For months now, getting the broiler to work on my wall oven is tricky. One night last week I decided on breakfast for supper. I fried my eggs, over-easy. I buttered my toast, put the slices on a cooking sheet, and opened the oven door. No heat. No light. No nothing. I over-cooked my eggs. And by the time I made toast in the skillet, they were cold. Not the most successful breakfast ever.
Fiddling with the thermostat resulted in more frustration on my part. Mostly the broiler doesn't work for Ian. He grumps about the problem, I walk over, flip the dial around a few times and the broiler works.
Not this time. My wall oven hates me. I love it though. It's original to the house. Think 1962 or 1963 24 inch stainless steel Fridgidaire wall oven. Nothing digital on it. Nothing fancy about it. I've baked, broiled, and roasted with it for almost ten years now.
Like all foodies, I melt at the sight of double wall ovens and viking ranges and perfectly constructed cabinets. But that is not my reality. My kitchen takes me back to the sixties each time I step inside one of it's doorways. And I wasn't born until 1971.
Ian and I went in search of a replacement part. FYI, the model number is: RBE-G94-1-CH. The thermostat is part number 5307522594. After all the visits to appliance shops and phone calls to appliance parts dealers in the Tri-Cities area we were told that the part isn't made anymore. But we knew that. We hoped that a used appliance dealer might have a circa 1960 Fridgidaire wall oven buried under a few Maytags, or something.
Neither of us want a new wall oven. I'm very curmudgeonly about my kitchen. If it isn't broken, I see no reason to buy something shinier and newer because it's available. And because that shows how upwardly mobile we are, or how much we wish to impress people with our cash outlay on stainless, high-end appliances.
Last night we looked at toaster ovens. We've wanted one for a while. We found one we like. We may buy it eventually. But spending less than $200 for a fabulous stainless toaster oven beats the pants off buying a completely new wall oven. Honestly, I LOATHE digital controls and displays. None of the new wall ovens do a thing for me. And we cannot afford another debt for a $1K to $2K wall oven. And our space is minimal, twenty four inches wide. Replacing the cabinets is completely out of the question. Practicing kitchen triage is so painful and filled with misgivings.
Eventually I'd love to redo our kitchen. Sure, I'd like to fill it with high-end appliances because I'll actually use them; they won't be just for show. I don't want to spend $500 on an okay-for-now oven that I may want to replace with something else down the road.
The worst part was visiting an appliance store and seeing all the fabulous kitchens on display. They reminded me of cooking show sets: Fabulous, immense, and tricked out to the max. At least we got estimates on how much a new ventilation hood costs. It works okay, but it's also circa 1962. One of its fans falters frequently.
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