage space is over double.

the appliances made for natural gas need
to be adapted for use with propane/LPG.
they used to install an orafice which
would reduce tne size of opening the
fuel went thru. Now they adjust it by
just truning a screw, i think no added
parts required, at least for the Hotpoint.

I did get the Piezo, electronic ignition one
as it saves fuel by not having pilot lights
burning all the time, plus the safety factor
if the pilot lights blow out, the gas still
keep pumping out into the air...yikes!

it reqires electricity. more expensive models
also have a light to see in the oven, a clock
and a timer for the oven, etc.

I find that for canning i can balance the kettle
over two of the burners and get enough heat to
boil stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Boab
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 03:46 AM

---anyway, porridge---microwave. chicken---microwave, pork---microwave, fish----microwave, casserole---microwave, boiled spuds----microwave.eggs,soup----stove-top, canning---stovetop. Our m.w. is convection oven type, and it's perfectly possible to do most of the cooking in it.
And Alice, your vinegar-bicarb works a treat....
Boab

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: open mike
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 09:18 PM

they now make microwaves with a grilling/browning feature..
microwaves are not great for toast...never gets crispy..
but now there is a combination unit by Sanyo.

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: maire-aine
Date: 06 Apr 05 - 12:41 AM

I learned to cook on an electric, so it just comes natural to me now. I've developed a sense of when to turn the heat down. I cook with a pressure cooker a lot, and it seems to work out good for me. At least I haven't poisoned anybody that I know of. And I've done a lot of canning on my electric, too.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: dianavan
Date: 06 Apr 05 - 03:21 AM

I get it when you say you've had it with wood cookstoves. They burn alot of wood.

What I have now is a gas hot water, heat and stove. I also have a little wood fireplace for special occasions - soon to be converted to gas.

Dollar wise I like having a gas bill separate from the electric bill because when gas goes up, electricity seems to be more stable and then vice versa. I never seem to get hit with a cost increase in both at the same time. Its easier to stay within the budget.

Where I live, power outages occur more frequently than problems with the gas lines. Try not to rely too heavily on hydro electric power - I think the U.S. is using too much power, anyway. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem, you big energy suck! :>)

Ask the cook!

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: GUEST,erika
Date: 26 May 05 - 07:25 PM

I need to clean a smooth top electrical stove, I dont have acleaning lady and she used to do it , (not any more)...
Hot cocoa spilled and burned been cleaning it since yesterday, with the commercial stuff it's allmost o.k. but the white circles are grey in some spots I'm affraid I erased them or could it be that it's still dirty?? if i touch them I feel the line but its gray or black.
Any suggestions.
erika

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 05 - 12:04 AM

See if the manufacturer has a website, and look into what they say about difficult burned-on food.

Stop if you think you're erasing the top away.

Have you tried something mild, like baking soda?

Subject: RE: BS: Stove (range, oven) question...
From: Bill D
Date: 27 May 05 - 12:06 AM

http://lancaster.unl.edu/home/Articles/2001/Glass_CeramicCookingSurfaces.htm