The Stove Saga

Do you have the idea firmly in your mind by now that we spent days, nay, weeks of our lives on research during this house build? 

Anyone else in the world would simply go and buy a stove at an appliance store. Well, I tried that too. 

The Stove Saga

Our "one chance" to have a brand new kitchen was our "one chance" to have NEW appliances. And of course, we wanted appliances that would not end up being hauled to the dump anytime soon. So we burned our eyes our researching stoves, reading reviews, and checking prices. 

We needed a particular stove, too (of course!). Our kitchen design needed a slide-in stove, not a free standing one. Electric, not gas. And I was too frustrated with glass-top stoves and wanted old-fashioned coils. By now loyal readers will guess that I also required manual dials and not flat-panel buttons.

We went to local appliance places to see what we could get that very day. Interestingly, there was not a lot of info about customer service and satisfaction in these places, no signs with such common phrases as "your satisfaction guaranteed or your money back!" You had to press the salesperson, and then it was revealed that they didn't really have many (or any) guarantees. 

So we went to Lowe's to see what we could get that very day. We kept running into a salesman who was talking us OUT of everything. "The problem with this one is, you can't get parts for it." "The problem with this one is, people keep frying the mother board. If you never use the self-cleaning function, you'll be fine." "I don't like that brand, but they make a great dishwasher." It was an odd shopping experience, but great to get an honest salesman! There was one thing the  salesman was finally trying to talk me into: glass top stoves. "As long as you don't scrape a pan across it, just lift it, you will be fine. Use this stove cleaner and don't rinse it off." Hmm. I wanted to plop down a  cast-iron skillet or use a giant canner on my stove, not something that can't handle real life. 

We went to a used appliance store to see what we could get that very day. It was a rather sad looking selection. 

We went to Craiglist frequently to see what might pop up. We gave Consumer Reports $10 to "unlock" their magical secret ratings. We upped our price range and looked at $1500 stoves. We got caught in the web of  online reviews.  I talked to friends: "My GE stove has been going for 29 years, but you know they don't make them like they used to." The pretty Costco Samsung appliance packages were tempting.

 I finally called some repairmen. "I'm looking at a Samsung..." I said. The answers were surprising.  "STAY AWAY FROM IT!!! We service them, but they have sooooo many sensors." And another said, "I wouldn't touch a Samsung with a ten-foot-poll. Buy American." Just as the Lowe's salesman had told me, getting parts for foreign brands was troublesome. This was the smartest bit of research I have ever done on an appliance: Call a Repairman first!

After three weeks, the fun of shopping had gone away. We just wanted something that would cook our dinner. My husband tried Craigslist one more time, and found a used 2013 GE stove in Washington State for $300. It looked to be in pretty good shape. He spent a day and some gas to go and see it, but it was worth it! 

Cleaning my new kitchen companion

Adjusting the slide-in-stove

Yes, it was a glass top. Compromises must be made. It must have been a stove from a vacation home because the top was nearly pristine. It was missing one part (an oven "sensor" for meat), and something had obviously exploded in the oven, but once that was cleaned up it was obvious this was a hardly used appliance.

The Carpenter built out a section to match the kitchen sink area

As you can imagine, despite being in the middle of construction, we started to use that big, wonderful appliance right away. It had even more perks than I thought it would.  I don't know how I got along all these years without a convection oven with three racks. I frequently use the "proof" function for dough.  It has a bonus high-power burner for boiling, and a warming burner.  Although I still forget to "lift" pans on the glass top and not pull them across, I have followed the advice to not rinse the cleaner off, and my stovetop has stayed quite nice. I never use the "self-clean" function and rarely put the oven past 450 degrees (to keep from "frying the mother board") so I think it will last a long time ;) 

It was just in time for a birthday "pizza party."