For the new kitchen, I purchased a super fancy 36 inch dual fuel, double oven range. I got the range a few weeks ago, but it has sat in the kitchen un-tethered since it was delivered. Hubby ran the electric no problem, but when it came to the gas hook up, he got a little sceered. He’d never run gas before and was running into conflicting information as to how to do it properly. So, we actually moved into the house with no working range. Yesterday, hubby surprised me by telling me that he’d hired someone to run the gas line so I could have my range. YAY!
This morning, the guy came and hooked everything up for us. He was super fast (just over two hours), and it was nice to feel confident that it was done correctly. My first reaction was HORRAY! My awesome range is installed and I can cook tonight! That turned to immediate stress over WHAT to cook. I blanked out immediately. I wanted to use both the cook top and the oven and I wanted to cook some sort of “comfort food”. I settled on chicken pot pie because I had some chicken to use up and I could make my yummy handmade dough for the crust.
On my way in the house from running to the store and to get the kids, I dropped the bag with the eggs in it. All but four of the eggs busted. The egg carton was one of those polystyrene types, so the eggs that broke were salvageable. I instantly thought…quiche! Yay! I am making homemade crust anyway and it’s another excuse to use the new oven! So, it’s 5pm, the kids both have major projects due tomorrow that they need my help with, and I’m tackling chicken pot pie and quiche… Maybe I’m not the sharpest Crayon in the box.
The evening turned out to be a comedy of errors. It only started with the broken eggs. I didn’t have enough butter to make the amount of crust I needed, so the pot pie turned into chicken with cream sauce and mixed veggies. I thought the French Loaf dough I got (yes it was from a can) would take 10 minutes to cook, but the damned thing took 30! minutes. I had already braved the POP! of the can and put it on a cookie sheet before I realized this. Shoulda read the instructions, I guess. So, I had to cover it and hope that I can cook it tomorrow. I made probably 8 trips to the camper for things that I needed to cook. Oh, I need the oil!…go get the oil. Dang it! I need that small pan…go get the pan. Now I need the salt and pepper!…go get the salt and pepper. Crap! Now I need a mixing bowl….go get the mixing bowl. Where is the dish soap?….go get the dish soap. Sh*t! I need the measuring cups….go get the measuring cups. Who needs a work out with that routine? About half way through cooking, I got a huge blister on my hand from grabbing the pan that had been in the oven without an oven mitt. All of this is going on while I am running between each kid and their project and trying to help them while I am dealing with the debacle of dinner preparations in the kitchen.
The worst part?? The worst part wasn’t the ridiculous work out I was getting running between the house and the camper. Nor was it the burn on my hand. The worst part….I….spilled…..my….beer. The whole goddamned thing.
SMH…
Anyway, dinner turned out great, the quiche is probably one of the prettiest things I’ve ever cooked (can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow!), the kids got their projects done, AND I even had the motivation to make cookies after dinner. Ok, they were the break and bake kind, BUT who the hell cares.
Here’s my new range, isn’t it purdy?
My new range! Verona 36 inch dual fuel. With cookies inside!
The above pic is a teaser for the “after” of the kitchen. Still need to get doors and drawers on the cabinets before I do a full reveal. The before pics are here.
I guess I’m a little out of practice on cooking a meal that includes more than one step. We ate lots (and lots) of hamburger helper, sloppy joes, and easy one pan meals in the camper. Maybe tomorrow’s dinner will go smoother. Cold weather is moving in, so I’m thinking corn chowder…and hopefully the french bread loaf will cook fine and not turn into a weird bread experiment.
UPDATE:
I did a mini-review of the range in the comments, below, but did have a request for interior pics of the range. Here they are:
Large side of the range
Small range
Double range – inside
Nice job Annie! Tell me, was that your only can of beer? Really like your stove! Looking forward to all the pictures. Love
Thankfully, I did have more beer so all was not lost!
Was there more beer in the camper? I really love your tales of woe by the way. We’ve all been there and had that kind of day. Not always with the great results you seem to get!
I did have more beer, thankfully!
My Wonderful Daughter-IL, You really need to publish a book..p.s. silly, you shouda called, I woulda ran you out some butter….also, hope your beer wasn’t outta date! lol
No, we don’t keep out of date beer in the house, don’t you know that yet? Very particular taste buds I am married to.
Love Love Love your range!!
We are seriously considering buying the same range, can you tell me how you like it, are the two ovens to small or just right? I do a lot of cooking, but nothing fancy. I would not consider myself a pro. We met the owner of a higher end appliance store and he said I would be better off with a full size 36″ b/c the double ovens are both so small to be benifical, but I am still drawn to it. I can’t find any in my area to look at they only have the singles on the show rooms, I really need to hear from an owner about its performance. Can you share your thoughts?
I’m sorry it took me so long to reply to your comment. I hope you check back and see this!
Oddly, I was just thinking about the pros and cons of this range this morning. I was looking for a 36″ double oven, dual fuel in stainless steel. There aren’t many choices out there. If I had it all to do over again, I would probably end up with the same range, BUT there are a few things I don’t like.
Pros: It looks awesome, is super easy to clean, and works well once you get use to it. I would guess that every new oven works a little differently and takes some getting use to and this is no different. Yes, a turkey will fit in the larger oven. I have a large dutch oven that fits in the larger oven as well. I have one cookie sheet that won’t fit in the large oven, but all my other pots/pans fit no problem.
Cons: The ovens seem to take a long time to pre-heat. I don’t know why, but they do. Also, each oven has four levels where the racks can go. If you put something on the upper two racks in either oven, it will cook much faster than the lower two racks even if it is not set on broil.
With a bit of planning, neither of these are really a big deal. All in all, I would highly recommend a double oven. I use it almost every day. I am not a pro and not a “fancy” cooker either. I’ll warm bread in one and keep things warm in the other. I’ll cook a pizza for the kids at 400 degrees in the big one and cook a casserole at 350 in the small one. a 9×13 pan will fit in the small one perfectly and I’ve found some small cookie sheets that fit in there as well.
I hope that helps you decide….
one more question can you fit a turkey in there?
Hi there! I found your blog because I am looking for reviews on this particular range. Thanks for posting your thoughts! Any chance you’d be willing to post pics of the insides of this beauty? I’m pretty much sold, but I would love to see the inside.
Lovely work!
Becca
Hi Becca! I’ll post pics now! See the update in the post above.
Glad to find your blog, by the way! I love to quilt, but am not great at it, so finding tips and tutorials is great! Your work is beautiful!