Thread Number: 72967
/ Tag: Ranges, Stoves, Ovens
Ranges With Cook Wells |
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Post# 963977 , Reply# 1   10/23/2017 at 07:24 (2,376 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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These were promoted because they used a little less power due to less heat loss around the pot. You could also use them as an extra oven to bake things like potatoes thus saving the cost of heating the entire oven.
With probably only one exception Deep Well cookers were only offered on electric ranges, one of the biggest challenges of selling electric ranges in the early days was the cost of operation of an electric range.
Using an electric range usually cost about twice what a NG range cost to run, this meant for a family cooking in the 50s a cost of around $5 per month which was real money for families in that time period.
Generally DWCs had lower wattage elements, but as time went on they increased on many brands. Most DWC elements were raise-able so the element could be used as another surface element. Most were 8", but some were 6", The DWC was almost always in the LR position on the CT.
John L. |
Post# 963980 , Reply# 2   10/23/2017 at 07:33 (2,376 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)   |   | |
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Thanks for your reply! You're right, it hadn't occurred to me that they'd be electric ranges. |
Post# 964010 , Reply# 4   10/23/2017 at 11:38 (2,376 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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many of these cut into the oven cavity, or more or less, the storage side of stove...
isn't it odd by todays standards compared to back then......yes, those pots may have seemed hard to clean, but at the same time, a lot of cookware was cast iron.... I recall a lot of people had these deep well units, but hardly ever used them, and by the same account, these same people, and even people today who deemed them useless and unwanted, have counter tops full of appliances like slow cookers, deep fryers, and steemers..... yet, they already had this stuff all along.... if given the choice, would love to have the option available if purchasing a new stove... another thing missing from current electric stoves, that electrical outlet....and a full lighted console....all the more reason to go vintage.... |
Post# 964015 , Reply# 5   10/23/2017 at 12:05 (2,376 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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My mom used the deep well pot on her '49 Westinghouse quite a bit. I don't ever remember her using it as a steamer even though it had a rack that could be positioned at two or three different heights, but soups and pasta sauces were mainstays. Sometimes she'd start the process on a regular burner and then transfer the pot back into the well for simmering.
That pot was almost black on the bottom exterior for all of the use it got over the nearly 60 years she had that stove. I've read that acidic foods aren't a good match for aluminum, but perhaps that's more about looks than anything else. While the bottom and interior looked well used, the lid and top rim of the pot looked good as new until the day I sent that stove off to its new owner in rural Georgia back in 2008. |
Post# 964027 , Reply# 7   10/23/2017 at 15:30 (2,376 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )   |   | |
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Offered a portable Econo Cooker , as they called it, basically a deep well cooker with a thermostat control similar to a small roaster, it was sold with double oven ranges so the small oven could be somewhat larger.I have one and it works great. |
Post# 964053 , Reply# 9   10/23/2017 at 18:45 (2,375 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)   |   | |
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Deep-well cookers were really only practical on 39"-40" ranges. Hotpoint did make a 30" model that had one, but the oven was much smaller than on other 30" ranges. |
Post# 964103 , Reply# 11   10/24/2017 at 04:18 (2,375 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)   |   | |
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Post# 964216 , Reply# 12   10/25/2017 at 05:47 (2,374 days old) by gredmondson (San Francisco, California 94117 USA)   |   | |
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My folks built a house in 1959, and there was a Thermador range top, 46" wide, I think, that had a deep well burner in the back right. It could be changed to a regular burner by lifting the burner up with a wire bail. My mother used it just a few times, but she did not like it, so the burner was left in the up position.
That range top also had a griddle in the middle that was used all the time. |
Post# 965850 , Reply# 14   11/3/2017 at 19:13 (2,364 days old) by diesirae7 (Central Illinois)   |   | |
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I'll be picking up tomorrow if all goes well, I'll get to check this out and see how it works! |
Post# 965851 , Reply# 15   11/3/2017 at 19:18 (2,364 days old) by appnut (TX)   |   | |
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Post# 965899 , Reply# 17   11/4/2017 at 00:22 (2,364 days old) by appnut (TX)   |   | |
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