[Sca-cooks] OOP: Stove info wanted

[sjk3 at cornell.edu]

As I have moved over the years I have cooked on both gas and electric
stoves, pretty much whatever was in the house/apartment I was currently
living in.  I now live in my own house, with a rather old Kenmore
electric stove/oven that has been working reasonably well, but I want to
replace it.  Trouble is, I don't really know what's out there. I don't
even really know what questions to ask as I shop around for a new stove!
I can't afford to remodel the whole kitchen, so what I buy will have to
fit into the space the old 4-burner stove vacates.  I'm assuming that's a
pretty standard size, though of course I'll measure it and any
replacements I consider before buying.  :-)

So what are the features you can't live without, and which are a waste of
money? Any brands that are particularly reliable? If I go with gas I think
I'll have to hire somebody to rehook the gasline in the basement; I
believe it was capped off after it hooked up to the dryer when a previous
owner switched to electric.  At least as far as I can tell, I do have the
piping in the kitchen to hook up to, it just doesn't have any gas in it
now.  I don't have a vent/hood, and actually have only cooked on a stove
with one at my parents.  Are they important?  My mother swears by it, but
she doesn't like her house to smell like cooking. Peronally, I think
that's silly, but I don't know what else a hood is supposed to be good
for.


Any information, horror stories, great finds, or recommendations would be
appreciated, no matter how basic "everybody knows that" it may be.  I
really don't know anything, and I'll be stuck with my (expensive) purchase
for a long time, so I want to get it as right as I can.  Thanks!

Sandra Kisner
sjk3 at cornell.edu