Now we're cookin with gas ....

A few months back I began scouring craigslist every night, keeping my fingers crossed for a deal on some stainless steel appliances. Armed with a max budget of $1600 for all the appliances (yes, that's total for fridge, dishwasher, microwave, and stove), I insisted on setting the bar high. time was one thing I had - after all, this was Humphrey House.

It took time, but eventually we amassed an amazing collection, if I do say so myself. Jason found our frigidaire gallery professional dishwasher, and I found our kenmore coldspot fridge, but what took the longest was the search for a stovetop.

Originally our design called for a cooktop, and i found a gorgeous stainless steel kitchenaid cooktop for less than $100 that wasn't too badly scratched. However, my hunt for wall ovens in our price range was fruitless - plus everyone (including our kitchen designer david) was advising that our layout just wouldn't accommodate appliances all over the place. So it was back to the posting boards.

And then after a few more weeks of searching, I happened upon a Dacor PGR30 gas & convection range that actually was priced so we could afford it. A Dacor! Something I never thought we could afford. It was no small miracle, and we've been singing the praises of craigslist nonstop ever since.

As you may have admired on the previous blog, we were able to install the Dacor this past weekend. There was a slight planning snafu - we didn't relocate the gas line to accommodate the fact that our version of the PGR30 is a convection/gas combo that relies on a circulatory fan in the back - thus eliminating any indentation for the gas line - so we have to relocate the gas line.
But it works just fine. Well, at least, pretty much.

The woman I bought the oven from cautioned me that the reason she was getting rid of it was that it took a really, really long time to preheat. She had just moved into the house and it wasn't working out for her, as she was into baking. I figured, hey, I never bake, no biggee for me. And how long could it really take? Surely it wouldn't be THAT bad.

For the record? I turned it on at 7:49pm, set it for 400 degrees and set the pizza on the counter. the temp read 135.

At 8:00, it read 155.
At 8:05, it read 180.
At 8:07, Jason opened it up to confirm there was heat.
At 8:12, it read 270.

At 8:30, the oven beeped to let me know it had reached 400 degrees, and it was time to put our hawaiian pizza in the oven.

I gotta say, it was still one of the best slices ever. :)

p.s. sorry, the cooktop is spoken for.