Bill wrote:

> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:57:52 -0500, Stan Horwitz >
> wrote:
>
>
>>About a year ago, my sister and her boyfriend (now husband) moved into a
>>home with an electric range in their kitchen. So, last night (New Years
>>Eve), I was up until around 1:30am making food for my dad's birthday
>>party, which my sister and I made at her house tonight.
>>
>>I cook with gas appliances; always have. So, the meatballs turned out
>>great. I tried a few for breakfast. Delicious! This afternoon, I loaded
>>the pot of meatballs into my car along with numerous other food items
>>and drove to Jan and Rob's house. I got there right on time.
>>
>>I proceeded to put the pot of meatballs on my sister's range to warm
>>them up. I cranked up her electric range to about 75% of maximum. A few
>>minutes later, meatballs are bubbling away, so I turned off the heat. I
>>realized I was late picking up a friend from a nearby train station, so
>>I asked my sister to check on the meatballs, then I drove over to pick
>>up my friend. I also did the same thing with the pot of homemade mac &
>>cheese I made this morning.
>>
>>My sister calls me on my cell phone just as I arrived at the train
>>station. Jan told me the meatballs are incinerated! I asked Jan to taste
>>one. She does. Disgusting. While I was looking for my friend at the
>>train station, Jan and Rob tried to wash off the meatballs, thinking it
>>was the sauce that was burnt. No go. Fortunately, the train station is
>>adjacent to a nice supermarket. My friend Jen and I went into the
>>supermarket and I picked up three of those roasted chickens, and a roll
>>of paper towels (that my sister requested).
>>
>>I got back to Jan and Rob's a few minutes later and Jan showed me that I
>>must have not turned off the burner, as I thought I had. It was still
>>on, but not on the high setting. I had no idea because the red color of
>>the burner element went off, so I thought it was reasonably cool. If it
>>was gas, I could have easily seen that the burner was not off.
>>Fortunately, I did not make that mistake with the pot of mac & cheese,
>>so it came out fine and it was a big hit at the party.
>>
>>My sister consoled me and she said it took her a while to get used to
>>her electric range. Rob, the philosophy teacher (literally), also tried
>>to console me, by explaining that the outcome was the same either way,
>>in that we all got to enjoy some great food and nice company and we all
>>had a nice time. But I would have much preferred not to have to spend an
>>extra $20 on dinner (which my sister thanked me for), and I would have
>>preferred those meatballs go into the guests' tummies rather than a
>>garbage disposal. I will deal with the burnt pot tomorrow!
>>
>>Did I mention, I hate electric ranges? Whomever thought up the idea of
>>an electric range out to be slaughtered and forced to eat my burned
>>meatballs!
>
>
> can somebody tell me what it is about this stove that makes all the
> rich people want to have one in their kitchen?
> http://www.vikingrange.com/
>
> I wonder what it does to make it cost four times as much a regular
> stoves?
>
> Bill
>
>

Damn, that is one really nice stove. We just bought a Jenn Air
downdraft slide in. I'm getting used to the idea that I'm not going to
get a Rachel Ray stove since DH said it just won't fit In
comparison, with the Viking you get legs so you can easily clean under
the unit. I like that. It has true convection like the Jenn Air but as
far as I can see only two oven racks not three like the Jenn Air and it
does lack the flexibility of mixing and matching element cartridges. It
only comes in stainless steel which really only works for some kitchens.
It would look odd in my kitchen. Still it is really a nice looking
stove! My pet peeve with these fancier stoves is there is no storage
drawer! Also, many of them do not have a auxillary appliance outlet.
I'd be curious as to how much the Viking costs. We got ours greatly
reduced but had to buy element cartridges - this is normal as not
supplied with the unit other than the grill cartridge - and I'm buying
the canning element as well as the half oven shelf. I like the mix and
match feature. I like the warranty which seems to be better than the
Viking. I like the customer service. What I don't like is Jenn Air is
the top of the line of Maytag but if needing parts you can't order
directly from Maytag if shipping to Canada. If you go through the
Canadian dealers, the prices for parts are almost doubled then there is
the exchange factor. We have found repairclinic.com to be very good
with almost next day service at a fraction of Canadian prices.