Reliable Kitchen Stove

[Improviser]

My brother has an old Hotpoint stove, and old means like maybe 40 or 50 years old. While it works for cooking, all the burners smoke while the water is boiling or the food cooks in the pan. It never stops smoking. This has been the case for at least the last 5 years from what he told me.

No repairperson that he has called, wants to come and look at it .

Anyone have a recommendation for a decent stove?

The reviews I read for the ones at Home Depot are pretty discouraging , meaning that the customers said that it stopped working after 2 months or it turns off in the middle of cooking, or the surface chips of leaves white sports after cleaning, or customer service sent somebody to fix it, but the problem reoccurred.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe all the new stoves are lousy and not made like they used to make them. IDK.

 

[Get a Job]

I am guessing your brother never cleans the burners. A stove can't smoke for 5 years without something failing, unless the material that is being turned into smoke is, in fact, the schmutz that has accumulated on the burners since the last time they were used. If the smoke is the only problem, I'd try giving the burners a good cleaning (or replacing them) and see if that fixes the issue before going out and getting a new one.

 

[Vancat]

well you won't find any that last 40 or 50 years.

 

[Improviser]

I am guessing your brother never cleans the burners. A stove can't smoke for 5 years without something failing, unless the material that is being turned into smoke is, in fact, the schmutz that has accumulated on the burners since the last time they were used. If the smoke is the only problem, I'd try giving the burners a good cleaning (or replacing them) and see if that fixes the issue before going out and getting a new one.

Sounds like a good idea on seeing if the burners can be replaced, but if it is a short circuit in the wiring, then that would involve a new circuit part which may no longer be available.

 

[Hoophound]

My grandparents old cabin in Vermont has a fridge from the early 1940's in it that still works flawlessly. I am debating what to do with it, as the cabin itself needs demo. I'd like to put it in my home up there as a bar fridge, but I'm assuming it uses a lot of power.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe all the new stoves are lousy and not made like they used to make them. IDK.

Appliances are like TV's and electronics. They're a disposable commodity. Unless you want to pay for a premium product anything you see on the floor of a big box or mom and pop store is meant to last 5-7 years and then be replaced.

 

[Improviser]

I'll have him try to clean them also.

 

[Dove]

My brother has an old Hotpoint stove, and old means like maybe 40 or 50 years old. While it works for cooking, all the burners smoke while the water is boiling or the food cooks in the pan. It never stops smoking. This has been the case for at least the last 5 years from what he told me.

No repairperson that he has called, wants to come and look at it .

Anyone have a recommendation for a decent stove?

The reviews I read for the ones at Home Depot are pretty discouraging , meaning that the customers said that it stopped working after 2 months or it turns off in the middle of cooking, or the surface chips of leaves white sports after cleaning, or customer service sent somebody to fix it, but the problem reoccurred.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe all the new stoves are lousy and not made like they used to make them. IDK.

We bought a new electric range when we bought our current house. A Whirlpool Gold Series. It seemed fine at the time.

2 years ago I replaced a baking element. Recently, a burner element and now two more burners are spotty. I am done with the DYIs.

In shopping for a new Samsung model I am hoping to get 5 years of satisfaction until we move.

Appliances at the box stores are not built to last.

 

[87Xfer]

We've had our Samsumg gas model for 6 or 7 years, and it's been flawless other than me breaking one of the burner igniters when I was cleaning it. Maybe gas stoves are more foolproof, but I expect this thing to last for a pretty long time.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We bought a new electric range when we bought our current house. A Whirlpool Gold Series. It seemed fine at the time.

2 years ago I replaced a baking element. Recently, a burner element and now two more burners are spotty. I am done with the DYIs.

In shopping for a new Samsung model I am hoping to get 5 years of satisfaction until we move.

Appliances at the box stores are not built to last.

Over the course of several years we swapped out all our appliances to Samsung. They all suck within 5 years. The refrigerators are notorious for having the ice makers freeze up and stop working. Good news is all you have to do is open it up, hit it was a hair dryer for 20 minutes and you have 3 more months until you get to do it again. Google or You Tube Samsung ice makers.
Our dryer is about 5-6 years old and the drum rollers just started squeaking again. That will be the second set of rollers I have to replace on it already.

 

[storrsroars]

We've had our Samsumg gas model for 6 or 7 years, and it's been flawless other than me breaking one of the burner igniters when I was cleaning it. Maybe gas stoves are more foolproof, but I expect this thing to last for a pretty long time.

First thing I did when we bought our current home 20 years ago was to replace the electric cooktop with a Dacor gas cooktop. Still looks good and works like a charm. Electric cooktops are good for boiling water and not much else. Certainly not serious cooking.

 

[8893]

We bought all of our large appliances from the Sears outlets, which we affectionately called the "scratch and dent" stores. The fridge, stove and dishwasher are all surrounded on three sides by cabinetry, and the washer and dryer are in the basement, so we never gave a crap about cosmetic damage that didn't show once installed. We bought all Kenmore Elite products, usually made by Frigidaire, Samsung or Whirlpool. We used the money we saved buying "damaged" goods (usually $500 to $900) on an extended warranty, buying the maximum available. It turned out to be a very good investment, as each of them have been serviced under the warranty; and the fridge and washer were replaced with brand new ones, also with full warranties.

Sears is out of business now, but those same stores are now called American Freight, and they offer basically the same deal. In CT, they have stores in West Haven, Newington and Rocky Hill (I have been to each of them over the years). You can check out the inventory in each store right on the website, including descriptions and photos of the damage:

American Freight | Discount Furniture, Mattress & Appliance Store

American Freight is a discount retailer selling quality furniture, mattresses, and home appliances at every day low prices. Shop online or in-store and take it home today!

www.americanfreight.com

 

[dennismenace]

The problem pretty much is and has been Chinese electronics. I think they called it "planned obsolescence" in Marketing class in college. Same goes with smaller appliances. My wife goes to yard sales and she routinely finds Farberware coffee percolators that will last for more than 10 years (used!) while the new ones seem to last about two. The only iron she has bouight new that has lasted are the Rowena ones. I remember when major manufacturers (GE, Black and Decker) started importing these back in the 70's-80's. They never lasted more than three months and I was back in the exchange line at Caldors or wherever. Never was the expression "they don't make them like they used to" more appropriate than today.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Apologies I am not super familiar with hot point stoves. If it is an electric stove with elements, those can be removed and the catch pans can be cleaned. If there is still smoke the elements can be replaced. Disregard if we are talking nat gas

 

[storrsroars]

The problem pretty much is and has been Chinese electronics. I think they called it "planned obsolescence" in Marketing class in college. Same goes with smaller appliances. My wife goes to yard sales and she routinely finds Farberware coffee percolators that will last for more than 10 years (used!) while the new ones seem to last about two. The only iron she has bouight new that has lasted are the Rowena ones. I remember when major manufacturers (GE, Black and Decker) started importing these back in the 70's-80's. They never lasted more than three months and I was back in the exchange line at Caldors or wherever. Never was the expression "they don't make them like they used to" more appropriate than today.

Percolators... Caldors... you must be pretty close to becoming the first centenarian poster on the BY!

 

[HuskyHawk]

We bought all of our large appliances from the Sears outlets, which we affectionately called the "scratch and dent" stores. The fridge, stove and dishwasher are all surrounded on three sides by cabinetry, and the washer and dryer are in the basement, so we never gave a crap about cosmetic damage that didn't show once installed. We bought all Kenmore Elite products, usually made by Frigidaire, Samsung or Whirlpool. We used the money we saved buying "damaged" goods (usually $500 to $900) on an extended warranty, buying the maximum available. It turned out to be a very good investment, as each of them have been serviced under the warranty; and the fridge and washer were replaced with brand new ones, also with full warranties.

Sears is out of business now, but those same stores are now called American Freight, and they offer basically the same deal. In CT, they have stores in West Haven, Newington and Rocky Hill (I have been to each of them over the years). You can check out the inventory in each store right on the website, including descriptions and photos of the damage:

American Freight | Discount Furniture, Mattress & Appliance Store

American Freight is a discount retailer selling quality furniture, mattresses, and home appliances at every day low prices. Shop online or in-store and take it home today!

www.americanfreight.com

I had one down the street when I was single and got my washer/dryer there. Good deals.

As for Stoves, they all suck now. Electronics are the issue. If OP wants something reliable, go buy the cheapest Whirlpool or GE gas range you can find. One with knobs, and without convection. The electronics store came to look at our under 1 year old Bosch Induction stove yesterday. Said we were just using it wrong so - RTFM. The manual is an inch thick. Seriously.

 

[8893]

As for Stoves, they all suck now. Electronics are the issue. If OP wants something reliable, go buy the cheapest Whirlpool or GE gas range you can find. One with knobs, and without convection. The electronics store came to look at our under 1 year old Bosch Induction stove yesterday. Said we were just using it wrong so - RTFM. The manual is an inch thick. Seriously.

Thanks to @Conndog , I still have the Lananche website bookmarked. I wonder if he got his up and running yet and, if so, how it's working out. Really beautiful product, but your new driveway will likely cost you less than one of those.

And thanks to your experience with your induction stove, we've held off on getting one of those.

Our glasstop electric is now almost 19 years old, but at this point I think we'll be using it until it stops working. We have a Breville toaster oven that has the option to use convection, and that probably gets more use than our actual oven.

 

[Puparoni]

Percolators... Caldors... you must be pretty close to becoming the first centenarian poster on the BY!

Our first VCR had a remote control....with a 25' cord

 

[Get a Job]

Apologies I am not super familiar with hot point stoves. If it is an electric stove with elements, those can be removed and the catch pans can be cleaned. If there is still smoke the elements can be replaced. Disregard if we are talking nat gas

Good call on mentioning the catch pans. Those can collect a lot of matter that will smolder when using the burners. Definitely gotta clean those too.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Thanks to @Conndog , I still have the Lananche website bookmarked. I wonder if he got his up and running yet and, if so, how it's working out. Really beautiful product, but your new driveway will likely cost you less than one of those.

And thanks to your experience with your induction stove, we've held off on getting one of those.

Our glasstop electric is now almost 19 years old, but at this point I think we'll be using it until it stops working. We have a Breville toaster oven that has the option to use convection, and that probably gets more use than our actual oven.

I love websites selling products with no pricing. Tells me all I need to know. They are pretty though. Bosch makes good stuff, the stove is just overly complicated.

Hoping the next house has gas, both for the stove and to get away from heating with diesel.

 

[Conndog]

Thanks to @Conndog , I still have the Lananche website bookmarked. I wonder if he got his up and running yet and, if so, how it's working out. Really beautiful product, but your new driveway will likely cost you less than one of those.

And thanks to your experience with your induction stove, we've held off on getting one of those.

Our glasstop electric is now almost 19 years old, but at this point I think we'll be using it until it stops working. We have a Breville toaster oven that has the option to use convection, and that probably gets more use than our actual oven.

The range we purchased has been in storage because our home remodel is taking so long (3 years now, still planning the kitchen part), and Lacanche was able to sell it to another interested party and give us full credit to purchase another model. My wife now wants the induction only model which isn’t approved yet for US sales but likely will this year. Induction is great but not sure it’ll have that classic Lacanche look.

 

[Northbound]

I love websites selling products with no pricing. Tells me all I need to know. They are pretty though. Bosch makes good stuff, the stove is just overly complicated.

Hoping the next house has gas, both for the stove and to get away from heating with diesel.

This should be the motto for German anything - "we make overly engineered and complicated things because we can"

This place is pretty cool for modern stuff that looks vintage - Elmira Stove Works -

 

[8893]

This should be the motto for German anything - "we make overly engineered and complicated things because we can"

I'm generally a fan of German engineering and manufacturing. I loved my old BMWs and the Audi I used to own, but I don't know if they are still making them like that.

We've had a German-made Miele vacuum for 22 years. Worked great with minimal maintenance and no issues, until our daughter "fell" on it and broke it a couple weeks ago. The guy at the vacuum store laughed when we asked about repairing it: "It's 22 years old!!! It doesn't owe you anything!!!"

We ended up going with a different German-made canister vacuum from Sebo, which appears to be very comparable to the Miele (which they also sold), but had a few different features we preferred (and a better warranty). Seems pretty straightforward so far (although I don't do much of the vacuuming...).

 

[Northbound]

I'm generally a fan of German engineering and manufacturing. I loved my old BMWs and the Audi I used to own, but I don't know if they are still making them like that.

We've had a German-made Miele vacuum for 22 years. Worked great with minimal maintenance and no issues, until our daughter "fell" on it and broke it a couple weeks ago. The guy at the vacuum store laughed when we asked about repairing it: "It's 22 years old!!! It doesn't owe you anything!!!"

We ended up going with a different German-made canister vacuum from Sebo, which appears to be very comparable to the Miele (which they also sold), but had a few different features we preferred (and a better warranty). Seems pretty straightforward so far (although I don't do much of the vacuuming...).

I love German things, but that statement holds true, they are over-engineered - I can give you chapter and verse from friends who own foreign car shops about the unnecessary or overly complex things in Audi, Merc, BMW, Porsche. I have a 12 cylinder BMW and old one and it's tank and serves as the summer car for my wife. It's great, but you know that complexity and engineering comes with a repair cost.

I've had a Sebo for year and it should out performs your old Miele - sebo gets a lot of love from commercial users.

 

[DogBoy]

I love German things, but that statement holds true, they are over-engineered - I can give you chapter and verse from friends who own foreign car shops about the unnecessary or overly complex things in Audi, Merc, BMW, Porsche. I have a 12 cylinder BMW and old one and it's tank and serves as the summer car for my wife. It's great, but you know that complexity and engineering comes with a repair cost.

I've had a Sebo for year and it should out performs your old Miele - sebo gets a lot of love from commercial users.

Is the old BMW an 850I? If so we'll done!