OT cooking stoves and hand vacs

When I first was introduced to this group, we had just moved to the Swamp
and were rebuilding a kitchen. When asked for your ideas on kitchen
creation, the input was just wonderful. Now, well . . . maybe not now but
soon, the stove I love is going to need to be replaced. Please share your
thoughts.
Do you have a convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced
bread or something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a pain
in the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops that
demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth changing
all the cookware?
At our homes before the Swamp, we had new stoves. One needed a
full-time parlor maid with a feather duster to keep its surface looking
nice. The other, a top of the line snazzy model was so flimsy that I was
afraid to do much in the way of stirring or flipping for fear it would fall
into the floor. Please tell me what to look for or 'look out for'.
and, also. It crosses my little mind that a vacuum cleaner that didn't
require cords and could wiggle into tight places like the bobbin case area
of my SMs and serger would be so wonderful. Has anybody discovered a little
jewel for picking up snips and fuzzies without weighing 9000 pounds and
needing its own garage? We have a museum quality Electrolux but it truly
does take more time to heave in here and set up than it does to run it.
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from replying.
We know who you are. Polly

On Aug 2, 8:53 pm, "Polly Esther" wrote:
When I first was introduced to this group, we had just moved to the Swamp
and were rebuilding a kitchen. When asked for your ideas on kitchen
creation, the input was just wonderful. Now, well . . . maybe not now but
soon, the stove I love is going to need to be replaced. Please share your
thoughts.
Do you have a convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced
bread or something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a pain
in the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops that
demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth changing
all the cookware?
At our homes before the Swamp, we had new stoves. One needed a
full-time parlor maid with a feather duster to keep its surface looking
nice. The other, a top of the line snazzy model was so flimsy that I was
afraid to do much in the way of stirring or flipping for fear it would fall
into the floor. Please tell me what to look for or 'look out for'.
and, also. It crosses my little mind that a vacuum cleaner that didn't
require cords and could wiggle into tight places like the bobbin case area
of my SMs and serger would be so wonderful. Has anybody discovered a little
jewel for picking up snips and fuzzies without weighing 9000 pounds and
needing its own garage? We have a museum quality Electrolux but it truly
does take more time to heave in here and set up than it does to run it.
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from replying.
We know who you are. Polly

Seeing that it has been almost an hour since your post, methinks you
may not get too many replies, since those of us who do not cool or
clean are excused from answering your questions.......

Cooking? Cleaning? That's what the elves are for!!

Ginger in CA

Polly, my dear friend, I've owned them all! I HATE the glass/ceramic
cooktops! They take forever to cool off after you finish with them.
Anything with the least bit of sugar- even tomato sauce- will scorch and
it's a bear to clean the scorch off the top. The special cleaners are
expensive and don't work without a LOT of elbow grease. The top can scratch
and it can break if something cool and wet- like a dish cloth- touches a hot
surface. If you 'stumble' with something heavy and drop it, the top can
break. You MUST have perfectly flat bottomed pans or it messes up the
temperature- where the pan is not in contact it causes it to keep heating
instead of cycling so it's always on high. One of those nasty
glass/ceramic things came with this house- yuck!

My very favorite cook stove was a Kenmore dual-fuel. It's not fussy about
the pots and pans you use. The cooktop is gas- with wonderful, tough, heavy
cast iron grates to hold the pots and pans... and five burners. There's
even two power burners for huge canning pots. There's a simmer burner and a
special wok holder thingy for over the flame. The flames are adjustable in
the tiniest increments and when you turn them off they are off.

The oven is electric- much more reliable at holding a proper temperature
than a gas oven. It is self-cleaning and convection, too. I LOVE the
convection! It bakes faster and you can put 3 or more cookie sheets of
cookies in the oven at the same time and all are perfectly baked. (In a
regular oven two cookie sheets have to be swapped upper for lower to get the
tops and bottoms baked evenly- or the top sheet will be over browned on the
top of the cookies and the bottom cookie sheet will over bake the bottoms of
the cookies.) With convection everything bakes evenly- you can pack the
oven racks to the gills and *everything* bakes evenly.

Then it has a warming drawer underneath the oven- you can hold foods until
you're ready to serve them or even do your bread proofing in it. What a
luxury! With a microwave hood/exhaust fan over the dual fuel- WOW!!!
You'll be in cooking/baking heaven.

Yep, I'm sold on the dual fuel- and I'll have it again in my 'next' house!
Here's the description- and do click for all the specifications-
http://tinyurl.com/2m7b7l

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
When I first was introduced to this group, we had just moved to the Swamp
and were rebuilding a kitchen. When asked for your ideas on kitchen
creation, the input was just wonderful. Now, well . . . maybe not now but
soon, the stove I love is going to need to be replaced. Please share your
thoughts.
Do you have a convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced
bread or something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a
pain in the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops
that demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth
changing all the cookware?
At our homes before the Swamp, we had new stoves. One needed a
full-time parlor maid with a feather duster to keep its surface looking
nice. The other, a top of the line snazzy model was so flimsy that I was
afraid to do much in the way of stirring or flipping for fear it would
fall into the floor. Please tell me what to look for or 'look out for'.
and, also. It crosses my little mind that a vacuum cleaner that didn't
require cords and could wiggle into tight places like the bobbin case area
of my SMs and serger would be so wonderful. Has anybody discovered a
little jewel for picking up snips and fuzzies without weighing 9000 pounds
and needing its own garage? We have a museum quality Electrolux but it
truly does take more time to heave in here and set up than it does to run
it.
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from replying.
We know who you are. Polly

Polly Esther wrote:
Now, well . . . maybe not now but soon, the stove I love is going to
need to be replaced. Please share your thoughts. Do you have a
convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced bread or
something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a pain in
the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops that
demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth
changing all the cookware?
snip
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from
replying. We know who you are. Polly

I have an electric convection oven. In the wall. I rarely use the
convection feature. Don't make that many cookies, I guess. The oven in
our old house (also convection, also in the wall) had a 'proofing'
feature. Would run the fan and hold the temp at 100 degrees. Perfect for
raising bread. The new one does not. Phoo. If I had a gas oven I'd use
the pilot light to proof bread. Except lots of ovens now don't have
pilot lights.
Anyway! Both have the touchpad controls. I like those. Easy to clean.

Our stove is a cooktop in an island. It is gas. The gizmozs that sit
over the flame and hold the pots (what are they called?) lift right off
and can go in the dishwasher if I'm lazy. The stove is pretty easy to
clean. Some will complain that the pots will scoot around too easily on
the stove, I don't find that a problem. But I have heavy pots and pans.
I can't find a picture of the cooktop on line, but the
things-upon-which-the-pots-sit look kind of like petrified spiders.
Really heavy, tough spiders. Don't drop these on your foot! The cooktop
has blasted little knobs. I don't like cleaning around them. But then, a
cat can't walk on them and turn on the burners (childhood cat did that
and the scorch was on the wall for a long time) and one can always pull
the knobs off when inquisitive toddlers come to visit.

liz young in muggy california

Hey Neighbor

Beware of those fancy ovens with those cushy soft push buttons. The
plastic housing around those buttons have a habit of breaking and it
is a small fortune to get them repaired.

The conventional/convexion ovens are great. Convexion baking is at a
lower temp and saves money on electric bills. Even baking. I'd
suggest on reading up on convexion cooking to see if you would like
it.

As for glass top cook tops. Stay away from them. More work than you
want to do. More repair bills than you want. Cuts down on the
availability of funds for fabric.

If I had it to do all over again I would go for the stand alone
kitchen stove rather than the built ins but that's just me.

Besides you can cook a larger piece of gator in a standard cook stove
than a built-in oven. Something to think about.

Kate T.

Oh as for the vac. Nancy's Notions used to carry a small vac for SM's
and computers. It only cost about 30 dollars plus shipping. She also
carried attachments for your regular vac that would work also.

I've wanted to get one of the little vacs for such a long time. I
need it for my SM on the MQF. I need to clean it every two bobbins.
Coats and Clark thread is very fuzzy. Haven't been able to find a
thread that wasn't completely lint free.

Never use that canned air stuff on your SM. It only drives the lint
and dirt farther into your machine. That means more time at the
repair shop.

Kate T.

I have a smeg "stand alone" cooktop/oven (ie not built into the wall and has
his own feet). He has a 900mm wide oven - perfect for those large trays of
cookies I always seem to be baking and the armies I seem to feed over race
weekends.

The cooktop is gas and has 3 medium size burners, one large "fast boil"
burner and one long one down the middle which is used for nothing except
toasting marshmallows when I get peckish cooking dinner. Yes, you can roast
two at a time on a regular eating fork without getting burnt.

The oven is fan forced electric - heaps easier to control the temp of an
electric oven than a gas one.

He is very stable and has not looked like moving or shaking in the five or
so years I've had him. Mind you, he's prolly only been cleaned five times
in as many years but he don't mind. His name? Ol' Faithful.

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z37/shazrules/
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
When I first was introduced to this group, we had just moved to the Swamp
and were rebuilding a kitchen. When asked for your ideas on kitchen
creation, the input was just wonderful. Now, well . . . maybe not now but
soon, the stove I love is going to need to be replaced. Please share your
thoughts.
Do you have a convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced
bread or something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a
pain in the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops
that demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth
changing all the cookware?
At our homes before the Swamp, we had new stoves. One needed a
full-time parlor maid with a feather duster to keep its surface looking
nice. The other, a top of the line snazzy model was so flimsy that I was
afraid to do much in the way of stirring or flipping for fear it would
fall into the floor. Please tell me what to look for or 'look out for'.
and, also. It crosses my little mind that a vacuum cleaner that didn't
require cords and could wiggle into tight places like the bobbin case area
of my SMs and serger would be so wonderful. Has anybody discovered a
little jewel for picking up snips and fuzzies without weighing 9000 pounds
and needing its own garage? We have a museum quality Electrolux but it
truly does take more time to heave in here and set up than it does to run
it.
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from replying.
We know who you are. Polly

Well Pollydear, I have Opinions on cookstoves. I still need a fresh
one myself. The teeny old thing I have been using these past fifteen
years wasn't any great shakes when it was given us.
I have never liked electric stoves, some of the ovens aren't so bad,
but the cooktops are just the pits. In truth I do better on a
woodstove than an electric one. Gas is the thing for a cooktop.
I have had new or nearly new cookstove in some apartments, and one of
my own. The one we bought, an Amana, was a complete waste of money.
It was absolute junk. In truth the others were not much better. The
best ones I have ever used were virtually, well now literally,
antiques.
I have never used a made for a home kitchen convection oven. I did
think quite highly of the fireless cooker built into the one stove I
had, and the convection ovens in the professional kitchens I have
worked in were indeed a marvel.

NightMist

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 22:53:15 -0500, "Polly Esther"
wrote:

When I first was introduced to this group, we had just moved to the Swamp
and were rebuilding a kitchen. When asked for your ideas on kitchen
creation, the input was just wonderful. Now, well . . . maybe not now but
soon, the stove I love is going to need to be replaced. Please share your
thoughts.
Do you have a convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced
bread or something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a pain
in the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops that
demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth changing
all the cookware?
At our homes before the Swamp, we had new stoves. One needed a
full-time parlor maid with a feather duster to keep its surface looking
nice. The other, a top of the line snazzy model was so flimsy that I was
afraid to do much in the way of stirring or flipping for fear it would fall
into the floor. Please tell me what to look for or 'look out for'.
and, also. It crosses my little mind that a vacuum cleaner that didn't
require cords and could wiggle into tight places like the bobbin case area
of my SMs and serger would be so wonderful. Has anybody discovered a little
jewel for picking up snips and fuzzies without weighing 9000 pounds and
needing its own garage? We have a museum quality Electrolux but it truly
does take more time to heave in here and set up than it does to run it.
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from replying.
We know who you are. Polly



" The gods of the Disc have never bothered much about judging the souls of
the dead, and so people only go to hell if that's where they believe, in
their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won't do if they
don't know about it. This explains why it is so important to shoot
missionaries on sight."

Kate T. wrote:
Hey Neighbor

Beware of those fancy ovens with those cushy soft push buttons. The
plastic housing around those buttons have a habit of breaking and it
is a small fortune to get them repaired.

The conventional/convexion ovens are great. Convexion baking is at a
lower temp and saves money on electric bills. Even baking. I'd
suggest on reading up on convexion cooking to see if you would like
it.

As for glass top cook tops. Stay away from them. More work than you
want to do. More repair bills than you want. Cuts down on the
availability of funds for fabric.

If I had it to do all over again I would go for the stand alone
kitchen stove rather than the built ins but that's just me.

Besides you can cook a larger piece of gator in a standard cook stove
than a built-in oven. Something to think about.

Kate T.



Hadn't realised that built-in equals tiny until we bought a house with a
built in stove and fridge. Both are now freestanding!

I seem to be the only one who likes ceramic hobs - this is my third. Had
one ring once that needed attention but it was under a 5 year guarentee,
so was all taken care of. I was brought up 'electric' so have never been
comfortable with gas.

A quick story about DD and gas ovens - at school cookery lesson No. 1
the class were told to turn on their ovens to preheat. DD was used to
electric so just turned the knob to the right setting - didn't realise
she had to light it (don't know if it was a press button lighting or a
match). Fortunately teacher checked their ovens before she blew up the
school. She was not very popular, but really the teacher should have
thought about children who had never used that type of oven. She too now
has an electric oven! She is very good about turning if off too - she
did this in the middle of cooking the Christmas turkey - no one noticed
for an hour!)

Mine is an electric fan oven, and the instruction book says cook at a
lower temp. than the cook books say, which I now do automatically and
everything is fine. Of course here its in centigrade not f, so when I
had to change to c I just remembered the new for my oven numbers, (made
myself a little chart) knocking off the appropriate amount - I
understood f, but with c just do as I'm told!


Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk
http://community.webshots.com/user/sallyswin

Without actually recommending - because we are as individual with our
cooking things as sewing machines! - I'll tell you what I have and love:
I have a ceramic hob (had one in the last house too), and I would now
never have anything else. They are extremely easy to clean and, if well
fitted, any spills don't go down into the cupboard below! I also have a
fast-heating element for one 'ring'. I didn't think it was worth the
expense to have all four rings fast-heating, but we each have different
needs. A quick wipe over does for most days (I don't cook at lot
really), and the special cleaner gives it a Sunday-look polish.

As to the oven, there are a few things I would most strongly suggest -
even more than recommend, I would say were essential!
Even if it takes a little more 'fixing' than just take out the old one
and put in the new, I would say you *have* to have a high level oven, so
that you don't have to bend down to take things in and out. None of us
are getting any younger (at least, I'm not!), and backs and things
(mine) get dodgy. It is so much safer just to open the door and deal
with whatever is needed. I think in the US you tend not to have
separate grills? (broiler?). Mine is separate and just underneath the
main oven.
The other feature, now that it is available (though I couldn't get one
at the time) is 'self-cleaning'. How I would love that!
..
In message , Polly Esther
writes
When I first was introduced to this group, we had just moved to the Swamp
and were rebuilding a kitchen. When asked for your ideas on kitchen
creation, the input was just wonderful. Now, well . . . maybe not now but
soon, the stove I love is going to need to be replaced. Please share your
thoughts.
Do you have a convection oven? Is it the greatest thing since sliced
bread or something you never use? Do you have a ceramic top? Is it a pain
in the neck to clean or a great joy? Do you have one of those tops that
demands an absolutely flat bottomed pot/pan/skillet? Is it worth changing
all the cookware?
At our homes before the Swamp, we had new stoves. One needed a
full-time parlor maid with a feather duster to keep its surface looking
nice. The other, a top of the line snazzy model was so flimsy that I was
afraid to do much in the way of stirring or flipping for fear it would fall
into the floor. Please tell me what to look for or 'look out for'.
and, also. It crosses my little mind that a vacuum cleaner that didn't
require cords and could wiggle into tight places like the bobbin case area
of my SMs and serger would be so wonderful. Has anybody discovered a little
jewel for picking up snips and fuzzies without weighing 9000 pounds and
needing its own garage? We have a museum quality Electrolux but it truly
does take more time to heave in here and set up than it does to run it.
All members of rctq who do not cook or clean are excused from replying.
We know who you are. Polly



--
Best Regards
pat on the hill