Inaugural Bake
The appliances in my house were all installed about fourteen years before we moved in. Counting our eleven years here, they would be twenty-five years old. However, one by one, we've replaced them.
The oven was never what we regard in top shape. The clock showed "6:20" for eleven years. The self-cleaning function wouldn't work. However, it worked well enough, so we lived with it. As I learned to bake, I got pretty good at adapting my recipes for my oven--adding as much as twice the recommended bake time.
Then, last Sunday, I set out to make bagels. I had shaped the bagels and started the second rise, and went to start boiling some water. I turned on the burner, and heard the gas, but didn't hear the "tick tick tick" of the igniter, and there was no flame. At the same time, my wife was getting something out of the fridge. No light.
Twenty minutes of panicked troubleshooting and calls to parents later, and we determined that it was the oven. We knew we'd need to replace it, so we had a decent feel for what was out there. We kinda shrugged, and figured we'd get a fairly low-end one. We don't know how much longer we'll be in the house, and were shooting for fit-to-purpose.
We did a bit more than that.
We looked around, and I fell in love with one that was about 50% more expensive than we were expecting. It has a center griddle, a convection oven, and at least one high-power burner. This is on top of things like "self cleaning works," "the clock is not stuck at the same minute" and "I might be able to cook something in the time the book says." However, it was a stainless finish, and all the other appliances in our kitchen are white.
We walked around the store, made a few more calls to parents, and talked. I started to lean towards going back to the original, fit-to-purpose plan. My wife could see my enthusiasm. She talked to the sales guy. A version of the stove was available in white, for about $100 cheaper.
We talked some more. We walked around the store.
Ultimately, we went ahead and got the upgraded stove.
So far, I've made a quesadilla on the griddle, and popcorn on the burner (it was not until a Friday night that I was able to do anything with it).
Today, I'm making cupcakes for my daughter's birthday tomorrow. They came out in roughly what the recipe suggested. Clearly, I'm going to have to re-learn how to bake.
First inaugural cupcake tasted...yum!
Comments
Have fun with your new oven!
The original oven I had in my place was hard-wired into the wall back in 1972. According to the yellowed-owners manual I found, the oven could also be used as a microwave. It did not look safe. I think if I tried, I would have set off a nuclear explosion.