The gas guys came yesterday. Changing the gaspipe was a bigger job than I thought. They had to completely pull out the old pipe and put a new one in. It was nice that they were there, though, because I could just have them go ahead and install the stove. I can cook again! I didn’t cook anything last night, but Denis made some rice. Maybe I’ll make some cookies… wait, maybe it’ll be macaroni and cheese… or a cake — yes, a cake sounds good… or should I fry a hamburger…. I could make a grilled cheese… oh, I LOVE bacon — maybe I should make some bacon…. mmmmmm bacon…..
It looks soooooooo beautiful! Will there be cabinets to the right of the stove? Will the fridge go there, too? I can’t remember the master plan…
Finish this project, man! I can wait no longer!
You better do the bacon AND you better bring some to school for me! I like it well done – crispy – almost burnt! Yummmmmmy bacon!
That is a snazzy stove! My vote is something that requires every burner and the stove. Crank that baby up!
I think you want to break a stove in slowly. I’d only simmer for the first few days. This might seem limiting, but you would be surprised at the number of food items that can be poached if you’re creative. Gradually build up to saute` and perhaps a boil at the end of the week (remember keep a close eye on the pot, but try not to look like your watching it). At that point you are set for anything that needs steeping. Tea is an obvious choice, but the options are nearly limitless.
Then I’d lay off the cook top entirely for about a month. Do some warming in the oven maybe rolls –nothing over about 180. Assuming the warming goes okay, I would move on to reheating. Don’t get too fancy here. If your tempted to reheat more than one item at a time, reread your warranty –fools rush in.
Now back to the cook top: Put her through her paces again and build back up to a boil over a long weekend. Blanching should be fine, and it’s certainly okay to try a little parboiling, but you’d better finish things up in the microwave. At this point your stove will be easily distracted and moving from the stovetop to the oven or visa versa isn’t really a good idea.
From there you’re ready for a rolling boil. DON’T RUSH THIS. There’s nothing wrong with steadily increasing the heat over the course of 12 to 15 hours. You could watch the start of The Lord of The Rings. Don’t forget to add more water to the pot every half hour or so. Steaming is easy once you’ve achieved a rolling boil, but be sure to explain to the stove just what you expect. You could also attempt a reduction at this point, but be ready to abort at the first sign of trouble.
Now you’re practically home free with the cook top. In the past we’ve been working the oven and cook top separately, but you’d be okay repeating the above process with the other burners while we concentrate on the oven.
Technically you could roast either on the cook top or in the oven, but your cook top has been working hard over the past month, so I would leave the heavy lifting to the oven. Try a small roast first. Nothing over 12-18 oz until you’re sure everything is clicking. This next step might like too big a jump, but you can actually move from roasting to stewing by simply adding a liquid. At his stage either the oven or the cook top would be reasonable.
If the cook top seems to be clicking I might try browning something next. Maybe ask a friend to begin the dish for you and then take it home to brown it yourself. Give the stove a week off and then come back strong with a little braising. Don’t build up to this; by this time you want to start conditioning the stove to cook at a moment’s notice. Having said that, however, I would avoid cooking something on consecutive days.
Back into the oven and you’re ready to do a little baking. You might be asking yourself why we wait so long to attempt a little baking. I can answer that question in two words: Pre Heating. You would be surprised how much stress you’re putting on an oven when you turn it on without any sort of obvious objective and no discernable exit strategy. Once your oven can bake effectively 3 times out of 10 you’re ready to gently move it back to liquids with a little basting. Again, this seemingly simple procedure will be a new experience for your oven. This will be the first time we’ve opened and closed the oven door while cooking is taking place. Rushing this procedure can greatly reduce the confidence of your stove and may result in long term developmental problems.
That just about covers it. Just keep things consistent and free of surprises and in 3 to 6 months you should be able to start searing and broiling. A word of caution here: most experts now believe that char-broiling is not a safe procedure and will seriously injure your stove should you chose to engage in such risky behavior.
That pretty well covers breaking in a new stove. I really don’t know why I wasted time writing this down. It’s all there in your user’s manual.
Holy crap, Lloyd, that exhausted me. What, did you have a whole day off school to write?