WHY
YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR
© Chambers
Corporation
Over the years, I've received hundreds of
e-mail's, phone calls, and letters from
people asking questions about their
CHAMBERS range. A lot of them ask
questions I've answered before, but I'm
always happy to answer them again.
There is
one question, though, that keeps getting
asked, but it is ME
that asks it! When someone tells me
they
want to sell their CHAMBERS, I always
ask them:
"What's wrong with your CHAMBERS
that could POSSIBLY
persuade you to want to get rid of
it?"
I routinely post this question to people
who are selling them on eBay and
Craigslist, also!
The typical
responses I get from my innocent little
question cover the gamut. I've heard every
response conceivable, such as -
*
"The oven is
too small."
* "Why doesn't it
have electronic ignition?"
*
"I don't
know how to use it."
*
"Is it
safe? My
local gas company red-tagged it,
then told me it was dangerous
and MUST be replaced!" (OR - "My
local appliance repairman said
that a new stove is much better
than 'this old thing'.")
*
"Why
does it only have three burners?"
*
"It's old -
surely the new ones are better!"
*
"I
want a modern
kitchen!"
Etc.,
etc., etc.....you get the idea. Most
people want to get rid of them because
they don't understand WHY the CHAMBERS
is so vastly superior to the modern
stuff on the market today.
So, for
those who don't know, or haven't heard,
I've written the following, which is
what I typically send out to those who
are thinking about selling their
CHAMBERS and opting for an ordinary
range:
You really should keep your
CHAMBERS Range!
Here's
why:
1. IT'S
BETTER BUILT AND OUTPERFORMS ANYTHING
YOU CAN BUY TODAY! A CHAMBERS is, in essence, a
wonderfully designed, wonderfully built
stove. Nothing
on the residential market today is built
as well as as a vintage CHAMBERS. In fact,
according to the world-famous kitchen
designer, chef, lecturer on kitchen
architecture, and 1949 Chambers Model 90C
Range owner Angela Phelan, your CHAMBERS
is BETTER than ALL of the modern ranges
built for home use today in every way!
Further, she states that it is BETTER than
80% of the professional stoves
being manufactured today, and is JUST AS
GOOD as the remaining 20%! I recently
spoke with a fellow who is a professional
chef and is the owner of several high-end
restaurants in New York City - he has a
1950 Chambers Model 61C in his home, and
he adamantly affirms Angela Phelan's
comments. How's THAT for an
endorsement?
2. IT HAS FEATURES THAT ARE
UNEQUALLED IN MODERN RANGES! Your CHAMBERS has features that no
other range has, be it from the past or
from the present. Nothing
on the current market can do what your
CHAMBERS can do! From the In-A-Top Griddle and Broiler (who wants to stoop to broil
steaks, chops, and chicken, anyhow?), to
the ingenious Thermowell, to the patented
9,000-BTU Daisy Burners on the top with
their super-uniform heat distribution, all
the way to the super-insulated Oven that
cooks with the gas turned OFF on retained
heat, NOTHING on the modern market
today offers the features your CHAMBERS
does!
3. MOST OF THESE VINTAGE
CHAMBERS RANGES DON'T HAVE TO BE
RESTORED BEFORE THEY CAN BE USED. Typically, all
they need is some basic repairs (if
any), and some TLC. That's all, unless
they've been really abused or damaged,
of course. Places for parts and
service are plentiful, and can be
found HERE.
4. MODERN STOVES CAN'T BE
REPAIRED, NOR ARE THEY DESIGNED TO BE! All that they can do is
have their broken parts "replaced".
Incidentally
- after 18-24 months after manufacture,
the common practice is to cease making
all parts for it. That means in, say, 5
years, the few parts that might remain
will be available only at sky-high
prices, and, in 10, you won't be able to
get them at all, in most cases!
Your CHAMBERS was designed to be
REPAIRED if it ever breaks,
and will be for another 50 years!
I know of a
lady in New
Jersey that bought a
brand NEW Viking a some time ago for FIVE
THOUSAND DOLLARS. It
BROKE with A YEAR, and the repair estimate
to fix it was ONE THOUSAND
DOLLARS! She was
SO MAD that she went out looking for a
50-year old CHAMBERS to replace the stupid
thing. "At least I'll know I can get parts
for it!", she said.
5. YOUR
CHAMBERS IS AN INVESTMENT.
Lastly, consider your
CHAMBERS an investment -
not only do you SAVE money at the outset
(even semi-decent stoves today run about
what it would cost you to repair a
CHAMBERS with typical problems for it's
age), it will SAVE YOU MONEY for the rest
of your life.
Here's
how:
A. Your Chambers SAVES
GAS when it cooks. Whether you're cooking
with the gas turned off, on retained heat,
or use it like a simple, ordinary range,
your CHAMBERS is SUPER-EFFICIENT with it's
use of gas. Most users report as much as a
1/3 drop in gas consumption used for
cooking when they switch to a CHAMBERS.
With the high cost of energy these days,
this is as important to us as it was to
those who lived during the Great
Depression, when
the basic Chambers you have was designed.
B.
Keeping your CHAMBERS insures
long-term savings as well. For
example, if you go out and buy a
Whirlpool range (blechhhhh!), you're
going to spend around $600.00 for the
cheap, crummy one - you know, the one
that you get because "it's cheap",
even though you KNOW it's JUNK. If you
get a "good" range, plan on spending
around $1,500 to $2,500 (nearly the
price it would cost to have your
CHAMBERS totally restored, by the
way).
Now, deep down, you KNOW that the
Whirlpool is "junk", but you buy it
because you can "trust" it to serve
you well, but can you, really?
* Not only will you
NEVER be able to get the oven to cook
"right" (because it doesn't have the cast
iron oven floor yours does which makes
your CHAMBERS bake SO evenly, thoroughly, and rapidly),
in about 3-5 years, at best 7 or so, it IS going to
start having problems. The cheap parts and
construction methods (as seen on the
popular TV show, "How It's Made") are all
going to start taking their toll on the
life of your "superior, modern range."
Pretty soon, things are going to start to
go wrong, and when the electronics that
control it go bad, forget it!
* The flimsy burners it
comes with will begin to flake and
corrode.
* The electronic
ignition (which, by the way, WON'T let you
light ANYTHING during a power
outage on most models),
will start to get finicky, before it gets
to where it won't work at all.
* The oven igniter will
go out (they cost about $125.00, PLUS
labor to install around here!). Your
CHAMBERS, which works WITHOUT electricity,
will work for years and years and years -
because it is NON-electronic. Instead,
it's mechanical,
which means greater reliability over the
long term, and repairs, should it break,
are relatively inexpensive.
* The racks can start
to warp. Your CHAMBERS racks haven't, and
never will. They may be bent, but that was
caused by abuse, not by faulty design or
materials. Besides, they can be repaired
or replaced.
In Other
Words, that modern "thing" you bought
just flat wears out - the gas valves don't turn like they
should and many can't be re-greased (like
a CHAMBERS can), so you've got to get
ANOTHER one. Now, you're back to the
"replacement experts" - there are few bona
fide REPAIRMEN left anymore.
* NOW - after no more than 10 years (if
you're REALLY fortunate),
you're going to have to replace it, and,
allowing for inflation, you're probably
going to spend somewhere between $1,000
and $4,000 to replace the unit that you
bought to replace your CHAMBERS, while the
lucky person who got YOUR Chambers, unless
they've died, will still be using it!
Of course, the
process I've just outlined will occur more
rapidly the second time around, because,
by then, NO ONE will be making gas
ranges in the USA, so your then-new Chinese or
Slobbovian-made range will probably only
last 2 to 5 years, at best, rather than 10
years the ones today get to, if you're
lucky!
SO - over the next 25
years, if you get rid of your
CHAMBERS, you're going to spend AT
LEAST $4,000 for inferior
gas ranges that
DO NOT work as well as what you have,
not including repairs,
and that is MORE than it would have cost
to have your CHAMBERS totally restored by
a professional today, AND you'll keep
using your CHAMBERS for the next FIFTY
years!
ANSWERS TO COMMON EXCUSES PEOPLE
GIVE FOR REPLACING THEIR CHAMBERS
RANGE
1. OVEN
SIZE - ISN'T IT REALLY "SMALL"?
In a word, NO.
The Chambers Oven looks deceptively small, but it is
large enough to cook a
25-pound turkey. We do this a lot in ours with no problems. It will
also cook 40 pounds of
ribs.
How big do you want
it to be, anyhow?
The problem is it
LOOKS small from the
outside, but it really isn't.
The other thing
is that it was designed to be used with
the most popular roasters ever
made, those produced by the LISK
Manufacturing Company. LISK made millions of
these roasters, which, by the way, also
outperform anything you can buy today, and
CHAMBERS designed their Oven to
accommodate them. If you use the LISK
roasters, you can cook huge meals in a
CHAMBERS Oven, no problem. They're
available at flea markets, garage sales,
and eBay. Click HERE to download an
original LISK sales brochure.
Actually, the oven IS capable
of doing large meals, you
just have to know HOW.
We cook 25-pound turkeys in ours all the
time...it will cook up to 40 pounds of
ribs, etc. - how much bigger do you need
it to be, anyway?
2. I
DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT.
Years ago, "ladies" wouldn't read an
"Operation Manual", so Alma Chambers conviced
her father, John, to disguise theirs as a cookbook.
Called the "Idle Hour"
Cookbook, it contained all of the information found in a
standard Operational
Manual - how to care for, clean, and operate the Chambers range. It
also had detailed
instructions on how to cook with the gas turned OFF on retained heat in
the super-insulated Oven
and Thermowell.
Coupled with all
of this valuable information was a large number of excellent
recipes that demonstrated
how versatile and easy it is to cook "The CHAMBERS way."
Chambers produced a large
variety of literature for their products. To see what is
available for your use today, simply click HERE
to peruse the list (NOTE: Link is under
construction).
3. ISN'T MY CHAMBERS DANGEROUS
- AFTER ALL, IT'S "A GAS STOVE", AND
THEY'RE ALL DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY OLD
ONES - RIGHT?
I
hear this a lot. Because their Chambers is
designed to be lit manually, many people
think it is unsafe. When properly
installed, calibrated, and operated, it
really isn't. However, some people "feel"
safer if it has an Oven Pilot Light and
Automatic Gas Supply Shutoff System
installed. This is a simple DIY project,
or you can have it done professionally.
Contact me if you need more information.
4. WHY
DOES MY CHAMBERS ONLY HAVE THREE BURNERS
- IS THAT ENOUGH?
Well, yes, it is. Once you learn
to cook "The
CHAMBERS
Way", you'll never miss that
fourth burner. In fact, the Thermowell
takes the place of THREE burners all by
itself! Add to that the versatility of the
Griddle/Broiler, and you'll find that a
CHAMBERS cooks PLENTY of food - enough for
a LARGE family.
Thusfar, I've answered all of the typical
complaints/concerns about keeping and
using a vintage CHAMBERS range -
* The CHAMBERS is built better
than modern ranges (they warranteed
their porcelain for 25 years! Look and
see how long modern range manufacturers
warrant THEIR products!).
* The cost of replacing the
CHAMBERS is more than it would take to
repair what you have.
* I've demonstrated the the
longevity and SAVINGS keeping your
CHAMBERS will bring to you.
* I've outlined the fact that a
CHAMBERS has features you can't get
today, and it does what a modern range
will do faster, more efficiently, and
more economically.
* There's
nothing wrong with it that cannot be
fixed at a reasonable price, PLUS you
get the FINEST range ever
built for the home!
NOW
- you tell me: what in the Earth would make you
want to get rid of your CHAMBERS?
Are
you SURE you REALLY want to cook on an
inferior product after all these years
of cooking on a CHAMBERS with the gas
turned off?
Think about it...that's all I ask.
And - feel free to
contact me if you have any questions about
your CHAMBERS, or why you should KEEP
IT!
Happy Cooking With
The Gas Turned OFF!
- Todd W. White
Updated 04/13/23 
