You might post to Kitchens. There are several people with rebuilt Okeefe ranges. c

I think there's a respected outfit here in California that does complete overhauls. I say go for it!!!

Do you still have your old range? Or would you have to buy a new one?

My feeling is that if you love what you had and can continue to have it, why not have it?

One thing about using an old style range in a remote area is that there aren't many parts that can go wrong. :)

Someone posted and O'Keefe & Merritt on the SF bay area craigslist for FREE today. Looked to be in really good shape. Thatis probably about the 6th or 7th one of that type (though I mostly see Wedgewood) that I've seen on CL over just the past couple of weeks.

I tell ya, if life were different I would have been all over that puppy.

I wouldn't think twice about the Okeefe & Merritt. I grew up cooking on my mom's. Didn't really appreciate how fine a range they are until after I left home.

I'd jump on one in a second. Although my heart belongs to a fabulous 1954 Roper with the most unusual 6-burner U-shaped arrangement and double ovens, LOL......

Had a classic 1950's OKM in my last apartment. I used to give elaborate sit down dinner parties 3 or 4x a month - everything from French to Chinese menus. I loved, loved, that stove!

A lot better than the fancy electronic Kenmores I've had since, in fact.

You all are making this so much easier.
We do not have the old O'Keefe & Merritt, but I keep seeing them on CL also. Plus, the refurbishers have some on hand for sale.
Thank you!

A refurbished unit will be more reliable than any new unit. Most new stuff is done on an assembly line by robots. When those things are manually refurbished, humans do the work. Since refurbishing is not a high production effort, more care to precision is given. Unless I want absolutely new in a product, I always look for refurbished first, just for the reliability.

Thoughts? Way cool!

Hopefully you're OK with pilots, and make sure there won't be code issues with pilots. You never know what your town could come up with!

Does anyone have experience running these things off propane? That might be an issue. If it is, or you're chicken (like we were), have you looked at Aga's offerings? They're weird enough to fit into a Victorian.

Propane will lower the BTUs. Since they weren't too high to begin with on the really older ranges - some went to 12K but most to only 9K - that indeed could become an issue. OTOH, a good portable induction unit like the Burton would be a simple and easy backup.

A while back someone posted a thread saying they wokked on one of these outdoor propane burners (185,000 BTU!) and were totally wowed by the performance:

Here is a link that might be useful: Bayou Classic SP10 High-Pressure Outdoor Gas Cooker Propane

Yes as jkom51 says the outdoor propane burners can have very high BTU's. I used to have a 70K BTU burner for when I would brew beer (which requires heat a large pot of liquid). The burner was basically a propane torch. What seems to be happening to me is that the outdoor burners are jetted quite differently than the ranges so the heat output is quite different.

I'm going to be a naysayer to the antique ranges. Properly refurbished ones run as much as a good 48" pro grade range, but without the performance of a pro grade range. 9K burners were considered "hot" at the time, while nowadays those are considered low consumer grade BTUs. Finding someone who refurbshes them to an "as new" status is difficult, because there are a lot of folks out there who call themselves refurbishers, but who don't completely take the stove apart and clean every single part and replace every single questionable part, fabricate new parts that are unobtainable, and then have items reenameled and reinsulated. Just dealing with the asbestos insulation that most of the old ranges had requres a special EPA training and certification, which most guys who do this for a hobby don't bother with.

So, by the time you are doing having one refurbished by someone who does it right, you're into the 6-12K range. Look at what that buys you new, and then decide whether or not you want to spend that amount of money for less performance.

Yes, they are super cool looking, and yes, I've cooked on one. A big white O'Keefe. No real simmer, and no real high highs either. It was a friend's pride and joy in her 1908 Craftsman bungalow. She left it behind when she sold the place. She didn't want to, but the new buyers insisted. She called me about a week after she moved into the new house all excited about the new GE Profile range she had inherited in it. Seems she could actually do stir fry now.

My friends have a reconditioned one in their new kitchen restoration. I can't display their pics, but here's a link. Theirs has to be plugged in to use the light and timer.
Casey

Here is a link that might be useful: O'K&M

I had no idea that propane lowered the btu's. Thanks! Also, do you know if that is true on all ranges?

I am aware that a properly reconditioned one is going to be around $6K+. Another option is the Lacanche. I just want one I can be proud of that doesn't keep breaking! Are there others to consider?

>>I had no idea that propane lowered the btu's. Thanks! Also, do you know if that is true on all ranges? Yes.

Lacanche is very beautiful - I'm lusting after a Cormatin, myself - but be aware the sizes are quite different than US standard. And although gorgeous and well-made, they have a few issues - small ovens compared to US ranges, no self-cleaning, some people have reported disliking their convection option on the electric ovens, the gas ovens have no broiler.

A refurbished unit will be more reliable than any new unit. Most new stuff is done on an assembly line by robots. [...] Since refurbishing is not a high production effort, more care to precision is given.

As someone with a career in quality assurance, I have to comment on a couple of items here.

There is nothing wrong with robot assembly on items designed with robot assembly in mind. Robots do exactly what they are "told" to do, and are not distracted by a lack of sleep from the night before, by the fact that quitting time is still an hour away, or by the attractive coworker in the next aisle.

What really makes properly-refurbished items different from the mainline stuff is the 100% quality assurance at the end. Rather than sampling one in every n items, every refurbished item is checked to make sure it meets the standards of the new product.

Please don't get me wrong -- I've purchased lots of refurbs of all kinds in my time, and, if I recall correctly, I've been burned only once. Otherwise, every item purchased met the same expectations I had for a brand-new unit. The difference is not whether a human put the parts together, but that a human inspected the item fully before it was sold to me.

Steve o.....The original poster wanted opinions on a refurbished O'keefe & Merrit. I gave my opinion and it still stands. The original post here was NOT asking to give opinions on what other people responded with. I've spent many years in quality assurance myself. When I made my post, I had no expectations it would turn out to be a contest in philosophical beliefs. Please don't take offense to the fact that a refurbish done by human hands is better than an assembly line job any day. For what it's worth, most appliances are not refurbished via assembly line. The refurbish guys' livelihoods depend on the quality of their work and each item is tested, not sampled as those from a robotic line. I think a good look at the assembly line track record of today's appliances will prove that although the "restless" work done robotically allows a high production rate, the quality stinks. The units do regain reliability though, when a refurbish/repair person redoes it.

I wonder how many of today's robotically-assembled pieces lend themselves to being worked on by skilled hands in the future. While some things are designed with serviceability in mind, many seem difficult to repair when something major goes wrong (ask any body shop). Do we now have more of a replace rather than repair society?

There's an East coast restorer who puts new guts into old ranges to make them cook more like modern ones.

My only additional suggestions are to talk to people like Reliance Appliance about the pitfalls of changing an O'KM to propane, and get advice about off grid living from Real Goods. And, yes, it's because of the different properties of propane vs. natural gas that the power ratings are lower.

But if Lacanche is an option, ask them as well! There are, or have been, a lot of places in Europe and Asia where people use LP as a matter of course, so one might think that they'd design their ranges to perform well on propane.

"The original post here was NOT asking to give opinions on what other people responded with."

Way to promote dialogue, huh?

Dialogue is fine. Rude condensention and cyber bullying aren't. It's ok to disagree but certainly, not to have anything to offer other than hijacking the post in an attempt to humiliate another's opinion isn't.

Sorry, obviously some posts must have gotten pulled. There's no rude condescention, cyber bullying, or even much of any disagreement for that mattern in this thread as it currently stands. I only commented on what I saw.

We use propane for our stove and, in fact, propane gives more BTUs than natural gas. Our stove burns way hot and it's difficult/impossible to cook at a simmer.
When asked why, a repairman said it was the nature of propane.

Rude condensention and cyber bullying aren't. It's ok to disagree but certainly, not to have anything to offer other than hijacking the post in an attempt to humiliate another's opinion isn't.

My post constituted "rude condesention" [sic], "hijacking", and humiliation? Seriously??

The OP did ask inferentially whether a rebuilt O'Keefe & Merritt would be reliable. The experiences of two people in the quality assurance field differ and I will stand by my experience as you stand by yours. The difference of opinion could have resulted in "dialogue". But if you need to treat it as a contest, then you can win. It's not that important to me.

Hi everyone,

First - Thank you for all the information! I am to the point of going for a new unit at this point - I am concerned about the codes involved in a refurbished unit and our particular code inspector. It's a bummer, because I love the look and feel of the old ranges.

We are going LP because natural gas is over 25 miles away - not an option.

I am, at this point, looking at a new American or Blue Star range. Quality control is a big thing to me. My company has about 1 repair a week on our products (totally different industry from home appliances), out of hundreds of thousands in use. I really get irked when something doesn't measure up to my own standards. Hopefully, the Blue Star or American will work out.

Thank you again, everyone!

One more thing about propane and burner power. I am not a professonal but I used to have an O&M on natural gas and now have a new KA on propane and am not very happy. Perhaps the expensive stoves design specific complete burners for propane. KA doesn't, they just change orifice sizes (smaller because propane has MORE
BTUs per volume). Since the burner is the same, I suspect to get a decent flame you do end up with less heat and a poorer flame.
With the old O&M and others, you (and I do mean YOU) could easily adjust any burner to almost any maximum heat until your hair catches fire or whatever. You just had to balance the amount of air with a sliding piece of metal on the entrance of the gas to the burner. I would guess propane would take different adjustments but you would end up with a perfect hot flame in either case. This might not be true with the modern stoves unless they have complete propane conversion systems.

I spotted the most gorgeous old range on some refurbisher's web site and was just in awe of it. It was bright red with lots of chrome and looked like a classic car. But my kitchen was already too far along to change my mind (and applinaces were already purchased). So I sighed and let it go. In my next life, this will be my range.....

I agree, for classic good looks NOTHING beats the older stoves. For performance, well....my heart belongs to Bluestar, but I wish I could get that performance in the 1949 6-burner Roper I fell in love with thirty years ago, LOL!

If you like the classic look why not get a BlueStar in a classic color? They have plenty to choose from.

I just don't think Bluestar in colors - although very nice - looks anywhere near the classic style of an OKM, Roper, et. al. It's industrial, not retro. I've looked into the Heartland Legend, which is nice (and built like the proverbial tank yet beautifully finished), but it doesn't have the power (and simmer) of BS. I don't like closed burners, having had them for the last 20 yrs.

If I had the room I'd have a retro OKM or the Roper, with one of those separate 30K wok burners next to it. Woohoo!

I was given one and refurbished it myself. Think the range was made in 1937 believed to cost 450$ new . My house here in Austin was built in 1937 the people owned the lot so it cost $1850. to build 1000 sq foot wood cottage type house . These ranges replaced wood burning stoves. We talking high tech back then and expensive for the times . I was told at that time they added somewhere around $1.50 + to your gas bill more or less a lease to own program or monthly service fee ( probably like a cable or satellite today ) .
It was in pretty good shape upon arrival I rewired using a high temp fiberglass appliance wire . Cleaned for many days on . I could never keep the clock running (the guy at the clock shop said he put his kid through college repairing antique car and range clocks) so just replace the clock's working. Had to replace some fiberglass insulation in one side wall ( mine had no asbestos insulation ) probably rat damage. Little rust in one of the lower pan drawers. If I remember correctly my top was polished nickel. I think the pictures in this post here seem to be chrome plated (refurbisher might have dolled these up by chroming the top or mine had worn off). The people that gave it to me got rid of it due to the oven not working right. A repair person had replaced the oven's thermostat with the incorrect type so I installed the correct one ( parts house salesman set me straight and sold me the correct type ). I finally gave it to another friend about 8 years ago I replaced it with a real clean Magic Chef from the 60's. A Bluestar will probably be my next range.
The stove cooked under powered for me (city supplied natural gas). I had a little trouble getting the burners to ignite . This was due to me turning the pilot light down to low . The range has 5 pilots and it was always hot so I tried to cool it off. Winter no problem but summer you could feel it . The oven is real small. The broiler is nice . I never used the griddle much as a griddle ( had one oven shaped rectangle burner under the griddle ) but did use it as a French top with pans and as a warmer. Had to have a big pilot in the oven to make it ignite. That puff noise is accompanied with a wave type airflow (element lighting up) would blow out a low pilot . There is a gas valve for relighting the broiler and the oven pilot light . Similar to lighting a gas hot water heater where you have to push the button in. They get greasy and stick in when you pushed them ( located under the cook top ) .
So what I getting at is these are not a carefree range. If you can not repair one yourself service calls cost would kill you.
They are a pretty if you like the style. Its ashame they don't cook as good.

"I just don't think Bluestar in colors - although very nice - looks anywhere near the classic style of an OKM, Roper, et. al. It's industrial, not retro. I've looked into the Heartland Legend, which is nice (and built like the proverbial tank yet beautifully finished), but it doesn't have the power (and simmer) of BS. I don't like closed burners, having had them for the last 20 yrs."

For us it was the best compromise. We wanted the performance and hated closed burners. Looked at Bertazoni but the burners just didn't cut it. Below is the range we loved. We got a Blue Star in the same color.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Gorgeous color, tube! I'm sure you're very happy with the BS in that color. I think it's great how they match any color you can send in....endless possibilities!

Oh, and contrary to tommmy2007's experience, my 1950's OKM was great. Never had any trouble with it in the 18 years I cooked on it. Unlike my experiences with the 1989 Kenmore/Frig gas range and the 2002 Kenmore/WP gas range, both of which had extremely expensive circuit board problems which developed after a mere 5-8 years in use. Lovely bells and whistles, but I'm soured on range electronics after over $800 of repairs on the current range.

I am not say the stove was a horror to use. I actually used it for about 8 years. There is 13 years difference when you compare a 1950 model to the stove I was posting about. So mine was a much older model and more wear. It is still being used today just not by me.
The magic chef I am using now is simpler (less bells and whistles ) stove that the 1937 one . Its more powerful but its worn out . I was interested in replacing it with a Bluestar due to its simplicity and power.

I have an Okeefe & Merrett stove. Do you know anyone that is intereste in buying one? It is 1930ish? I live in Texas.