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Tags: coil convection oven appliances burning meat range fridge
Published : 2 months, 3 weeks ago (Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:59:20 PDT)
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We're still up in the air regarding the washer and dryer: we do have a ballpark. However, I've been ignoring the issue of food. Specifically, keeping it fresh, and burning the outside of it.
We're also not 100% certain if we do actually get to keep the dishwasher. If we do, bonus, we modify our plans. If not, we have options.
Keeping it Hot
First is the oven. The range. The stove, depending upon the terminology that you like. What we've found is that almost everything is negotiable when it comes to the stove. We're not going to be cheap about it, but cost is an issue. We do have a limitation on size (If I remember correctly, 30" wide, 26" deep), but we also want a decent size oven space (I'm seeing, within our dimensional limits, between 4.8 and 5.3 cu.ft: 2.9cu.ft is going to be too small I think, as we want to be able to have family and friends around for potlucks/large meals). We're easy on colour and style, although Janine, for some reason doesn't want to see anything in black... For... Some... Reason...
So. Back to the issue at hand!
Originally, we were trying to avoid the smooth/ceramic top, but you just can't get anything decent. Well not much. Most of what you get is standard, old-fashioned, bare-minimum, apartment-dwelling white appliances. Fairly small, not offensive, but not particularly decent or stylish. And probably not much good for us if we decide to upgrade the kitchen later. Basically, what we'd be looking at to get standard, coil burners is this:
Like I said, not offensive, but.. meh. The whitebread of appliances. I think we're looking for something different (although there's nothing wrong with it; it's got the right oven size (5cu.ft) and decently sized burners (2x6", 2x8") It's also bang inline for efficiency, at 491kw/h a year.
We were considering a gas stove, but Janine is deathly afraid of burning the house down, and I'd be lying if I said I'd never had any... flambesque.. incidents... in the kitchen. Also, the appliance is more expensive, and the installation will cost us a few bucks, too. As cash is going to be at a premium, it's probably not something we'll be able to do. We probably can't afford the extinguisher system, either.
I think we'll end up with something with a ceramic top. Advantages are that at least one of the elements will be multi-sized (usually 6" and 9") and often two. The downside, of course, is maintenance. You've gotta really look after a smoothtop stove. Going this route, we also end up with something that will likely fit with anything we do to the kitchen later. Which means, something along these lines:
Definitely more appealing to me, as well. Also, the black smoothtop, with stainless steel will probably go pretty well with the countertop we currently will have, and with anything we might do in the future, as well. (I may be contradicted on this thought)
Hey, and lets face it, Stainless Steel is totally in. Also, it makes me feel like I'm in the garage. Again, no major differences in oven size, or efficiency. In fact, I've not seen anything outside the 480-510kw/h range when it comes to stoves, so I think we can pretty much pick what we want. Something like the stainless smoothtop above, goes about two hundred bucks more than the basic white.
The other option, and the more expensive one, is to one-up the oven as well, and go to convection. It'd be really nice, as there are definite advantages to it, like much, much more even heating, which means EXCELLENT roasts. However, it's yet another several hundred dollars. In fact, it's a minimum of an additional four hundred, and maybe as much as a thousand, depending on the model and manufacturer. So, I think that's probably a no-go, even though it would be optimal.
As for brands, I've looking mostly at Whirlpool, GE, and Frigidaire.
Keeping It Cold
So, before the meat goes on the fire, so to speak, you gotta store it. We're definitely working on limited space. I have the measurements of the hole for the fridge at work, but I think we're working with about 68" of clearance, vertically, and a width of 24". Pretty standard stuff.
We've eliminated the side-by-side style of fridge. First off, they're freakin' expensive. The cheapest one I've found is $1600. Also, my parents have one, and they do not love it. What they found is that it looks cool, but is much smaller than it appears.
I think we've also dropped the idea of the bottom-freezer style. Again, very cool right about now, but I've noticed that because they're a drawer rather than a door for the freezer, you lose a lot of the space to hardware for the sliders of the drawer, and the basket.
No, we're looking at a traditional style, top-door fridge freezer. Again, I think we'll look at stainless rather than white, but price will be an issue, and we'll definitely make the styles match, if not the brands. Given the space we have available, we're looking at the 18 Cu.Ft range, as well. That's about the maximum we're gonna get, generally split as 14 cu.ft. fridge, and 4 cu.ft freezer. Strangely, Daewoo makes a pretty decent stainless 18 cu.ft. model. Nothing special, but a good price at $650, and does everything we want/need it to do. Both GE and LG make excellent fridges too, and still under $800 plus tax.
The GE model I happen to like best (and Janine agrees with):
What it comes down to
Well, we don't know yet. We may mix and match brands. However, there is another option. We could get a package deal. Now, this could work out really well if we don't actually get the Dishwasher as part of the house. If that's so, then there's this: Whirlpool Three Piece package. For $2000, it hits everything we'll actually need. SO, that could become really tempting, depending on the situation. It also has the advantage of everything being the right size for the room we have (yes, I've checked).
Well, I think that about covers it for tonight. I've news from my folks which is pretty awesome, and I'll talk about over the weekend. It's my news though, so Janine can't talk about it!
-Mark |
