Now We're Cooking!

There are several things that I am getting used to with the new stove - nothing bad, just different than what I have gotten used to.

There is now another light in the kitchen - the clock display. I am happy to report that the numbers are large enough that I can actually see it from across the room.

The electronic timer - no more twisting of a knob and getting it somewhere close to the time I want. On the old stove, I couldn't actually set the timer for an hour. It would be somewhere close to an hour plus or minus 15 minutes. I normally just set it in 30 minute increments because that was easier. With the electronic timer, I set the exact amount of time (even 1 or 2 minutes) and it does the rest.

The stove knobs - on the old stove it was (left to right) back left burner, front left burner, back right burner, then front burner. On the new stove, the two burners on the right are reversed; front right burner back right burner. Just something I'll have to watch for a little bit.

The electronic ignition - on the old stove, the electronic ignition was instigated by turning the knob all the way counterclockwise. Once the burner was lit, I would turn it clockwise to reduce the flame. With the new stove, the electronic ignition is the first position when the knob is turned counterclockwise. To adjust the flame, I have to turn it counterclockwise some more. Another little thing that will just take a  while to get used to.

Power burners and simmering burners (power burners are for large pots - there are two, there is one simmer burner for small pans, and one medium burner for medium-sized pans) - Okay, technically the old stove didn't have these. What it did have were two burners in back that actually burned well. So, I did most of my cooking on those. With the new stove, the power burners are in front, so I have to get used to putting large pots on those. This will really come in handy during canning season, since the pots I use are way to big for the back burners.

Broiling - in the old oven, broiling was done in the lower drawer. In the new oven, broiling is done at the top of the main oven space. There is a seperate burner in the oven for just such jobs.

Cooking time/temp - I can actually set the oven for the temperature I really want (gasp!). On the old stove, I had to set the temp about 25 degrees higher than what I actually wanted and that was just an approximation (and one hoped that this wasn't the time that it actually held the temp it was set at). Cooking times were usually a bit longer using this method too. With the new stove, the meatloaf actually took 1 hour 15 minutes to cook, instead of longer. I'll bet pizza will actually cook in 20-25 minutes instead of 30-35 minutes too!

I still have to investigate some of the settings for the oven. I have only used the bake cycle so far, but there are also settings for pizza, cookies and pies (don't ask me the difference - at least not yet). There is also a slow-cooking cycle, which is supposedly just like using a crock pot. This is something that I probably won't use, I'll just use my regular crock pot - but it is cool and might come in handy if I want to make several different crock pot dishes at the same time.

I already like this new stove and I'm sure in a couple of months I'll be wondering how I ever got along with the old one!

Comments

[Cop Car]

I didn't know that ranges came with cooking cycles--just like a microwave (does it have a "popcorn" setting?) The slow cook cycle sounds great for roasts, and the burners sound like they give you enough assortment to be really useful. How many BTUs do the burners put out at maximum? You are lucky that you don't have all of the clocks that we have in our kitchen (I would LOVE to kill them all!) There are glowing clocks on the gas range, the electric oven, the microwave, and there is an LCD clock on the radio. Every time the power burps, we have to reset 3 clocks in the kitchen, alone. (I don't bother with the one on the radio, since it is unobtrusive--and I don't know how to set it, anyway!)
Your old stove reminds me of cooking on a wood range--by guess and by gosh. Its virtue was that it kept your grey cells exercised! You were planning ahead: With your wood heating stove, you always have an "out" if the electronics won't let you use your gas range.

[Buffy]

We have a timer on our ovens that has gone bad. I talked to the appliance repairman about getting it fixed, and he said the cost would be so high that it wasn't worth it. It's amazing how we adapt to the machines we own. I use the microwave timer, or a small magnetic timer now, and ignore the one on the oven. After 15 years we had to have one of the elements replaced. I figured the other would go soon, so I had them both done.

It sounds like you have a really up to date stove now. Congratulations!

[Cop Car]

If one is lucky, one may find a replacement element at a junk yard. I was able to replace one element of my Elegant Friends electric cooktop. But, that was back in the 1960s. I was replacing much of the wiring in the stove (her electric cooktop was heating on only two "burners" and, much like Bogie's gas burners, they weren't doing all that well). The guy from whom they had bought the house was an experimenter. He used the stovetop and oven for heating plastics--and who knows what sort of misshaps he had? (Note to Bogie: Hand Park was named after the experimenter's dad.)

[bogie]

CC - No popcorn cycle, which is fine since we rarely eat popcorn.

I taught WS how to use the oven last night (for general baking). He was hoping I wouldn't think to show him - LOL!