Need advice...if possible on a stove.

[Chako]

Now that I finished my back deck, I can now bring big heavy things into the house with ease. My plan a few years ago was to get deck, and then buy a new stove. I am tired of looking at my old tired 1971 avocado green Sears special. I mean, some of my earliest memories revolve around this green monstrosity.

It still works fine, except the door spring to the oven broke 15 years ago, and nobody bothered to fix it yet. With that said, I think I need a new stove.

Now here is the problem. I just started to look at them, and boy have they changed from what I am used to. Electronics and computers and all. I am edging towards a flat top, but I understand they have their issues, and you need to use a special cleaner? Is this true?

The reason why I want a flat top is simply because it isn't a coil. The pots don't lie flat on the coils, and I often get hot spots while cooking. I also understand that coils have their benefits as well, but I have noticed they usually are featured only on the cheapest of models.

Gas is out of the question. I don't feel like running a gas line to my stove, and besides, every gas stove I have personally seen, tend to smell of natural gas.

Now, after digging up a little, I see there is something called induction cooking with the use of magnets. Does anyone have one of these? This seems like a neat way to cook. I don't mind investing in new pots and pans, as I understand you need steel cookware for this to work.

On the flip side, I notice no more avocado green, or puke yellow. Mostly white and stainless steel. Lots and lots of stainless steel. I am not all that keen on stainless as it picks up fingerprints like no tomorrow and can be a real PITA to keep clean. However, with that said, am I wrong in thinking this?

So I am a bit lost on what to look for, or get. Modern stoves aren't just a simple appliance anymore. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on doing the rounds later today to see what is locally available.

I figure MT folks might just know a thing or two about kitchen appliances.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I can't help you too much, but I'd like to address something you said:

On the flip side, I notice no more avocado green, or puke yellow. Mostly white and stainless steel. Lots and lots of stainless steel. I am not all that keen on stainless as it picks up fingerprints like no tomorrow and can be a real PITA to keep clean. However, with that said, am I wrong in thinking this?

Look in any professional kitchen and you won't see avocado green, harvest yellow, brilliant white or basic black.  What you will see is stainless.  Brushed stainless and polished stainless everywhere.  Why?  Because a professional kitchen needs to be clean and more importantly than being clean, it needs to look clean.

A quick wipe will get rid of just about all fingerprints and other detritus that may accumulate on the surface during use.  Plus, stainless will look better longer since there's no enamel to chip when you bump into it with something.

For the rest, well unless you are a professional cook (which I'm gathering you aren't since you don't like stainless!) I don't really see there being any significant benefit to a hundred different features on a stove.  Think about all you have cooked in the last year- what were the things you wished you could do but couldn't?  What were the problems you had doing the things you did?  Look for a model that solves those problems and don't get roped into buying something with a pile of extra "features" that you will never use.  To me, that makes as much sense as a deaf guy paying extra for a premium sound system in a car.

Def

[Chako]

I was never a big fan of stainless on stoves or fridges. But I will take that into consideration. Thanks Def for the good advice.

[AimlessWanderer]

At home I like gas. Gas is instant heat, instant reduction of heat, and visible - you can see (and hear and smell) if it's on. The only electric cookers I've used is the standard coil and I hate that method of cooking as I feel I just don't have the control I want. I've never tried ceramic or induction hobs.

In the boat I won't have gas at all. It's a wood fired cast iron cooking range with oven. Great fun and produces great tasting food, but it's hot work and a constant balancing act between all the vents and dampers, fuel thicknesses, quantities and types, and several other factors too - a very complex way of cooking and if you want anything done in the oven you have to get the stove going at least an hour in advance. For quicker cooking I've got an twin hob alcohol stove. Doesn't burn as hot as gas, but safer in a marine environment.

The only type of "electric" cooking I do is occasional microwave use, and the electric kettle - other than that it's a flame for me every time

The only other avenue I can think of that is worth exploration is the Aga/Rayburn stored heat type stove. If I had a bigger boat I would definately consider an oil fired version of these, but again you need to adjust your approach to how your cooking is done to get the most out of it f it's not what you're used to.

The cosmetics of a stove to me are very much secondary to the taste of the food that will be produced. I know I can and will get good results via gas, wood and alcohol, and that I (personally) will get frustrated and less impressive tasting grub from anything electric

[jekostas]

Gas is still going to be #1.  Instant, visible heat control and the conformity of the heating source to your cooking vessels.  Electric doesn't have the ability to conform as well, the newer electric stoves on the market are better at heat output control.

I personally don't like induction.  I don't have a lot of experience with it, but the little experience I have is a pain in the neck.  All of your pots and pans have be perfectly flat on the bottom, and any buildup can cause uneven heating and hotspots.

Perhaps either a smooth-top or ceramic electric would work for you?

[Chako]

I did not manage to get out today, deciding on building the computer desk that I bought last weekend. That was an all day affair, but well worth it. Now I can stretch my feet out and the desk is a lot roomier. I will never ever use a cart type desk.

Tomorrow, I am going to do the rounds to find out what is available. A gas stove would mean running a gas line to the kitchen. That is too prohibitive in cost for a stove. That and I don't like the smell of natural gas overly much.

Thanks Jekostas on your opinion of inductive stoves. I will have to do a lot more reading on it to figure out if this is the way to go. I like the notion of not heating up the kitchen when cooking. I also hear they have the cooking characteristics of gas stoves. Like everything though, I am sure there are issues with the technology such as the one you mentioned.

[papa_mcb]

I had a flat top stove for a while at a house I ranted and really liked it. I used it a ton cooking for the family bit the only thing I did not like about it was I had a tendency to touch the hot spots and burn myself...lol There is something about not seeing a hot burner that makes me think it is ok to touch even after a hour or two of cooking. As for cleanup it is really easy and alot of times I could just wipe it down with a wet rag.

Also the lack of hot spots was really nice, I am back to a electric stove and have to rotate my pots and pans to get even coverage :-(

Good luck with your purchase

[Chako]

I just bought a Frigidaire Professional series range + the 4  year add on warranty. Best part, it was not from Sears who wanted  to charge me 60 dollars delivery, and their warranty was a lot more expensive then what Leon's offered. I did not go the inductive way. Seems a tossup on pros and cons...with price being the biggest con I could see.

Def, the new range is stainless steel but with a finish on it so that It will not show fingerprints. Possibly the best of both worlds maybe.

Now all I have to do is wait 4 to 6 weeks max for delivery. They don't have the range in stock locally.

[Chako]

Yay, finally, I received it today. I also cooked my first pizza in it for supper tonight. I was a bit blown away at how fast a modern range heats up compared to the old tank.

Anyways, here are before and after photos. In the end, I was a bit melancholic seeing the old range taken away. There was a lot of good memories tied to it.

Out with the old...



In with the new...