SM would constantly replace the gizmo that kept the electric coil from heating up but within a few months another one would fizzle out and I'd be back to square one.
Plus the oven door was catty-wampus and wouldn't close flush so not only was I heating the house, I was baking at God knows what temperature.
So we went shopping for a new stove.
And found squat.
Oh, you can get all manner of smooth top glass electric ranges and don't think I wasn't tempted with SM whispering in my ear.
But I know better.
I'm a cook, not a re-heater.
(That's way God made microwaves.)
And cooks come in all manner of shapes and sizes.
My size is wide.
As in a wide splatter zone.
I tend to get messy when I cook.
Plus, I just knew in my heart that I'd have that pretty glass top ruined in no time flat.
So I refused to be seduced.
Since coil top electric stoves are so out of style, it was pretty slim pickings at the big box stores. SM dragged me to Sears in hopes that Kenmore might turn my head.
I stood there with my index finger pressing the metal top up and down with a sad look in my eye. You could almost hear it pop.
"Are you sure you don't want to try an smooth top?" SM moved down the line to a GE and opened the oven door. "This feels nice. Heavier." SM said about the quality.
"Yes it does. I wonder if they make coil tops?" And asked the sales person that very question and received a blank stare.
Clearly I was speaking in tongues.
Once we got home I pulled up the GE site online and sure enough they make them, but finding a higher quality one at a retail shop was just not gonna happen.
I am not one to make a major purchase sight unseen.
But I did this time.
I bought the most expensive, highest rated GE electric stove that they had.
And spent a whopping $494.
It was on sale.
Lowes told me that it was a special order and might take a month to get in. What's another 30 days...{shrug}
While we were at it, I also ordered a Broan range hood that was also special order because I wanted it in black instead of stainless. It seems to me that stainless is available in so many finishes I'd never be able to match it.
Well, the stove was delivered the other day along with the hood.
Two weeks early! Yeah me!
The stove top is heavy and firm.
The oven door is also heavy.
I cranked that sucker up to 400 to burn off the manufacturer fumes and the surrounding area stayed cool.
SM and I decided to mount the hood this morning.
Easy Peazy right?
HA!
The hood didn't come with mounting screws and was designed to be hard wired into the house. We had a wall plug inside the cabinet.
Why is it that simple stuff turns into all day drama?
You'd think we'd be used to that by now.
So back to Lowes we went.
Screws, washers and nuts purchased for an under the cabinet mount.
We then had to talk to the Dude to explain we needed a plug in cord on one end with a hardwire "pig-tail" on the other. Dude walks us over to the garbage disposal area (huh?) and yoinks a cord off the wall.
"Garbage disposals have the same issue. Some houses have a wall plug like yours and sometimes it's a hard wire."
Fine. So back to the house we go to get it hung.
We both stood back looking.
"How do you like it?" SM ventured.
"Nice."
"Nice enough?" SM asked.
"Not too nice." I replied. "If it was too nice then I'd have to re-do the counter tops and get a new dishwasher and fridge."
SM gave me that look. You know the one.
"As it is..." I continued, "You know we'll need to decide on a new back splash and once that's done consider new flooring..."
My voice climbing louder as SM turns his back on me and walks away.
Somebody around here watches way too much HGTV. @:)
I had a glass top stove and wasn't crazy about. I always seemed to be cleaning it and you know how when you are say, boiling potatoes for mashing? Sooner or later it overflows because you might have been pouring a glass of wine or something critical. There is no where for that starchy water to go but the cooktop so it cooks on and makes a horrendous stink. Later you would be scrapping it off, drinking more wine and muttering a lot of potty mouth words. So. I think you were very smart ��
ReplyDeleteGOOD CHOICE! Smart gal to hold out for what you wanted. I don't think the price of $494 was high at all. I have a relative (who shall remain nameless) who spent $7,000 (yes, that's what I said) for a new stove when they moved into their last house. A few months later, they had a mouse in the house who very inconveniently died in the broiler of said pricey stove. This relative said since she couldn't get the dead mouse smell to go away, she wanted to replace the stove. With the same make and model. And did. Same relative and husband eat out most of the time. Just sayin'. :o]
ReplyDeleteBless you, woman, for sticking to your guns! I detest smooth glass top stoves!!! At the beginning of the summer, I got all new appliances mostly in the effort to get rid of that blasted black glass top stove that was in the house when we bought it. I wound up getting a gas stove with convection oven, even though we had to run the gas line and add a 110 plug. Loving it.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
ReplyDeleteOoooh! Nice looking cooker! And great price! Somehow I think it's just the beginning....
ReplyDeleteWhat is the model number? I am interested in buying it too.
ReplyDeleteGE Model #: JB255RJSS
DeleteI can't remember if you can a lot or not, but the glass tops are no good for canning. They cycle off and on. We have a glass top in the house we are currently leasing while we build and I hate it. Can't wait for my new gas cooktop!
ReplyDeleteYou followed your gut and it paid off! Enjoy your new cooker!
ReplyDeleteI'd call that a bargain. Smart shopping!
ReplyDeleteNice looking stove! The stove in our house was manufactured in 1958. It was a top of the line Kenmore back then. I don't know if it can be repaired or not, but it is getting extremely difficult to turn the oven on. (It is so old, that you have to light the pilot light on the oven after you turn on the gas.) I thought we could just get a new stove. I couldn't believe how expensive 36 inch stoves with only four burners are. I don't want six burners. I'm short on counter space, so I need that space on top of the stove to be open. I can't imagine cooking on six burners at once anyway. I saw a couple of 36 inchers on line, but I find it hard to take the plunge to buy a stove online, sight unseen. I plan on keeping whatever my next stove will be for the rest of my life. Online stove buying makes me very nervous. Plus I am a little sentimental about this old stove. I've been cooking on it since 1978. That's a little nutty, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteI hope I do as well as you did when I finally take the "new stove" plunge.