18 July 2008

Now we're cookin' with gas

The new stove was delivered this afternoon. No dents in the sides this time. Thank you, Darty.

The Brandt KMP 715 W cooker, with both gas and
electric burners and a multi-function electric oven


The head delivery guy — the one who was obviously in charge — did a good-enough job. When I told him that the electrical cord on the old stove was the one that should be attached to the new stove, he stopped what he was doing. Yes, he said yes, that was a better cord, and he used it instead of the patched-together cord he was fabricating and had planned to use. The only reason I knew to tell him which cord to use was that the installation guy last week had told me he was going to use the cord we already had.

Did the "old" ceramic-cooktop stove look more modern?
Bottled gas? Maybe modern isn't all it's cracked up to be.

That first installation specialist was obviously a pro. He knew his job. Today's delivery guy, when he was stumped, had a moment of insecurity and told me: "I'm a student and just doing this job for the summer." Then he had a second thought and added: "But I plan to make a career of delivering and installing kitchen appliances, of course." Ha ha ha.

Anyway, he and his assistant got the old stove out and the new one hooked up. But it took Walt to figure out how the bottle of butane needed to be activated. The installer was trying to figure it out. It turned out there was a button on the gas bottle that needed to be pushed several times to get the gas flowing. When it finally worked, no problem. Whoosh! Let there be fire.

The tea kettle is hiding the electric burner...

The new stove has electronic oven controls, including a time-delayed cooking and stopping, and a timer. The documentation I had read before we bought the stove seemed to say it had no oven timer. We figured we could live without one — there's on on the microwave, after all — but I for one didn't believe a 21st-century cookstove with electronic oven controls would come without a timer. And for once I was right.

Today's lunch: steak-frites. We have to cook a steak on the new, hot gas burner. We'll use our electric deep-fryer, as usual, for the French fries. Report at 11:00.

Then we plan stir-fried dishes and others requiring hot, hot burners for the next few days. Stir-fry of eggplant and chicken, for example. Or pork and cauliflower. And so on. I went to the supermarket today and found prices for fresh produce to be very low. 'Tis the season.

10 comments:

  1. Where is the gas tank stored?

    Just wondering....Victoria, Bellingham,WA

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  2. The gas bottle is under the sink, right next to the stove, with a flexible hose that connects in to the back of the stove. Butane is the kind of gas you can store inside your house. Propane needs to be in a tank outdoors. We have butane.

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  3. Wow! It looks great. Happy stirfrying :-)
    Susan

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  4. I was also wondering about the gas tank, so I'm glad you asked, Victoria.

    I like that pull down top that covers the burners when not in use. I bet you will enjoy this stove a lot.

    When you finish painting your cabinets white, perhaps you wouldn't mind coming here and painting my dark cabinets the white I long for;-) j/k.

    Bon appetit, as Julia says.

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  5. I was going to ask the same question about the gas bottle. Thank you for the explanation. I am sure you will enjoy cooking with gas.

    Bon appetit and I know we will see some new recipes in the coming weeks. Claudia be ready :-)

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  6. Evelyn, you'd better wait until you see what my white cabinets look like before you invite me to paint yours!

    We cooked a couple of thick steaks on the big gas burner (in a pan of course) at noon. Was it hot! And were they good! I'm going to like this new stove.

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  7. Your kitchen looks so beautiful. I would be afraid to mess it up. A month ago, we got special new appliances in my building. It was ordered by the city to reduce the use of electric power. I don't think my stove will be up to Saint-Aignan's cooking. Not that I ever wanted to compete...

    You're both an incentive. Your food, on the big screen, is so tantalizing. And you always make it easy to do. I bet you even send The Beaver to his stove too ;-)

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  8. Claudia

    Je suis de la gent feminine - donc je suis toujours en quete des recettes simples mais delicieuses.

    BTW I cook with propane - thus a big gas bottle on the side of the house.

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  9. Wowee zowee! Does that new stove ever look sharp! How big is the butane tank? And how long do you expect a tank to last? Our new weekend place (we move in this weekend) only has electric and I'm not as adaptable as you are [grin]. Most of our neighbors have propane tanks somewhere on the property, but your butane stove sounds like an easier solution.

    Enjoy the new heat in your kitchen!

    ...Susan (the other one)

    PS: Even though it's annoying, I'm glad to see that you have word verification back.

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  10. Congratulations on your new hot stove!

    BettyAnn

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