Hola! It's me again... I have a couple more things to ask.

Has anyone ever made bread in a fireplace? Like in pans? Or maybe they did it over an open fire?

I've still no oven, no grill, and no toaster oven either. :( I'm outta luck here, people, and I'm stuck with flatbreads, so if anyone has anything, PLEASE let me know! :)

Hello everyone!

I have had it with my Whirlpool self-cleaning convection oven.

I bought it two years ago for the sum of $1,500 plus tax - Not cheap. And yet, it has been problem-plagued ever since.

The trouble began when I started baking bread using the convection feature. The control panel would freeze up and not respond at the end of baking. It had a "touch-sensitive" glass panel, and no matter what I did, it would not turn off.

Fortunately, I purchased a five-year warranty with the appliance.

The repairman has come at least five times and has been unable to correct the problem. He replaced some electronic parts and even the entrire panel at one time. It would work okay for a little while and then act up again.

I am convinced this is a design flaw with this model of Whirlpool convection ovens. This is likely due to the way the convection is vented through the back of the appliance in the same area that the electronic panel is. Extremely hot, humid air and electronic components do not mix, a fact that was somehow overlooked at Whirlpool.

The responsible thing to do is issue a nation-wide recall... But that could affect Whirlpools bottom line of course.

This is a dangerous flaw as it could leave the homeowner with an appliance that will not shut off and could potentially lead to a house fire.

Luckily, I put my stove on appliance wheels, so I was able to pull it away from the wall to unplug it when this happened.

The company that backs the guarantee notified me they now agree the stove is a lemon and will replace it with a new one of similar value.

The question I have is - what would you recommend as a decent range (gas or electric) and why?

I would prefer a quality appliance with none of the features which cause trouble down the road such as self-cleaning, convection, touch pad, control panels. Better off with real knobs to control the stove instead of a digital keypad that costs $500 or more to replace.

I know many of you have had similar experiences and have had to dump an otherwise perfectly good appliance due to this built-in obsolescence. It's a real disgrace.

So thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully we can begin a lively discussion on which oven is the best value for the home baker!

Thank you and happy baking!

Jerome the Giraffe

I just saw a PBS show on the tube and now that I think about it I think it may of been a Gourmet Magazine show on PBS, about Tuscan cooking. A fellow was making a point of explaining why he used small brush twigs and small diameter wood for firing his oven. He filled the oven with this small wood. He explained that if you start the fire with what we would call kindling and then add larger wood, you end up with a very hot floor and not so hot roof in the oven. This makes perfect sense and reminds me of another show where a baker in England was saying how he fills the oven with what they call "Faggotts" which are again, small diameter brush like wood. It flashes quickly and burns down to ash in a short time leaving the roof hot and the floor appropriately evenly heated.

I thought I would mention this since quite a few Fresh Loafians are escaping to the outdoor oven recently. Using small hardwood brush would make it easier to find burnable materials I would think also.

Eric