Oct 22 2016
I have never been anywhere to have a gas range so I am only knowledgeable with electric ranges. I have been cooking for over 40 years now. My early ranges were the ones with the coil elements and remember the drip pans under the burners were a pain to keep clean.
18 years ago I got my first glass top stove, an Amana, and it had a convection oven. It came with Cerama Bryte cleaner and it worked well. I have used cast iron and carbon steel on it for at least 10 years. The glass top still looked like new and our son and wife took it when I just got my new stove.
Six years ago I needed a new fridge and liked Whirlpool products. I found one at Lowes that was a side by side and had water and ice in the door. The ice bucket and dispenser were in the door and gave more room in the freezer. The wife wanted black but I said I want stainless steel and I won that one! Well I never lived down my choice! Within 6 months the removable ice bucket would freeze fast and it leaked water down the front of the door.
To make it short I argued with Whirlpool service reps for over 3 months trying to get them to replace the fridge with a different model. They lied to me saying no one else was having problems. A factory service guy was here about 4 times and said everyone was having problems with the indoor ice makers. He finally replaced the whole freezer door but the leaking has persisted. Whirlpool never researched how to get rid of the water created during the defrost cycle. I am done with Whirlpool!
I saw where Lowes was having 10 to 30% off on all appliances. I was tired of looking at my bad choice fridge. My beer fridge in the garage was 28 years old and seemed to be running a lot. I told the wife let’s get a new fridge and move my choice to the garage! I picked out one, a Frigidaire, and got the wife’s input too and it was black.
Before it came our son said they would like to have our old stove. I was thinking of getting a new one in the spring. I thought while the good sale was on I’d just get one now. I looked at Frigidaire and GE; the GE won out since it had the bottom oven element under the metal. That will make for a lot easier cleaning. It has 5 burners, 2 large ones in the front that are adjustable from large to small, 3 small ones in the back and the middle one is a warmer.
As far as glass tops go I have found they are pretty easy to keep clean. The main thing is you have to put the pots and pans on and let set while cooking; you cannot move them around or you will end up scratching them. For normal cleaning just wipe with a soapy wash cloth and then spray on Windex Complete and wipe with paper towels. For any stubborn spots use a razor blade scraper. Every so often use the Cerama Bryte cleaner on it.
Most manufacturers do not recommend using cast iron on the glass tops but I have used cast iron and carbon steel on my old glass top for at least 10 years and it had no scratches from them. It was a Ceran glass top. There are several makers of the glass tops but I can find no info on who makes them for the different ranges.
My kitchen is pretty small and at times I have envied some nice setups with a lot of room and a middle island for food prep. I do not like anyone else in my kitchen when cooking and when I think of it is ideal for me. About anything I need is just two steps away. My dish washer and above the stove microwave I got last year and are GE. My appliances should outlast me!
My 6 yr old Whirlpool leaker
My old Amana glass top
My 28 yr old fridge is gone
My new GE glass top
My expensive beer cooler!
Smokin Don
