A question about limitations in Chambers stovetop cooking

[pmisaber]

While continuing to pursue my dream of acquring a Chambers stove I have received contradictory opinions regarding the utility of the stovetop. One local expert in stove restoration who has Chambers stoves in stock feels that stovetop cooking is compromised because the stovetop burners are too close together. Another restorer, who has his own Chambers stove, disagrees. I would value the observations of forum members regarding these discordant opinions. The specifics of my situation are described in the next paragraph.

My largest stovetop pots and pans include a 14 inch saute pan, an 8 quart stock pot and a 12 quart stock pot. When my in laws visit the household increases from five to 12 (or, shudder, more). Preparation of larger quantities of food necessitates use of one of the stock pots as well as the saute pan. There is often overlap in the cooking times so both may be on the stovetop at the same time.

Is stovetop space availability likely to be a problem in this situation and if so what solutions have folks devised? I wonder if the thermowell could accommodate a large enough stockpot to alleviate the situation.

Also, as an aside, I just received some Chambers stove catalogs from The Stoveman. The catalogs are like a field guide to Chambers Stoves and are very useful for someone like myself who is not well versed in the differences between the various models.

Peter

[berlyn]

Peter, hope this helps...........
I put my 12" pan on the front burner and my 7qt stock pot for the thermowell on the back burner and they did not touch each other.They did when I tried my 8 qt. stock pot. This was my chief complaint with my former "modern stove". But when I do use my large pots & pans, I fit them all on my Chambers with no problem. The burners where too small and close together for my large pots & pans on the "modern stove". Don't forget you have a broiler/griddle right there on top. Put your breakfast sausage in the broiler and do your pancakes or toast on the griddle. According to the "Idle Hour" cookbook you can use any pot with a tight fitting lid that will fit in the thermowell and permit closing of the lid. You can use it as a warming closet. Without the lid you can use for deep fat frying. It's great to have your fryer at stove level!!! But the the thermowell is the greatest, especially if you use it as it was intended. Hubby and I did a 3-4lb roast with potatoes, onions and carrots with only 25 minutes of gas on, turned it off and went and ran our errands and it was ready in 2 hours. You can use the stove in a similar method too.
It can't get any simpler. The Chambers were built to last years and many more years. They tried to get women out of the kitchen and let the stove do the cooking, hence the "Idle Hour".
If you ask a Chambers owner most will say they love theirs and wouldn't cook on anything else.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

[url="http://community.webshots.com/album/259218814eAzvEX"]Big Bertha, my 14-B Chambers[/url]

Berlyn

[Unless]

Hi to all