Buying a new Range...Thoughts?

[Merle]

monster coleman in white plastic, said to have done real well against it's contemporary Yeti.
Ya, if the fuels around the cook gear run out and I don't have (if not already implemented) my bug out, I'm in some kind of sweetheart deal with the folks who'll "own" the neighborhood until the National Guard get here.

 

[davent]

I can't complain loudly enough or often enough about the poor customer service and poor quality of my Frigidiaire oven and refrigerator. They were expensive, defective, and frigidaire won't return calls or provide any service. My local store refuses to send anyone out. Please save yourself a lot of frustration and avoid that brand.

We have a Kenmore fridge and stove, Sears isn't answering any calls up here any longer. That said the stove is 29 years old this year. The first fridge lasted just shy of ~23 years so bought another, big mistake.
dave

 

[EB Newfarm]

My Frigidaire is 6 months old.

 

[davent]

My Frigidaire is 6 months old.

That's criminal.
dave

 

[Alacrity59]

We have a Kenmore fridge and stove, Sears isn't answering any calls up here any longer. That said the stove is 29 years old this year. The first fridge lasted just shy of ~23 years so bought another, big mistake.
dave

Sears were great with service. The appliances were made by various actual manufacturers like GE, Whirlpool, Amana, Fridgidaire. Likely the parts are available and there are repair guys when you can't do it yourself.

 

[simon1]

...New thread; "Thoughts on Chest Freezers for the Garage?"

I have/had a Kenmore regular size chest freezer (it's still out in the pump house; haven't got anyone out to haul it off yet). Dad gave it to us about 30 years ago or so when they got a new one, and they had it for 10 or more years before that. It worked great until it went out a few months ago. SWMBO went in to a big box store that afternoon and got a small Magic Chef chest freezer so we wouldn't lose all the meat in there. The Magic Chef is not a self defrosting one...what the heck are you supposed to do with what you have in it when you defrost it?

There is a regular sized one still up at Mom's that I unplugged and propped the lid open on after I unplugged it and wiped it out...I may try to bring it home, or not. I think it's another Kenmore...but, I think I'll shop around for a new regular size chest freezer instead of trying to get someone to come out here to try to repair the Kenmore.

As for Sears....

We have a Kenmore fridge and stove, Sears isn't answering any calls up here any longer. That said the stove is 29 years old this year. The first fridge lasted just shy of ~23 years so bought another, big mistake.
dave

Sears has been going downhill for a few decades. I had a Craftsman riding mower and could hardly get parts for it, much less get a service call. And that's been years ago...I've had a nice Gravely zero turn mower for years now. The Sears store here recently closed. Sears is not like it was even in the '60s. It used to be top notch.

 

[davent]

We did a lot of shopping at Sears over the years, appliances, vacuum cleaner, tools, clothing, kitchenware... 2018, Sears Canada dead in the water, gone.

We were shopping for a small chest freezer a few years ago and all the small ones we were interested were manufactured in China. Salesman at one place told us to expect to get three years out of them and when it dies there's no repairing them as there are no parts available. Larger models of the same consumer brands were still being made in N. America.

Have seen small N. American made freezers on the internet, brands i'm not familiar with and very expensive.

My next neighbour's chest freezer, saved my bacon a couple summers ago, she says it's over fifty years old.

dave

 

[simon1]

We did a lot of shopping at Sears over the years, appliances, vacuum cleaner, tools, clothing, kitchenware... 2018, Sears Canada dead in the water, gone.

We were shopping for a small chest freezer a few years ago and all the small ones we were interested were manufactured in China. Salesman at one place told us to expect to get three years out of them and when it dies there's no repairing them as there are no parts available. Larger models of the same consumer brands were still being made in N. America.

Have seen small N. American made freezers on the internet, brands i'm not familiar with and very expensive.

My next neighbour's chest freezer, saved my bacon a couple summers ago, she says it's over fifty years old.

dave

I hear you on the disposable, expensive things now.

Upon reflection, I think I remember helping mom defrost the freezer in the regular fridge. We'd wrap things that were in it up in newspaper or something to keep them cool, then unplug it and scrape the ice off to hurry up the melting. But that was about the year 50 B.C. (before computers).

I have a little dorm sized beer fridge that I have to manually defrost...just sat it outside this afternoon. Checked it a bit ago and it still has a bit of frost under the freezer section. And it's getting up to 100 degrees F. here now. It's also a Kenmore that I bought at the local Sears over 15 years ago and still works like a champ.

If I was getting a new chest freezer I'd probably look at GE or Whirlpool, or maybe an Amana or Frigidaire. I think Frigidaire does GE, Whirlpool, and Kenmore. They are just re-branded. Mom's fridge is Frigidaire.

 

[Merle]

You all have got me thinkin, I really don't mind digging things out of a chest; it's a solid, knowing things can stay cold with some ice or a very small dedicated generator for a few days/weeks. As it is now, the high points are keeping a concentrator alive for the Lady of the House and then do duty cycling between A/C, the most efficient refer of 3, and light & communications as necessary. Most of the house is lit with LEDs but it's still a very poorly designed distribution panel and I haven't had an Engineer out to streamline the load transfer and critical loads/runs breaker panel. (Really should have done that all the yesterdays since move in 2008.)

 

[simon1]

You all have got me thinkin, I really don't mind digging things out of a chest; it's a solid, knowing things can stay cold with some ice or a very small dedicated generator for a few days/weeks. As it is now, the high points are keeping a concentrator alive for the Lady of the House and then do duty cycling between A/C, the most efficient refer of 3, and light & communications as necessary. Most of the house is lit with LEDs but it's still a very poorly designed distribution panel and I haven't had an Engineer out to streamline the load transfer and critical loads/runs breaker panel. (Really should have done that all the yesterdays since move in 2008.)

I'm guessing the concentrator for the LOTH is an oxygen concentrator? Brother-in-law was on one for awhile. He also had a portable one he could walk with.

Ruh roh...thread derail.

It's not my fault! Really it isn't.

 

[danek]

Our current range is convection, I dont think I've ever used that function. I dont do a lot of baking...

Convection doesn't work for baking. It's too hot.

Convection is merely the addition of a fan in the oven to encourage air movement. The effect is hotter air around the food, thus faster cooking edges. I love it for roasting.

 

[Mick]

I use convection to get a golden crust on biscuits and only for the last 4-5 min or so

 

[shavefan]

Convection doesn't work for baking. It's too hot.

My oven compensates the temp when using convection, but again, never use it...

 

[Snurgblat]

I like this model. Low service requirements and doesn't need gas or electricity to run.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

G.E.

BTW, I love smooth top stoves. I can play one like a violin. James Beard was a fan, too.

 

[Pepin]

Convection doesn't work for baking. It's too hot.

Convection is merely the addition of a fan in the oven to encourage air movement. The effect is hotter air around the food, thus faster cooking edges. I love it for roasting.

Have not heard that.

Never had any problems baking with a convection oven. It is great to be able to do 3 or 4 sheets of cookies at one time, and get them all done evenly. Even a couple of cake bases.

As with any new oven you need to see how it works for your recipes. You have to alter the time and/or temperate compared to your last oven.

 

[danek]

Have not heard that.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but when I bake with convection, the edges burn and the middle is under cooked.

 

[Mick]

Switch to convection for the last 10% of the bake time.

 

[Pepin]

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but when I bake with convection, the edges burn and the middle is under cooked.

The convection does cook quicker, so you have find out the times. I have reduced the cook times. When I do ginger bread i can do three trays at a time. The new convectionis large enoughthat the tray is not close to an edge.

Even with my old regular electric oven I had certain hot spots to watch out for, and rotate the tray.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

I love gas. I use the flames to blacken peppers or put a little char on my corn or flour tortilla.