New gas stove recommendations?

[HarleysMom]

I want to get a new gas stove, actually propane. Does anyone have any recommendations which brand might be best for just a basic one? I don't want any of the bells and whistles but closed or sealed burners might be nice. Price is an issue. Also, since I am on propane, is there anything I need to have done to a stove to make it work on propane? Thanks.

[OD]

I ordered one from Sears a couple of years ago, nothing fancy, for $750. I had to order it because I wanted a 36 inch & all they had was 30 inch ones... anyway, it could burn propane or natural gas & came set for natural gas. The instructions to change it over were easy to follow & we had no problem changing it. Mine is a Whirlpool. I could have gotten one for less money if I hadn't needed a 36".

[Bernadette]

Shop carefully, and consider all your options before purchasing. Get one with the broiler on the top. Mine has the broiler on the bottom - what a pain. Although gas (propane) is wonderful to cook with, it is dirty. Check for a style of burner that is easy to clean. These are the two mistakes we made when we purchased ours - but I love it anyway. Our electricity goes off on a regular basis - but I can still have my cuppa, and cook supper. Can't use the oven, but that's OK.

[fin29]

I had a stainless Magic Chef in my last house. It had a convection oven which is essential if you'll be baking a lot with gas. As I recall, it was about $600 and it was easily cleanable, easy on gas consumption, and looked great, too. They're the same as Maytag.

[mikell]

I work for Whirlpool now so I'm slanted But we also make Hotpoint and Kenmore and others.

mikell

[Sarah J]

My propane stove came from JC Penny - no window in the oven door, no clock, no electric anything. Has pilot lights, which I absolutely LOVE instead of the darned clicky-starters. Cost me $350, 4 years ago. It's a Whirlpool Super Capacity 465.

It all depends on what features you want. I didn't *want* any features except heat! And you wouldn't believe how many people I had to argue with about the pilot lights, too! (but without a light in the oven, how else am I supposed to dry my herbs without scorching them? Pilot light is perfect amount of heat!)

Good luck choosing one!

Sarah

[Maura]

I have trouble bending over and lifting. With no kids left at home, who's to take the dinner out of the oven? So I have a wall oven. The bottom rack should be level with the cook's elbow. I'm short, so the oven is probably a few inches lower than most would have it, but it's still well above the floor and this makes it easier on anyone to lift things into and out of the oven. I was going to get gas, but the gas ovens self clean by letting gunk drop off while you are cooking. Big turnoff, so I have electric The cooktop is gas. Just make sure yours converts from natural to propane, I don't know if all of them do. The cooktop is also at table height, as recommended in "Building for a Lifetime". This height makes it easy to look into pots. Since I don't have cabinets under the cooktop, it is also wheelchair accessible.

There's only one thing I don't like about my cooktop. I've cooked on electric for twenty years, so I didn't know any better. Make sure you can get a real low flame, at least on one burner.

[HarleysMom]

Thanks everyone. I will probably do a cheapie since I have mostly off-grid electric. The stove I have now is a Frigidaire cheapie and I want to get a better one than it has been for baking. I usually turn the pilots off and just use one of the barbeque type lighters to light the burners. I am not close to any big cities and the closest Sears is about 100 miles away. I will probably have to go there to get one. Sears has a lot of brands available and I want to touch and see what I am getting.

[OD]

If you want to do a little "window shopping" before you go to town, here's the Sear's cookstove site.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/categ...PL&cat=Cooking

[RobinAnn]

My only suggestion is not to get grey burner grids. Every little thing that spatters gets baked on the grids and is near impossible to clean. Get black grids if you can (the food still bakes on but you can't see it! lol ).