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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 9:41 am
Now it's about time for a new stove. I've been in the same condo for 21 years this summer -- living with the original Kenmore harvest gold kitchen appliances. Ugh! They're about 30 - 35 years old and don't die. (I don't use the stove enough to kill it.) January '05, I finally replaced the fridge, mostly because of color. Also I wanted a freezer drawer on the bottom. Got it. LOVE IT. Now it's time for the stove. The building is all electric. I know it's been discussed on TVCH before, but any positives (preferably) or negatives about a glass cooktop? I don't do a whole lot of stove top cooking. Boil water for pasta and pop corn in my Whirley Pop stovetop popper. (That's important.) Some other things. The Maytag stove I'm quite interested in has a glass cooktop and a double oven. I LOVE the idea of the little oven at the top for basically single portions of things. (There's only me here.) The big bottom oven can be operated either as regular oven or a convection oven. Anyone used a convection oven? Thoughts about it?
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 9:16 pm
Color -- my parents had one of the glass cooktops w/their Whirley Pop -- and it wouldn't work. The electric glass tops cycle on and off, and so the popcorn just doesn't maintain that intense high heat you need for Whirleys. I've always avoided electric ranges whenever possible, but I LOVE to cook -- so it's a function over fashion issue for me. Other than the popcorn problem, my folks liked their stove. They are easy to clean.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 9:18 pm
Whoops -- meant to tell you, I have a gas stove top but convection oven. I LOVE the convection oven. W/ the circulating air, items cook more evenly and get done in about 1/3 less time. The only thing I'd check is the size of the second/bigger oven. Sometimes, w/two ovens, the bigger one isn't big enough to put in a roaster pan for say a Thanksgiving turkey or other larger item. Just a thought. 
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Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 9:27 pm
I LOVE my glasstop stove! I've had it for about 3 years and I'll never have any other kind. It works great and I do a lot of cooking. Plus the oven is self-cleaning and that works great too.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 12:47 am
I've got no choice -- this condo building is all electric, so electric cooking for me.
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 3:02 am
Color, I got one of those glass-top type stoves 2 years ago and love not having to clean under the burners (alright, dh loves not having to clean under the burners ). Given a choice though, next time I might pick a white top instead of brownish, because that just might not show streaks as much. In the meantime I follow ds's advice and "turn the light off, so you can't see them". Careful though, don't place anything near or above the stove that could fall/tip over onto the glass. I am remembering my aunt's little bottle of tabasco sauce 2 weeks after her new stove was installed. Ouch! The convection part of the oven gets used a lot around here. The oven heats up much faster using convection, too (you can switch to regular after). Anything dependent strictly on eggs to increase in volume, however, should not be baked with convection. For some reason that just doesn't seem to jive (if anyone knows what I am doing wrong there, I'd love to know). The disadvantage is that my old cookie sheets are too deep now, because you lose space due to the convection fan in the back. But then they were getting pretty ratty anyway and I love new equipment. Let us know what you decide on.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 5:57 am
I called Maytag this morning and asked about the heat cycling with glasstop stoves. Maytag said their "burners" maintain a constant heat, so apparently the cycling isn't true of all manufacturers. next time I might pick a white top instead of brownish, because that just might not show streaks as much. Thanks, Lumbele. I have a choice of frost white or black/dark glass top. I probably would have gone with white glass, but now there is no decision to be made about it. (I don't like making decisions when I'm indecisive.) Because there's just me, I'm really excited about the little top oven. I'll miss the storage drawer that's at the bottom of one-oven stoves. Mine is full of baking pans and dishes. And as it is, there are some things I store in the oven. I'll work at it. Maybe some pans will have to go -- but they were Mom's. Don't want to get rid of them. (My kitchen is small, but adequate for me.) Thanks, everyone, for your help.
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Cruzlvr
Member
11-13-2003
| Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 3:35 pm
Hi Color, I am just getting caught up on some of my reading, and came across this. Probably too late, but just wanted to add I have a Maytag with the big oven on the bottom and the little oven on the top. Have had it for about four years now and just LOVE it!!! I don't do much cooking except for the holidays. I found with the smaller over I am now cooking more for myself rather than the "lean cusines" lol. That little oven heats up really fast, and uses less electricity. Great for one person. Let me know if you got the Maytag and how you like it. 
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 2:45 pm
Cruzlvr, a BIG thank you. So happy to hear from someone who has it and loves it. Will be a little while before I can get it -- $$ thing. (Salesperson is going to call me next time there's some kind of discount or whatever on it.) That Maytag is what I want. For sure.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Monday, August 28, 2006 - 6:12 am
Well, I'm ordering the stove and a new microwave (and maybe a new dishwasher) this Thursday. Think they will be delivered next week. Got a new fridge with a freezer drawer at the bottom in January '05. White appliances -- no more harvest gold. Yippeeeeeeee!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, September 01, 2006 - 4:07 am
I ordered yesterday. Microwave will be delivered 9/09 and installed 9/11. Stove will be delivered 9/17. One little disappointment about the stove. Maytag no longer offers it with the light / white glass top -- now only with dark / black glass. Oh, well. Dishwasher will be delivered and installed later in September. Next...the rest of the kitchen.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Saturday, September 02, 2006 - 4:04 pm
Colordeagua, I have a black glass stove top and have loved using it, plus the clean up is a breeze. It will be so easy to clean that you won't have to worry about stains showing. Just remember not to clean it until it is cool, use the stove top cleaner made for that purpose with a glass scraper and no scratchy pads, and the glass will stay looking new a lot longer.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Monday, September 18, 2006 - 6:44 am
It was delivered / installed yesterday. Did come with white glasstop. I christened the little oven last night. After reading the instruction book, a little scared of the glasstop?! Hmmmmm.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, September 22, 2006 - 5:26 pm
Teach, I just tried my Whirley Pop on the glasstop. Like you said, because it cycles on and off the Whirley Pop doesn't work. I had called Whirley Pop twice and asked about it. Both times they said it works on glasstops?! Couple months before I ordered the stove, I called Maytag and specifically asked if the burners cycled on and off. Person I was talking to said the heat remained constant. Not a good employee. The instruction book says it cycles on and off. So, anyone, what microwave popcorn would you recommend?
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, September 22, 2006 - 8:02 pm
Orville's the best -- and I'm sorry. None of the microwave will compare w/the Whirlypop. My friend says she read about this thing where you put popcorn in a lunchbag, fold the top over and staple it -- then cook it in microwave. She did it (no idea why staple doesn't spark) and said it's as close to "real" popcorn as you can get. If you want to try this, I'll get the "amounts" from her.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 12:10 pm
Teach, if you could get the "amounts" from her I'd appreciate it. I'd like to try. My absolute favorite popping corn (not microwave) is White Cat Corn. It is the best. I've never found a microwave popcorn I really like. Along with the new stove I got a new big over-the-stove microwave. I'd been using a little 600 watt microwave for 15 years.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 3:56 pm
I've sent a message, Color. I'll post it as soon as I hear back from her. 
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, September 29, 2006 - 4:04 am
Teach, have you heard anything from your friend about amounts and instructions? I'm anxious to try it. Hope it works.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, September 29, 2006 - 7:22 pm
Sorry, Color -- I haven't been home all week before 11 PM, and so haven't checked for messages. I'm heading out to do that right now, and if all else fails, I'll be in an online chat w/her on Sunday night. Again-- sorry for the delay. 
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Friday, September 29, 2006 - 8:33 pm
What's a Whirly Pop? I just use an aluminum pot popper with a domed lid and popping corn. My stovetop burners do turn red then cycle down, but it doesn't affect heating the popcorn. The pot rocks as it heats keeping the oil and popcorn from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Friday, September 29, 2006 - 8:54 pm
Well now I'm a bit depressed. Online it says my popper is an antique! LOL
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 10:33 am
THIS is a whirly pop. I first found ours in a department store. Loved it so much, I bought one for my parents and in-laws. When this larger one was available, I ordered it w/o hesitation. We've had ours for 7 years and it's still going strong! http://www.popeilfamilystore.com/wp.html
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 1:24 pm
Urgrace, hmmmmmmm. If you can pop corn in an aluminum popper / pot on your glasstop stove with burners that cycle, then the Whirley Pop should work?! I will have to try again. Here's the Whirley Pop home page. I bought Smart Balance Microwave Popcorn. Tried it. Didn't care for it.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 3:03 pm
Colordeagua, does the Whirly pop stay seated on the stove? I'm guessing it has some whirly-ma-gig inside to stir the corn? Why wouldn't it work? Just use real corn and forget the microwave. People generally use the microwave because they don't want to use oil to pop the corn. A tablespoon of oil is supposed to be in everyone's daily diet. I'll check out your url to see what it says.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 3:10 pm
Just checked out Teach's and Color's Whirly Pop sites. Teach's didn't give much information about the pot, but the instructions on Color's said use medium heat and stir until corn is popped and immediately remove from heat and pot. Oh and the heat does remain constant even though the redness of the burner cycles off and on.
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