Poco Mountain Girl

We have a new stove!  And it is lovely, let me tell you.

Our old one started leaking gas, so we had to keep the gas turned off under the stove.  For a couple of weeks we turned it on just to make dinner–including Thanksgiving dinner–and that’s about it.

Our old stove was gas (obviously), and with a gas stove, at least in Colorado, you need a fan for the fumes.  We don’t have a range hood or a place to put one, and for our new stove we didn’t want to do the greasy, food-catching downdraft type of stove fan we had.  We thought maybe we could put a telescoping fan in behind the stove, but then we would need to pull the stove and cabinets forward, which would mean we’d need a new counter top.  And if we got a new counter, we wanted something nicer than laminate.  And if we got a new counter on the stove island, then wouldn’t it be nice to have the rest of the counters match?  It was a serious case of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie then He’ll Ask You for a Glass of Milk–only a little more expensive.

We plan on getting nice counter tops at some point, but when we’re ready to, not because our stove started leaking gas.  So we went to the discount appliance place to look at our options.  We ended up ordering a stove we’d never really considered–induction.

Induction is electric, so there’s no need for an exhaust fan.  But it’s waaay more efficient than regular electric or gas.  The heat is conducted through magnetism, which means that, although the stove top itself isn’t magnetic, your pans need to be the type of metal that sticks to a magnet (ours do).  Also, the range top never actually gets hot.  You can pull a pan off a fully heated element and lay your hand on it, and it’s only warm from the heat of the pan.  Which is awesome when you have a two year old who is very interested in how stoves work.

The guys who brought our new stove and removed the old one were hilarious. Think Home Alone, 101 Dalmations, or Dumb and Dumber. I’m pretty sure they were smart guys, but they were just such a funny pair. Each time they encountered a situation that required some manpower or special fanangling , they would eye each other with a look that clearly said: Oh no. Uh-uh. Can’t be done. To us they’d say: “We’ve seen this situation before. We might break your tile, damage your valve, void the warranty.”

Somehow we managed to keep them till the old stove was out and the new one almost in.  Then they realized our plug end under the counter had to be changed (we had a dryer plug!), said that was beyond their qualifications, and vamoosed.

David and I went to Home Depot to get the right one, then spent the next couple of hours moving the stove in and out about six times trying to level it. Talk about Dumb and Dumber.  But we finally got it in and David spent the next hour trying to remove the Caution, Precaution, Safety, Just in Case, and Warranty stickers with soapy water, the hairdryer, rubbing alcohol, sponges, scrubbers and cleaners.  Finally we were finished–just in time for dinner.

Here is the first dinner we cooked. It’s simple, I know–leftover mashed potatoes, salad, and Annie’s boxed macaroni and cheese, lol. But to us it was spectacular. The big pan of water for the macaroni boiled in 5 minutes, which at our altitude is nothing short of a miracle–normally it can take a half hour or more. Then, because I didn’t expect it to boil again right after I put the macaroni in, I walked away and it boiled completely over.  No prob–I grabbed a handful of Chipotle napkins, lifted the pan, and wiped the water right off the burner–with paper napkins.

Oh, did I say I lifted the pan?  The pan whose handles are usually too hot to touch was just gently warm.  Dinner was ready 15 minutes after I started it, and when we sat down the food was so hot David commented on it.  When Caleb washed the pans, he said they’ve never cleaned so easy.

We feel like early settlers discovering a microwave oven.  For a few nights our dinner conversations revolved around the speed, the heat, the ease.  Now I’m a little more seasoned (spoiled?) and it doesn’t surprise me as much when I put a little pan of water on the stove and it begins to boil almost before I take my hand away.  Mostly what we wonder now is, Why do people still use other kinds of stoves?

And did you happen to notice those lovely containers on top of the stove? They’re brand spanking new from Costco, and I’m quite proud of them.  The day I unboxed and washed them, I boxed up these to be recycled:

Hehee…pitiful, I know.  I’m sure we’ve ingested so many BPA’s from those old reused disposable containers I don’t even want to think about it. The new ones match–unbelievable– and actually stack together in the cupboard so they don’t pour out when I open the door.

Small pleasures, and they just top off that big one.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2014 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Earthy Possessions, General, Home Sweet Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.