Read Yesterday’s post first if you have not already read it.
On February 9th we decided to go look for a different range. We had a small European model, but the door didn’t want to close all the way and parts were falling off of it, so we thought we should look for a new one. I(DeAnna) was secretly hoping for a more American style because it’s frustrating cooking in a small oven with only one oven rack that can only hold a 9×13 lengthwise (meaning you can’t put it in the oven sideways because it’s not wide enough).
Well after searching several stores, we were shocked to find a Hotpoint gas range with two oven racks for a great price. I was so excited! We needed to have it converted so it can run off of gas bottle and a week later we picked it up.
The burners worked well, but the oven didn’t work correctly. We consulted with the store and we were asked to return it to the store for a technician to work on it. Last Thursday (March 7) we received the phone call that the oven was ready to be picked back up. David went and got it, we excitedly put it in the kitchen and lit the oven and didn’t have shooting flames like before so we thought it was fixed. I placed a casserole in the new oven to cook for dinner, set the timer and left the kitchen. I smelled a strong gas odor and as I walked closer to the kitchen I saw black smoke rolling out of the oven. I turned it off and opened the door. The oven, pan and meal were all covered in black soot.
Needless to say, I was disappointed.
Saturday we took the oven back to the store and talked with them about what to do next. As we were talking to them, they confessed to us that they couldn’t get the screws needed for the proper oven conversion and it won’t be able to work on the gas bottle system that we have here. We had to choose another oven (all the choices were the small European models). I was frustrated and disappointed and really didn’t want any of them, but I knew we needed an oven for cooking. I quickly made a choice without looking very closely at it. After we got it home and were verifying that it worked, I saw that the oven knob doesn’t have temperatures on it. It has two pictures. There is always a learning curve and now I have a new one on how to cook without knowing the oven temperature and guessing how far between the two pictures would equal 350 degrees.
So any advice on where you think 350 is between the two picture would be appreciated.
D squared + J squared = Anderson 
Deanna,
I hear your frustration and understand completely!
If Cameroonian (or wherever it’s from) stoves are like Filipino stoves here’s what I suspect you are dealing with. Are the two pictures something that could signify “high heat” and “lower heat”? Is there a small chart anywhere on the stove or in your instruction manual? I suspect that you have a stove with no thermostat. But you can achieve a correct temperature! The chart will give you a temp (probably in Celsius so you’ll have to do a conversion) and then tell you how many minutes to have it on “high heat” and then how many minutes to have it on “low heat”. And then repeat the cycle of high and then low. It’s a bit of a hassle, but do-able.
Hope this helps!
Chris
I have not suggestions on where to put the knob – I can’t cook even when the numbers are there 🙂 However, I do know you are a great improvisor, so I’m sure the boys will not go hungry. Sorry the original stove didn’t work – know that you are constatnly in our prayers.
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