stainless steel stoves??

[dreamin_disney]

Please tell me about your stainless steel stoves.

We were looking at stoves tonight. This will be my 1st brand new stove. The one i have was here when i bought our home(our 1st and only home) and its over 13 years old .


-Broiler - i've never used it because I dont know how. We didnt have the manuel or the pan. Is it hard to use?? Is it a must have? We like grilling but despend on weather.

-self cleaning stove- I just place a sheet of foil under my pans so it doesnt really get messy. A friend told me her cousin used chemcials and her stove caught on fire Is the self cleaning easy to use???

delay bake option???

4 burner vs. 5 burnerwith griddle burner option. Do you like the griddle or is it messy???

We went to Best buy and Home Depot but not a lot of stoves on display that were under $1000

we seen a GE 30 in Self cleaning freestanding gas range in stainless steel. Its doesnt come with a cord or gas connector.

any tips or inputs. Like I mentioned I've never owned a new stove and my current stove is the first and only stove we've owned besides our apartment which was an electric stove hated it!

Thanks inadvance!!!!!!!!!

 

[herdtoDisney]

Please tell me about your stainless steel stoves.

We were looking at stoves tonight. This will be my 1st brand new stove. The one i have was here when i bought our home(our 1st and only home) and its over 13 years old .


-Broiler - i've never used it because I dont know how. We didnt have the manuel or the pan. Is it hard to use?? Is it a must have? We like grilling but despend on weather.

-self cleaning stove- I just place a sheet of foil under my pans so it doesnt really get messy. A friend told me her cousin used chemcials and her stove caught on fire Is the self cleaning easy to use???

delay bake option???

4 burner vs. 5 burnerwith griddle burner option. Do you like the griddle or is it messy???

We went to Best buy and Home Depot but not a lot of stoves on display that were under $1000

we seen a GE 30 in Self cleaning freestanding gas range in stainless steel. Its doesnt come with a cord or gas connector.

any tips or inputs. Like I mentioned I've never owned a new stove and my current stove is the first and only stove we've owned besides our apartment which was an electric stove hated it!

Thanks inadvance!!!!!!!!!

I bought my first new stove 2 years ago and was quite suprised to find that you have to buy the cords but that is typical, I guess. Have you tried Lowes? I got my stuff there. It's stainless, but electric not gas.

Seems that new stoves these days also do not come with broiler pans I kept the one from my decades-old stove from three homes ago. Or you can use a regular metal cookie sheet to broil with. It's not hard to do but it can get smoky if you don't keep an eye on it.

The self-cleaning feature is awesome It's so easy, on my stove you press the buttons, the thing locks, and gets hot and clean. I never had that before.

I have an electric stove so no griddle. Four burners.

 

[SFWife]

I'm in a similar boat so thanks for posting this. We are buying our first house and there are no appliances in it at all. It's a short sale and we are rehab-ing it so we have a modest budget for this stuff. We need to put in (for the kitchen) a new sink, fridge, dishwasher, stove, vent hood (i'd like a microwave over the stove) and faucet. Black or stainless for me, and all electric, unfortunately. There's no gas. I've never bought a stove, never used broiler either.

What is your opinions on cooktop vs coil burners? Ive never had a cooktop. I would think it would be alot easier to keep clean, and cheaper not having to replace drip pans.

 

[MrsPete]

As another poster said, I was surprised after I purchased my stove that I ALSO needed to purchase a cord. It felt like a little "gotcha" type of thing that they added in separately to make the price seem deceptively lower. It wasn't that it was so much money; it was the principle of the thing.

I have the glass cooktop, and I like it so much better than the old coil-type -- but it isn't any easier to keep clean. One feature I love: My front two burners are "two-sized". That is, if I turn the knob to the right, I get a small burner; if I turn the knob to the left, I get a large burner. That's the best single thing about my cooktop.

We have the hidden element in the oven -- meaning that you can't see the element, it's under a layer of metal. It takes longer for the oven to heat up, but a couple times I've had things bubble over, and it's wonderful not to have that mess on the element.

I'd say be careful of bells and whistles. We don't have the delayed start thing; I don't really get the point -- would I ever leave a casserole in the oven all day so that it'd be there when the oven started up? That doesn't sound food-safe. We do have the "warmer element" between the two back elements, and we've literally NEVER used it.

I looked and looked at the "two oven" styles -- the models with a shorty oven at the top and a big oven at the bottom. I really did want it, but I talked myself out of it becaue it was about 40% more money than a standard oven (I want to say that they were all over $1000, whereas my oven was in the $550-600 range). Financially it was the right choice, but sometimes I still wish I had the option of heating up just that smaller oven -- for time and energy savings.

 

[clh2]

One of my coworkers just got a new stove (last 6 months or so) and it has a "steam clean" feature - that she LOVES. I've enver heard of this before, but it sounds way better than cleaning iwth chemicals, or with the self cleaning feature.

Our next stove will probaly have the "two ovens" in it - the standard sized one, and the "smaller" one.

Personally - I don't think that the "bigbox" stores are very helpful, and we much prefer to get appliances at the small mom and pop stores. We find the knowledge to be much better, and they want to make you happy, and they appreciate the business. And - we ifnd their pricing to be in line iwth the big box stores.

 

[clh2]

I'm in a similar boat so thanks for posting this. We are buying our first house and there are no appliances in it at all. It's a short sale and we are rehab-ing it so we have a modest budget for this stuff. We need to put in (for the kitchen) a new sink, fridge, dishwasher, stove, vent hood (i'd like a microwave over the stove) and faucet. Black or stainless for me, and all electric, unfortunately. There's no gas. I've never bought a stove, never used broiler either.

What is your opinions on cooktop vs coil burners? Ive never had a cooktop. I would think it would be alot easier to keep clean, and cheaper not having to replace drip pans.

Do you have gas to your house? We had a plumber come and extend the gas lines for both a dryer and stove. Wasn't too expensive, but that was 17 years ago. Never regretted that decision or expense.

 

[TiffanyK]

I have a Frigidaire with a glass top and stainless finish. I really like it.

It does have a broiler and I use it, but never use the broiler pan and rarely broil meats. I use it to get a toasty finish on things like sandwiches, nachos, garlic bread etc.

It has "speed bake" which is the same as convection. It's a fan that circulates the air and causes things to cook evenly and faster. I use that frequently to bake 2 pizzas at the same time or a very full oven of foods.

It is self cleaning and I've actually used that feature once or twice It's easy to do.

I don't have the griddle sized burner, but I do have expandable burners that I like.

It does have a delayed bake or time bake feature. I also use that sometimes. It's handy for things like baked potatoes or other things that will hold in the oven. If I'm gone, the oven will click on by itself and start baking. Handy.

This is the second stove like this we've had. The first was black and we purchased it. I think it was in the $600 range. The one we have now was in the house when we moved in.

Good luck with you stove research and purchase!

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Personally - I don't think that the "bigbox" stores are very helpful, and we much prefer to get appliances at the small mom and pop stores. We find the knowledge to be much better, and they want to make you happy, and they appreciate the business. And - we ifnd their pricing to be in line iwth the big box stores.

I agree with this.

I have the fifth burner with griddle & I never use it.

I do use the self clean from time to time, it works well. Just remember to take the racks out or they discolor.

 

[budafam]

We went with all stainless steel appliances when we bought our new house. Not the greatest idea if you have little kids running around (fingerprints EVERYWHERE!) but I do like the look of them (if you don't mind cleaning them everyday). We have a glass top stove and I hate it. There are marks all over it from stuff overboiling and spilling onto the surface (then burning)... there is no way to get them clean. It doesn't look that bad but it's definitely not looking like it just came off the showroom floor. We have the self cleaning option as well but I hate letting it get that hot... it scares me We usually just put foil on the bottom, easy cleanups.

 

[TiffanyK]

I think the glass top is easier to keep clean that the traditional electric coils. I wipe it up everytime I cook with a dishcloth, same as the counters. If something spills, I wipe it right away. For burnt spills I use a razor blade to scrape off the gunk. Every so often, I use the special cleaning cream that came with the stove. Walmart sells bottles of it. That cleaning cream helps protect the stove top and make cleaning easier.

 

[MrsPete]

Do you have gas to your house? We had a plumber come and extend the gas lines for both a dryer and stove. Wasn't too expensive, but that was 17 years ago. Never regretted that decision or expense.

I've never had gas, but people who have seem to LOVE it. What's the appeal? Do you always have a pilot light burning? (I ask that because I'm thinking of a commercial kitchen in which I had a job as a teenager -- but I wasn't a cook, so I barely know what I"m talking about.) If so, how's it safe to have a fire burning all the time?

 

[dis-happy]

I've never had gas, but people who have seem to LOVE it. What's the appeal? Do you always have a pilot light burning? (I ask that because I'm thinking of a commercial kitchen in which I had a job as a teenager -- but I wasn't a cook, so I barely know what I"m talking about.) If so, how's it safe to have a fire burning all the time?

Nowadays they have an electronic ignition switch and no need of a pilot light. Even better, in the case of a power outage you can still light the burner using a match.

 

[TaraPA]

I have a 60-inch six burner plus grill top gas range/electric double oven (dual fuel). I love the stainless steel but as others have stated, I have to use stainless steel cleaner every day. Sometimes twice. I do also use Windex Multi-Surface cleaner on the steel, the cast iron grates & the black drip pans.

I have all the bells & whistles & don't use them. In over 5 years I have yet to use the convection or delay-bake features. There are other options I've never even read the manual on how to use! It came with a whole accessory kit including baking stones, which I hear everyone loves, I just haven't tried them yet. Someone should really talk me into trying these!

I do use the self-cleaning feature and I love it.

We do use the broiler but not often as we have the grill top. On that note, however, the grill top is MESSY. We had to have a professional exhaust system installed (township requirement when installing a range like ours) and we're glad we did, it smokes up the house so bad sometimes it sets off the fire alarm. The grill is very heavy cast iron & is difficult to get clean. I try to use the grill only as needed, like if it's snowing out & we just have to have some grilled steaks!

I thought I'd love the double ovens but I find myself just using the smaller one 99% of the time. My smaller one doesn't fit a standard size cookie sheet though, so I have to use the large oven for that. It takes a LONG time to pre-heat the large oven, that's a disadvantage to having it be over-sized.

As far as the gas, we have natural gas here so I don't know about the hook-up. It was done by a professional when we built the house. My range does not have a lit pilot, but our fireplaces & water heater do. The gas range top burners are electric start I'm assuming. They go "click click click" when you turn the nob to "on" and the POOF the burner lights up. How's that for a techincal explanation?!?! We did just have a gas leak this week - the contractors finishing the basement discovered it - and they said it was a slow leak due to improper valve fittings when we built - so it's been going on for 5 years.

I think you'll be happy with stainless steel, I wouldn't have picked anything else, just know giong in that you will have to wipe it down daily (unless you don't use it much!)

 

[dreamin_disney]

debating going to Home depot or Lowes to look at the stoves. How many of you knew what convection meant? I didnt. I wont get that option. Best Buy had a 4 burner but it didnt look as nice. I'm hoping to find a 4 burner i like instead of the 5. I was almost going to pay an extra $200 for the xtra burner and stainless steel knobs but it looked better quailty then the 4 burner with black knobs.

I dont think we have the old broiler pan so i hope those arent to expensive. Our old stove has the gas nozzle hook up toward the top of back of stove . Our old stove also has a section for the gass nozzle line but the new ones are flat in the back and the hook up is toward the bottom of the stove. Dh said he will have to maybe redo the gas line otherwise the stove might stick out 2 inches.

Best buy said they would have to special order because it has to be built???Delivery wouldnt be here until May 4th

Hopefully Home depot or lowes can deliver it by nextweek.


any other tips???

Broiler is that done in the regualr oven or is it with stoves that have the extra section on the bottom under oven.

 

[pezaddict231]

We got a new stove last year from PC Richards and I love it. It is a Frigidaire 5 burner stainless from their gallery collection. They call it "smart stainless" and you just wipe it down with a wet cloth to clean it. I was really happy with that feature because I have heard fingerprints can be an issue. I personally find the 5th burner to be really useful, it did come with the griddle, but we don't have pancakes very often. When we do I do like using it. Mainly I use it as an extra burner. It is self-cleaning, haven't used that, also has convection, haven't really used that feature either, lol. And the bottom is a warming drawer.

 

[dreamin_disney]

We got a new stove last year from PC Richards and I love it. It is a Frigidaire 5 burner stainless from their gallery collection. They call it "smart stainless" and you just wipe it down with a wet cloth to clean it. I was really happy with that feature because I have heard fingerprints can be an issue. I personally find the 5th burner to be really useful, it did come with the griddle, but we don't have pancakes very often. When we do I do like using it. Mainly I use it as an extra burner. It is self-cleaning, haven't used that, also has convection, haven't really used that feature either, lol. And the bottom is a warming drawer.

warming drawer-lol!....I thought oh great i can store my cookie sheets in there-lol!


Frigidare had some nice stoves but dh says only name brand so we are planing on the GE.


Does anyone know if Home depot or lowe's will extend their payment plan?? Right now they have 6 months but we would love a 12 month has anyone ever got it extended????

 

[pezaddict231]

I mainly do store things in there But it definitely is helpful when company is over and not everything will be done at the same time.

It couldn't hurt to ask, or if there is another store in the area that offers 1 year, you can bring the flyer in, most stores will meet it. I think best buy offers 1 year, or at least it did when we were replacing appliances.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I mainly do store things in there But it definitely is helpful when company is over and not everything will be done at the same time.

It couldn't hurt to ask, or if there is another store in the area that offers 1 year, you can bring the flyer in, most stores will meet it. I think best buy offers 1 year, or at least it did when we were replacing appliances.

Best buy had 18 months but the stove was considered special item so it still had to be built and delivery wouldnt be until May 4th. My old stove has been out on the back porch for a week and it's over 12 years old (not sure how old it is)and i know if i bring it back in i'll be stuck with it longer-lol!

Theres a smaller shop that we plan to check out if no good deals then i'll see if HD will give us at least 9-12 months. 12 months will be perfect to use our 2012 taxes refund $

 

[TaraPA]

I had to LOL - I use my 2nd oven (the bigger one) to store my crock pot & extra large griddle! In summer when the boys are in sports I store their water thermos' in there too.

For the OP that asked about the broiler - both of my ovens have the broil feature inside the oven.

For the OP that asked about convection - yes I knew what it was but haven't used it once in 5 years. I don't know why I don't use it, I guess because I'm just so used to not using it. I think convenction is standard these days in higher end models.