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I did it ! Found the right stove in the right place, transportation, setup and maintenance all fell into place in one phone call and bought the stove. A Model 60-C, white, great condition and should be installed on the 29th of November. Funny how one thing leads to the next and here I am selecting paint colors ... just seems fitting to bring the stove into a proper fresh painted kitchen ! So, any cooking tips, hints, do's and don't that you would care to offer up to a first time owner and user will be GREATLY appreciated ! Without the great communication from all of the club members, I may have let this idea slide but thanks to you all, I didn't !
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Congratulations! I'm sure you will be as smitten with your new range as we all are. Let us know how it goes, and how much you enjoy it.
Gwen
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Congrats!! I saw your name as the winner of that nice-looking stove on eBay. Good job!
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Good for you! Congratulations. Get the cookbook and start experimenting. I used the book as a guide than tried some of my own recipes. It's really hard to make something that's not going to turn out edible. Might not be what you expect the first time, but will still be good.
Virginia
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Congrats on the stove [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
As Treatmaker stated, be sure to get a copy of "The Idle Hour Cookbook". I too use it more as a guide to "cooking with the gas turned off".
It also shows how to use the different features. Plus I just get a kick out of reading it and the era it was written!! Also a service manual is a must!!
I could not begin to tell you what my favorite feature of the stove is, but I just love the deepwell and utilize it like crazy. No more bending down to use a broiler and the griddle is awesome!!
So what color are you going to paint your kitchen?? We did a total kitchen remodel to fit Big Bertha in!!
Big Bertha's journey.............
Good luck,
Berlyn
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Hi All and thanks for the encouraging words ! I am a cook and look forward to learning how to use this stove for daily cooking and entertaining. My partner will use it primarily for baking. BUT, to be honest, it is the Design of the range that mezmerizes me. As Modern Mechanical Design reached an apex, I think Chambers stoves were right there. It's appliance architecure at it's best. My house is 1939 International Style house built of concrete block and steel windows so the house fits beautifully around the stove ... a modern stove for a modern house. Next will be the refrigerator. As for naming the stove, I think the name will assign itself once in the house...I've ordered all of the manuals and books from Todd. By the time the stove gets here, I'll have a basic understanding of how it works. Congrats to chipper on your new YELLOW beauty ! As they say "Use it in the best of health !"
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Our house was built in 1939 also. We are the third owner, the first owner was here from 1939 to 1946, the second owner from 1946 to 1996. The stove we just purchased must have been made for our kitchen. we have a 49 inch alcove with the gas line and our Model B Chambers fits so great.
Congratulations on your new stove.
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ha_asfan:
Congratulations! Welcome to the clan!
I'd suggest an All-American breakfast cooked on the griddle: pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Man, that griddle does a great job, and it is such a pleasure to simply push the grease off the back edge of the griddle when you are done (make sure the grease cup is in place!)
Joe
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ha_asfan:
Congratulations! Welcome to the clan!
I'd suggest an All-American breakfast cooked on the griddle: pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Man, that griddle does a great job, and it is such a pleasure to simply push the grease off the back edge of the griddle when you are done (make sure the grease cup is in place!)
Joe
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To save my refinished griddle top I put a cast iron griddle in its place and save my shiney aluminium top for display at dinner partys. That way you can be a rought as you like and it still looks like new
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An extra use for the pilot in the C is for potporri (sp?)
When I'm not cooking I have a small ceramic cup filled with water a little cinnamon stick and clove sitting over the vent for the pilot.
Maybe a little too Martha for some. I just enjoy coming up with new ways to use every last drop this beast can put out.
Chad
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The All American Breakfast sounds great and that is actually one of my first fantasy meals, with French Toast too. I didn't know you could simply push the gunk to the back of the griddle and into grease cups....sounds very restaurant cool ! As for the potpourri, yes, that is a bit too Maratha for me...instead, I'll keep the inscense nearby...probably some Frankensence and Mihr... When you use another pot or pan on top of the griddle, doesn't it mar the griddle finish ? Do you all have your griddles profesionally polished or clean them yourselves ? Thanks for all the valuable info so far, I'm certain to have more questions soon !
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Hi Ha;
I scrubbed and scrubbed my griddle and couldn't get it clean and shiny so I lightly buffed it with a tool that a metal-artist friend of mine has. I'm not very happy with the results because you can see a slight swirl pattern in it now. And with each use it's less and less shiny and is getting some small discolorations. Eventually I may look into having it nickle coated.
Regarding a vintage fridge, have you looked at the modern reproductions? They are pricey - $3-4K (at least the ones I've seen advertised), but most certainly more energy efficient.
Ann
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Nickle Plating.....can you cook on it ???
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Hi Annnt, I can't bare the notion of a reproduction anything...I'm all about using what we have and NOT producing more stuff !Fortunately, a vintage fridge restorer is within thirty minutes of my home. We have allready discussed my needs and although he has 75 [!!!] refrigerators, none are what I want. I'm a very patient guy and will hold out for my vintage fridge with the bottom freezer. From what I understand, the energy savings with the new guys is not so great. As with the Chambers, the insulation , original materials and construction is superior to anything available today so the motor runs far less frequentlly to maintain the proper temp. Right now, I am still in the learning phase !
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Yes putting any rough surface on the griddle will mar the surface. Thats why I take the polished griddle off completely and replace it with a full cast iron griddle that covers the entire opening. It almost looks like they were made for each other.
I use Country Cabin brand griddle. I have 4 kids and we have pancakes or french toast every weekend and it works great.
Make sure your kitchen fan works because that butter and grease can get alittle smokey.
Chad
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I wasn't understanding taking the gridle off completely, but i get it now. that's a great idea. now i need to look for a gridle that fits. my husband will love that. he did eggs on the real gridle one night and didn't clean it off. so when i used the broiler for steak the next time, wow what a mess. i used one of thos mr. clean magic erasers to get all the baked on grease off. DH was in big trouble. now i just need to get a cast iron griddle.
and...where does the drip pan go. we have one, but it sort of slides around. is there some place you "hook" it in?
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Taking off the griddle makes a lot of sense....it just comes right off ? I would like the griddle to look flawless, following your advice seems practical. Is nickle the appropriate coating ?
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Hi Ha;
I'm with you on using what's already out there and not producing/consuming more. I had thought that the old fridges were not good energy-wise. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Ann
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Hi Chad and Annnt, Thanks for the griddle tip. I just added it to my Want List. Did you the $200+ Thermobaker on Ebay ??? As far as energy savings go with the old refrigerators, I always try to determine if the energy and materials used to created the new product are less than the energy which would be consumed by an older motor. I think old wins out every time. I'm still curious about using nickle as the finish for the griddle...was nickle the original finish ?
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The aluminum Griddle and Broiler can be cleaned successfully with Cameo Cleaner, green scrubber pads, and gloves. Remember to rinse with HOT water and wipe them dry immediately with paper towels.
They should be seasoned lightly with Crisco either when totally dry or before you use them again (preferred).
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For some reason I'm remebering a previous post about getting things nickle plated. Maybe from Tom? I'll look back through the discussion board to see if I can find what I'm talking about, but not right now.
Ann
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The aluminum griddle can be polished and end up with a mirror-like finish, beautiful. I took mine to the local plating shop and had it done there. They use rouge polishing compound, safe to cook on. We have used my griddle many times and the finish is still beautiful. Eventually the finish will corrode since it is aluminum and you're applying heat and food, but you just polish it again.
When I had mine done, I asked him about plating it and he recommended against it, just to polish the existing griddle. I'm very happy with it. In fact, we polished our Thermowell lid as well. They both look brand new.
If you wish to do your own, the supplies are available as a kit at Home Depot.
Gwen
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About the trip pan. My griddle has a little wall all the way around that prevents any grease or food from escaping. It also has a depresion in the back corner for excess grease to collect. It also can be flipped over for indoor grilling.
I would ask at you local kitchen gadget store or try looking for "griswald" (industry name/popular name brand) on line.
Sometimes grocery stores carry a few cast iron items and are usually less expensive. If you don't have any cast iron, definitely pick up a piece or two. It will last as long as your Chambers.
Garage sales etc. are excellent places to find old cast iron.
I look for rusty and grimy stuff. Many people think that there is some kind of trick to cleaning and restoring old cast iron. Scrub it. Oil it. Heat it. wipe it down, your ready to go. After that very light scrubbing and wiping down will do.
If you really burn it up, just start over and your back in business.
Chad
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It looks like a #8 griswald long griddle will fit nicely in the griddle slot. There are many for sale on ebay right now.
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Well, about all this mirror finish griddle nonsence ;-)...
Just cook on the dang thing! We Model B and BZ owners, or assimilants, have the distinct advantage of cooking great, greazzy, lusciously messy meals, and then simply folding down our tops to cover up our wonderful messes. Why spend hours polishing and cleaning when you can just drop the top and hop! C'mon, the Chambers is all about getting us out of the kitchen ASAP!
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Exactamente Joe! Out of the kitchen and to the bridge table, the tennis court, and the golf course (at least that's what the picture on the front of my cookbook suggests). For those cover-less C's how about the cutting board that's made to fit over the griddle. I noticed one on Todd's web site in the picture of the counter-top stove. Was this accessory just for this model? Anyone know anything about this?
Ann
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THANK YOU GWEN ! I was hoping there was a renewable and simple solution and yours sounds right to me. Mostly basic maintenance, use it, clean and once in a while have a pro do it to bring it back to new. I'll get it sone as quickly as possible !
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Hi Joe, A stove with a cover that allowed me to hide the mess would become Spielberg nightmare material for me ! If i can hide dirt, I do ! In order to maintain a bit of sanity and a bit of sanitary cooking order, I need that wide open stove !
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OK, maybe I'm a little obsessed, but I like the shiny griddle. I was lucky to get one of the stainless steel griddle covers with my stove, and I do keep it covering the griddle when not in use. But I enjoy the shiny griddle everytime I take the cover off too. Maybe it's because I always liked the heroes in those old corny movies whose teeth would shine when they smiled...
Sorry, in a silly mood tonight!
Gwen
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Lori,
I'm with Joe, cook on the darn thing and forget about it. I'm a "B" girl myself and use the griddle all the time. Just wipe it down and get the surface dirt and grime off. I tell my "horrified" modern stove friends that its like a cast iron pan it's seasoned! Now please don't invision a filthy grill, it just isn't shiney and new looking. I've contemplated a cover, but can never find one and when they're on chambers they cost a fortune.
Virginia
