dlb@druxv.UUCP (Dave Bauer) (03/21/85)
About two weeks ago I posted a request for information about peoples'
experiences with self-cleaning gas ranges. As an aside, I asked for
reports of experiences with Roper products. I also asked if anyone
knew of a one-piece freestanding range that had a gas cooktop and an
electric oven. I got about a dozen assorted responses. The results of the
query, as well as the results of my own research, are below.
I think it's important to start by defining the term "self-cleaning,"
because several of the responses indicated that some people don't fully
understand the difference between a "self-cleaning" oven and a
"continuous cleaning" oven. 'Continuous-clean' means the ovens
have a quasi-catalytic surface on the interior of the oven which will
remove deposits over time at around 400F, while the oven is in use for
normal baking. The continuous-clean catalytic material is not very scratch
resistant and should probably be avoided. It is easy to detect because has
a rough finish. The 'self-clean' process works by burning the stuff off
at around 800 degrees F., during a special "clean" cycle. At the end of the
cleaning cycle, the residue in the oven is reduced to a grey ash that can
be swept out with a brush or sponge.
I'm not impresed with the "continuous clean" types - they are more
continuously dirty than they are continuously clean. I would purchase a
plain oven without any cleaning capabilities before I would purchase one of
the continuous clean models.
Contrary to what some of my respondents would want me to believe, there *are*
*self-cleaning* gas models on the market. Some of the manufacturers who
offer such products are Whirlpool, Tappan, Magic Chef, O'Keefe and Merritt,
Roper, and Sears. It is interesting to note that various dealers told me
that Sears ranges are manufactured by Roper, and that O'Keefe and Merritt
ranges are manufactured by Tappan. Prices for gas self-cleaning ranges
run from a low of about $530 for the least expensive Sears model (with
no timed cook feature and no broiler) to a high of $860 for the top of
the line Tappan. This Tappan unit, however, was the only one we found that
featured a gas self-cleaning *convection* oven. It also pays to shop around.
One store quoted me a price of $849 for the top of the line Whirlpool model,
plus $20 for delivery. Another store quoted me $719 for the same model
with the same delivery charge.
Some of the things to watch for in a self-cleaning oven, especially a gas
self cleaning oven, are:
1) oven dimensions. These vary widely among manufacturers. It was
my impression that Whirlpool has one of the largest, while Magic
Chef has close to the smallest. We saw one oven whose height was
only 12.5 inches! This is not even big enough to hold a decent sized
Thanksgiving turkey!
2) Bottom drawers. Most ovens, except for gas self-cleaners, have a
drawer on the bottom of the unit that one can use to store pots and
pans or other kitchen utensils. This is usually *not* the case with
a gas self-cleaning unit. Apparently these ovens require a lot of
additional hardware for the self-cleaning function, and most
manufacturers place this hardware at the bottom of the oven where the
drawer would normally be. Of the models we looked at, only the
Whirlpool brand offered a bottom drawer on their gas self-cleaning
models.
The other things that are important to look for in a gas range are
an electronic ignition system so there is not a continuously burning pilot
light, and a waist-high broiler rather than a broiler at the bottom of
the oven, so you don't have to stoop to your knees to broil your steaks.
Most self-cleaning models already have these features, but
often budget-priced plain units do not. Both features are well worth
the few extra dollars they add to the price of the unit.
Regarding Roper brand products, the response was generally favorable.
One person reported having a self-cleaning Roper gas model purchased in
1979. She was happy with the unit except for one small problem:
"The only problem with the Roper range are the control knobs. My
mother broke the oven temperature control dial during the first year she
had the stove. My father attributed that to poor design, with which I
agree."
Another person was relatively happy with a 10 year old Roper gas (not
self cleaning) model, but reported:
"The oven is not self-cleaning and had a noticable hot spot. The
range came with a thermostat-controlled burner which never did what it was
supposed to do. Recently, the fan/light switch has begun to fail, but
otherwise the stove has, to the best of my knowledge, never needed repair.
On rare occasions a pilot light would burn out.
The bottom line is that this Roper was very reliable, but I would never buy
one. Why not? Well, the hot spot is a real minus. I don't need the
aggravation of having to rotate things while their baking. The thermostat-
controlled travesty didn't help matters any. It's not a big deal either.
I'm sure we could have gotten it replaced."
Three respondents mentioned the Caloric brand of self-cleaning gas ranges.
From the first:
"I have a self-cleaning gas oven made by Caloric, and it cleans itself
very well... The oven also has an excellent broiler -- much better than
the gas broiler I used to have, and better than the only electric one
I have used."
But this same person also noted:
"I have a friend who said that he had ruined the top of his gas range
by using a wok. To see if this would happen to my range, I borrowed his
wok, put in lots of water, and boiled it. Indeed, the finish darkened,
and I could not clean off the darkening. Perhaps it is my particular
finish, since the darkening occurs to some extent with normal use, but
it was accelerated by the wok. Electric ranges are not the only ones
affected by woks."
The second person commenting on Caloric stated:
"Caloric makes several self-cleaning gas ranges, albeit limited to
the most popular (30 inch) size. We own a Caloric RSD354, and are
very happy with it. Caloric seems to have made some engineering advances
recently that get around the old bug-a-boo of very small ovens in self-
cleaning gas ranges."
Yet another person sent me the following sales material from the
Raytheon Manager's Newsletter (Caloric is a Raytheon subsidiary):
"Caloric Corp. has added a microwave oven cooking center
and two double-decker ranges to its Prestige self-cleaning
gas range line. All three units are equipped with a lower,
self-cleaning gas oven that has a 3.73 cubic-foot cavity -
the industry's largest.
"Caloric's new self-cleaning gas and electric ranges are
exceeding sales forecasts."
However, I have been unable to find a Caloric dealer in the Denver area
to look at their line of products!
Finally, regarding a gas cooktop with an electric oven in a single unit,
nobody was able to identify such a product by make and model. I have
also asked several dealers about this, and nobody knows of any. I don't
think they exist. The best thing to do, as has already been noted on the
net, is as one correspondent suggested:
"If you are remodeling your kitchen, what you can do, is buy the
oven and rangetop as separate built-ins. That is, wall oven and countertop
burners. This may be more expensive than buying one piece, but it can be
worth it, especially since you can then locate these items more conveniently.
(Burners near the sink, oven near the table, or wherever.)"
So what did we do? Nothing, yet. Unless I can find a Caloric dealer and
discover that we fall in love with their products, it looks like we'll be
purchasing a middle-of-the-line Whirlpool self-cleaning gas freestanding model
this weekend. Cost, at the same place that quoted me the bargain price on the
top of the line Whirlpool model, is $619.
--
dave bauer (303)538-4482 AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
ihnp4!druxv!dlb 11900 N. Pecos St., Room 30J28, Denver, CO 80234