Christina, 

That's for storage. The round thing looks like an early version of the Frigidaire "Kant-Slide" Griddle, much older than that range. 

That range is the 40" double oven equivalent of my 30" DeLuxe self-cleaning range. 1971-74 range. I really like mine! 

Phil,

Mine is white (it's the one I currently use in my kitchen).

Here is my RDE-38S Deluxe range when I got it. This model was renamed RCDE3-38S Custom Deluxe for the early 1973 production.

 I'll soon have a 30" Custom Deluxe Harvest Gold range that I bought a few days ago. When Frigidaire introduced the Touch-N-Cook ranges in late 1973, the 30" Custom Deluxe ranges got the features of the former Custom Imperial.

That means a full glass control panel and a Heat Minder burner. The one I'll get had it's Heat Minder burner control replaced with a regular infinite switch but I should be able to re-install the correct one!

Here's a picture of the Harvest Gold late-1973/1974 Custom Deluxe (equivalent of the 1971 to early 1973 Custom Imperial). The model number should be RCDE3-38W.

Phil,

In fact, glass panels are easier to clean than painted aluminum panels. That's the main reason why I'm getting this one (which will probably become white as I'll probably switch parts from both ranges to make one that fits in the kitchen!). That will be the occasion to use my 1962 Custom Imperial range for a while in the kitchen (which is also white!). Yesterday, I cooked something in it and fixed the meat thermometer buzzer! I really like that 1962 range too but it's not self-cleaning... I wish they had introduced self-cleaning ranges 10 years before! 

I haven't cleaned the glass on the 1962 yet (you can see some grease under the glass under the thermostat dial), I'll remove it and clean it before I install it in the kitchen! This range had a few minor electrical issues but it's now 100% functional and even the electric sensor type Heat Minder burner works well on it.

There's a probe that connects in the oven that senses the internal temperature the meat. Once the desired temperature is reached, a buzzer sounds to let you know it's done. Frigidaire offered this feature from 1958 to the mid-1960s when they introduced the "Tender Matic" controls but other makes continued to offer that much later. 

Phil,

They eliminated that feature because they introduced a more complex "Tender-Matic" feature in 1965. Built-ins got the Tender-Matic later than Flairs and free-standing models but as soon as they got that, they also got rid of the meat thermometer and buzzer. Even in Canada, they didn't get the Tender-Matic feature but the meat thermometer was also gone on free standing and Flair models by 1965 and built-in ovens shortly after.

Bob,

The left oven was always shorter on Frigidaire 40" models. Some have removable panels that could be left in the right self-cleaning oven. I never had one of these! I was lucky that Paul found me a self-cleaning 1971 range at a local thrift store since these were not supposed to be sold here! Only a few late-seventies models were imported just a few years before GM sold Frigidaire to WCI and they were expensive! 

I got my self-cleaning 1969 Compact 30 from a friend in NY State.

Also, 40" free-standing ranges were discontinued in Canada 10 years before the Canadian factory closed. The last year for 40" ranges was 1960, then Frigidaire Canada relied on their Flair ranges for customers who still wanted a 40" model. 

Here's a newer Philco range that has a meat thermometer. The ad says it's from 1971. I don't know much about Philco appliances but it's probably different from the US models too.

Likely made by another manufacturer since the tag says "made for"...

And here's another Canadian range that I think looks different from US models that's currently for sale. This is a GE.

This one looks like it's using an older style top with one large burner on the left but burners with infinite controls... I wish someone could chime in and date it! My guess is late-1960s or early 1970s.

Another picture of the GE range.

In the link above the picture there's another very similar GE range with 2 8" burners for sale (note that the pictures are reversed). 

About clocks that make a dark film in the control panel glass, that also happened in a few of my ranges. I don't know why they do that! Even those with needles do that but that's easy to wash!

Phil, here's the Meat Tender that I repaired! I tried to cook something with it and it didn't buzz, so I left the plug in the oven as it cooled down and fixed it. I like to play with clocks and buzzers! 

www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N0...

For some reason, videos from Flickr don't embed like those on Youtube. I already edited my post and replaced that with two links!