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bmorepanic

NXR ?s and a first review

bmorepanic
11 years ago

Questions:

1. How did you get the glue off the stainless from the protector plastic? I've tried some mild cleaners with no joy.

2. Is there some trick to the oven door? I've reseated it about 5 times and it just doesn't look exactly level, flush to the front and centered in the frame. On the other hand, the oven doesn't seem to be leaking heat through the door.

3. Has anyone tried using steam table pans on the rack?

4. How to get the grates to stop squeaking when I move pans? It's like train brakes or something.

5. Did you clean the oven before using? (other than running the recommended burn off) How?

6. Is the weird metal bracket some type of anti-tipping device?

=============
Review Part

It's big. Right now, its an elephant, a culinary stud, or the Hercules of 30" ranges.

It's hard for me to understand that its about the same overall physical size as the previous slide-ins. The oven has a lot more usable space. Cookie sheets that wouldn't fit in the slide-ins (got as part of a set), fit with ease.

The cooking surface is also bigger. I didn't have a prayer of fitting a 12.5 debuyers and even my most miniscule pot front to back on two burners but now, I can fit a 7"-8" diameter pot. With a 12" skillet, I can fit a 9.5" pan max.

I got bubbles across the entire pan bottom from a boiling water test. It's been years since I've seen that. I could also tune the burner to any level of heat down to just a simmer.

I saw the issue about small pans. It's not that you can't use them, it's that you can't turn up the heat and use them. Small to me being one to one and a half quart pans or diameters less than about 4 inches. That will be something to think about when I'm next buying replacements - maybe broader/shallower would work better. It's not nearly as bad as trying to fit pans to power burners on the slide-ins but it can be an issue.

The 15k burners are usable turned up all the way on less than 10" diameter pans. On the slide-ins, I needed a 12-13" pan to operate the power burner.

The height of the grates is really good. I figured out installing the burner heads correctly the second time :)

I could see the issue about the top getting hot when using the oven. During burn off, they have you run the oven at 450 (its got a setting for 500 F - what do you cook at 500F?) for 1/2 hour and then run the broiler for about 20 minutes.

By the time that was done, the top in front of the front burners and the center plate was very warm - possibly enough to cook on it warm - way past melting butter warm. The control knobs didn't get all that hot so I'm not sure how that will work out long term.

I don't cook anything at those temps often (pizza primarily) and certainly not for that length of time. The metal was quite comfortable with the oven at 450 until the broiler kicked in. So I'm not sure how much this matters in everyday life.

Burn off reeks! "You might turn on the vent if you have one" must be chinese humor.

I need a clock outlet. The back is solid where the slide ins were hollow. Just a little, tiny, bit more depth and I'm there! I love my plumber. We had no warning about the delivery date but he came right over and hooked it up. His up charge for immediate service? He asked for a couple of books - classics if we had them (I coughed up my copies of Watership Down and the African Queen).

It fits into a 30 1/8" gap. At 30 1/4", my opening is a little too wide. I might go the extra few dollars someday and get a new wood top from ikea. That would also fix the little GORE PROBLEM on the end that was under the slide in. But its not urgent. It's just ocd-ness.

The legs are really nice. They got to 37.5" easily. We completely overshot the height on our first go round. Sliders are the bomb! I could push the 300 pound beast anywhere I wanted by myself.

I can see why the complaints about build quality too. Some sharp edges, little bits not well finished and the cooktop would be spiffier with a single piece top. It looks fine to me, but I can see how some people would rather spend the money for a better finish. I found different types of stainless on different pieces with my simple test magnet. None of it affects how it works.

Being as we are never going to have that budget, I'm pretty content. It should stop looking huge in a couple of days. I can't wait to run the oven.

Comments (28)

  • jellytoast
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The burn-off might not have reeked as much had you washed the oven with soap and water before starting the burn-off process. The burn-off on my newly installed range (not NXR) produced hardly any odor, but I washed it first. Were there not instructions included regarding cleaning it first?

    The "wierd metal bracket" is most likely the anti-tip device ... does it fit around one of the rear legs? My range came with a weird looking device which turned out to be a tool to adjust the rear legs. The anti-tip device was zip-tied to the rear of the range. I wouldn't have noticed it there had I not been looking for it.

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We both over-estimated the English version of the instruction manual. Judging by the manual, they believe in brevity above all else.

    It's sort of like an L bracket. Two holes on one side for the two long, long screws - like its supposed to go into a stud or floor joist. The other side is about 4" long and is rounded.

    It would not go around a leg and there was nothing about it in the instructions.

  • cat_mom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Try goo gone to remove any glue. I don't think I had to break out the goof off, but that could help, too, it just reeks. Don't know how much harsher it would be, if at all, on the SS.

    You can then go over the surface with a little BKF sprinkled on a wet sponge (I've used blue scrub sponges on my Wolf range/SS with no problem). This will remove any oily residue from the goo gone. A tip for you; don't use oil-based cleaners or polishes on your range (or any SS). They often make spot-cleaning difficult, or even impossible, at least in my experience. Also, they wear off, or evaporate unevenly when your oven heats up, and can leave the finish looking splotchy or uneven. I use alcohol-water (with lavender oil) spray on mine (don't spray it near open flames!) and can clean the entire surface, or spot clean as needed. For bigger messes and spills, a little BKF, or Dawn Power Dissolver (spray gel) does the trick (followed by the alc-water to remove any haze).

  • jellytoast
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Is there a slot on the back of the range that the rounded part might slip into? My new range has a long L-bracket that attached to the studs horizontally across the wall, with the "L" slipping over a bracket on the range when the range was pushed to the wall. My last range also had an L-bracket, but it was much smaller. It screwed to the wall one one stud only and the "L" slid into a small slot when the range was pushed against the wall.

    There are several contributors here with NXR's, so hopefully one of them will chime in. You can also call Durocorp and I'm sure someone there will help you. I called them several times during my search for a range and they were always very helpful.

  • jellytoast
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Be very careful with that goo-gone ... be sure to try it first on an area that you can't see. I used it recently and completely ruined the item I was trying to clean. Denatured alcohol works very well on stainless steel, just a little on a soft cloth or cotton pad, then rinse with water. Also, try it on a hidden area first to be sure. It worked well to remove the sticky residue from my stainless range and hood.

    I agree with cat_mom on the stainless steel "cleaners" ... other milder things work better. I just wipe with a damp cloth, then polish with a microfiber.

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok, now I've been through:

    Soapy water, twice or thrice.
    Alcohol
    Ammonia
    Goof Off Microfiber wipes
    Hot water

    And still glue residue. The funny part is its completely off the top - it's the front that looks like hell. It's getting better, but maybe warm up the oven door and then try...

    Tiny bit soap and hot water got the smell out of the oven though. so it's ready to roll! We did pancakes this morning. I had to warn dh that he might get some not-so-nice stuff until I adjusted - I got to used to the way poc slide-in worked, but stuff is getting done much faster on this.

    I'll take a look at the back when we pull it out for the clock outlet. See if I can see something it would go into.

    Thanks everyone.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lots of questions.

    ADHESIVE RESIDUE

    For the film adhesive residue, I believe I used WD40. (Contrary to popular belief, WD40 is a solvent, not a lubricant.) That was followed by Windex (or maybe Pinesol; it was month's ago and I forgot.) That was all before I ran the oven burn-off,

    As you've already run the oven-burn cycle, the stuff on the oven door or sides might be a bit baked on. After I ran my burn-off, I found that I had missed some of it. Wound up using used a little BKF on the steel parts of the oven door for the stuff I missed before the burn-off. Used a razor-blade (like a paint scraper) for the baked-on stuff that stuck to the oven. glass.

    OVEN CLEANING:

    Posts here have recommended both washing and blowing/vacuuming the oven before running a burn cycle. No problem doing it after the oven, though, as you discovered, the burn-off will stink a bit.

    Get an air-compressor (or canned air), remove the racks and the bootom plate (the one over the baking burner) and blow out the interior. Then vacuum with a shop vac. Like any stove, there will be factory dust and other dust that collected during shipment and warehousing.

    OVEN DOOR REMOUNT

    You are right that the manual isn't any help with this issue. Basically, the problem is that the hinges are mounted to the door and go into slots in the front of the oven instead of the more familiar hinges-on-the-oven-and-slot-on-the-door-arrangement.

    There is a slot on the bottom of each hinge and those has to drop "just-so" over the slots. Some Electrolux stoves use a similar hinge arrangement and the manual has a pretty good illustration of how to remout this kind of oven door..

    http://manuals.electroluxusa.com/prodinfo_pdf/Springfield/316471013en.pdf

    If that doesn't work for you, call the customer assistance number in the back of the NXR manual. That's what I wound up doing when I got my stove.

    STEAM TABLE PANS ON THE RACK

    Which rack? Oven? Stovetop? No trouble using them in the oven, which you can run as low as 140F. Never thought about using them on the stovetop, though. You can certainly dial the burner heat waayyyyy down, so as long as you have liquid in the pan, it should be okay. So, meatballs or sausages in sauce, okay. Steam table pans strike me as being too thin to put on the stove top for things without liquid, though. What I've done is plonk down my rectangular griddle and put the steam table pans on that.

    SQUEAKING GRATES
    Not quite sure what is going on here. Shoving metal pans across cast iron grates is inherently likely to produce some noise. Might be you are getting a lot of noise because everything is still so new. Give the grates a little time and use, and they may develop a smoother patina that doesn't sound like train brakes when you slide a pan. Or, you could try seasoning them with heat and oil.

    This post was edited by JWVideo on Sat, Mar 2, 13 at 12:37

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have dw40 and I'll try that. Alcohol did a little bit, but not much. The help line suggested acetone which didn't work either.

    I'm being to think there is something wrong with the door. I'll have some pictures later to post but it looks a little bit like "something" happened to the door at the factory and maybe its a little racked. The air vents near the first assembly screw on the top of the door look a little like somebody pried on it with a screw driver. The bottom of the same side has a slightly funky-looking "refinish" on the bottom corner. The door sticks out about an 1/8" to 3/16" from the frame on the opposite side while the side with the obvious stuff is completely flush.

    The help line suggested I go to warranty service with pictures. I think I'll give the door one more go first.

    I will lift the oven floor and blow that out - thanks for the suggestion. I had cleaned the glass before running burn off - so no baked on stuff there.

    Cast iron pan + cast iron grate = Train brakes. But I hear you about time and oil.

    Oh and it is an anti tipping bracket. Another small puzzle in how to set that up. There is a screw on the side of the base frame in the back of the range. This bracket is suppose to be mounted so it goes over the screw, prevented the back from rising. I'm not sure I can install the bracket as expected - the gas line might be in the way. Something else to do.

    Thank you, JWVideo for all your help so far.

    I'm going to see if I can fit a long steam table pan in the oven by resting it in the side rack without an oven rack underneath. I thought I'd take one of the racks over and see what fits (if anything). I like the oven racks - easy to slide in and out, but there's a couple of things that I slow cook in the oven and just wondered if I could just do the pan the whole way across.

  • Debbie Erfer
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the review bmore! Curious to know what kind of hood/vent you chose. Did you order yours from Costco? I hope you get the door problem resolved. Enjoy your new range! I've still got a month to go before I get mine.

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    WD40 worked a treat. I will do a polish with barkeepers friend to get the very slight remainders.

    I have a insert-liner that is 600 cfm. It's doing ok in handling stuff so far. It took out the burn-off reek pretty well.

    My feelings are a combination of scared and pleased. I need to adjust to the burners actually working! It feels like "Wow, that's weird - the grilled cheese is done already" or when heating up soup, the entire pan is hot so I don't need to wait around for the center to heat up because it already is.

    My big plan for the day is to switch the outlet, adjust for level and run the cheese melter - cause maybe the broiler works too. I hope it works and that I don't cause cheese inferno :) from adjusting.

    All I've done in the oven so far was warm plates.

  • Nunyabiz1
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would get some Weimans polish to keep the top clean and polished.
    We have had ours for over 2 years now with zero problems.

    Our door popped right in and looked dead perfect from day one, I guess we got lucky.
    For the price you got the best stove on the market.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    DOOR:

    The door sounds like it got some shipping or handling damage in transit. Do check out that electrolux manual and be sure that the door is properly seated, but I would call warranty service on that. Seems to me I read in one of the earlier NXR threads that somebody who lived in Silver Springs mentioned getting good warranty service on an problem she had. Might be that the same outfit services Baltimore, too.

    STEAM TABLE PAN:

    I get it, now. It's been a while since I worked with full size steam pans, but I kind of recall them being about 20 or 21 inches across. Just measured my NXR racks and they are 23" across, so not sure one will be wide enough to slide on the rack supports. Let us know what you find out.

    ANTI-TIP:

    I think that round-headed stud can be unscrewed from the right rear and mounted on the left rear, if that helps.

    PAN SIZES:

    The burner flame size at full throttle is larger than the diameters of small pans, but there is no problem boiling water etc. in smaller pans with a properly sized flame. Full throttle doesn't speed it up. Actually, I've found that full throttle is a bit slower than a properly sized flame and mainly puts a lot more heat around the small pan into the kitchen. A properly sized flame is just fine for small pans. For example, I've found that using a properly sized flame to boil water for oatmeal a five-inch diameter saucepan is only a minute or so slower than running the same amount of water in the same pan on an induction burner.

    For front to back burner spacing, and having everything perfectly centered, I've found I can have a 12" diameter pan centered on the front burner and be able to place a pan up to 11" in diameter on the back burner. I've had a 12" diameter fry pan on the back burner and a 12.5" diameter All-Clad on the front burner. Although the AllClad was a bit off-center, I still had perfectly fine results, so I suspect you could do the same thing with with your DeBuyers. I'm measuring across the top of the pans, by the way. If your DeBuyer is 12.5" across the base, I'm guessing it is actually 14" across the top.

    CAST IRON PAN SQUEAKING:

    Just tried sliding my 30-year-old Lodge skiller and did get a sound like train brakes, but it was not very loud. Like train brakes heard from tracks on the other side of town. If the noise is louder for you, it will probably reduce after a few weeks of seasoning/use as with most stoves with heavy grates.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    catmom:

    Dawn Power Dissolver Spray Gel? I didn't know they made that. Might be just the thing for "myself cleaning" the oven. I'll see if I can find some and test it out. Thanks for the tip.

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think the door is racked. It's dead-on at the hinge. It opens and closes fine. Both sides of the hinge area look the same. The door sticks out between 1/8" to 3/16" at the top right corner but the other three corners are flush. I'm waiting for better weather to take photos. I was hoping that it would magically disappear with the final leveling but no such luck.

    The recessed outlet fixed the fit just fine. It's perhaps worth saying that this range will ALWAYS stick out from the wall about 1/4" to 3/8". It has stand-offs attached to the back. Even if you took those off (and I'm not suggesting that), it'd still need about 1/8" gap or so to accommodate a passel of screw heads. I wish they had thought to build an offset in the vent trim so it would be flush on the wall.

    I may sound like I'm disappointed, but I'm not really. I'm a little concerned about the door thing and there's a couple of things I'd like to ask them to improve, but as I get used to it, I'm really happy. Poor dh, I hope he doesn't get tired of me saying - look there's bubbles in the center of the pan!

    More good things - amazing to me anyway. It preheats to 350F in 10 minutes from stone cold. The poc slide-in took about 1/2 hour. The cheese melter worked well :) dh wanted to try steak, I said - uh, maybe burgers first.

    I can't poke along cutting veg while waiting for the pan to heat up anymore.

    I saw the same thing about the oven for the steam table pan. But I think a full size water pan may fit on the side rack directly - it's 22"x 14". That's kind of ok because then I could divide it with some insert pans when I wanted to? Or do a water bath.

  • jellytoast
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Can't you just get the door replaced under warranty? I don't see any reason why you should have to get used to that. It's brand new, they should replace the door.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Agreed.

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Pictures... from the warranty service email. So far, everyone is doing what they're supposed to do and the vendor (plessers) offered to call nxr to get it pushed. I guess my hesitation is about being afraid that they'll try to take it away.

    What I was trying to say about pan size is that this is a burner design that is not meant for small diameter pots where you'd like to boil something. I'm not trying to dis anyone - it's just that different people have different experiences. Too, we can use the same words to mean different things and end up sometimes with poor clarity.

    In the past couple of days, I've tried my italian "expresso" maker - it's a little under 5 inches - and it took forever. The pot is smaller than the outer ring, so it can only use the inner ring. The inner ring by itself doesn't put out many btus and I finally lit the out ring and moved it over. Making one person's worth of cream of wheat took quite while because its 1 qt pot also has a small diameter(Not sure that there is anything that would make a small pot work well (except for getting out the simmer plate, heat that to hell with both rings and let it contact heat both the pot and the kitchen). It was not my experience that small diameter cookware was within a minute of induction timing. I haven't tried anything big yet.

    But, one of the pots I need to change out is a little all clad "special value" one. Altho for me, its a case of "I never liked you anyway", it made me stop and think about how upset I'd be if I had a collection of expensive pots in smaller diameters. I figure if potential buyers know its coming, it won't be a surprise. If they don't do what we do - use small pots often, then they don't have to worry about it.

    For me, its not a real problem as I can just change out 2-3 pots to other sizes/shapes over time and be happy.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    From the pics, it looks the door did get whacked in transit. I would think that Adco (the warranty service contractor) should be able to get a new door for you without having to take the stove away.

    I agree on the really small pots. This stove is definitely not for somebody who likes 4 inch diameter pans. The outer ring of the burner is 4.25" so the flame spread is a minimum of 4.5" when using the lowest setting with the outer ring going. Definitely not usable with for little "mokka" pots and such.

    I just went back and measured my smallest saucepan, the one I reported on using for cooking oatmeal. It is bigger than I thought. It has an induction disk in the bottom which is 5" across, but the actual diameter for the entire base is 6" and that is probably why it worked fine for me with the oatmeal.

    So, you've got a good point that small pans probably should be at least 5.5" for anything other than low heat applications with the central ring.

    This post was edited by JWVideo on Mon, Mar 4, 13 at 20:19

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If people are using small pots to melt butter or chocolate or do a delicate sauce, an NXR will work well.

    BTW, if you do melt butter, chocolate or do delicate sauces or (hopefully) pastry cream and have an interest in NXR, you're welcome to try one out at our house. :)

  • Nunyabiz1
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yeah that definitely got whacked in shipping.

    I rarely use any pots less than 10" myself.
    I have one pot that is 8" and have probably used it 2-3 X in the past year.

    In fact the right 2 burners pretty much stay covered with a 23x14" Griddle about 95% of the time.

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I can see emulating that, nunyabiz1. I got my first two replacement pots - wide, short in place of narrow/tall. They are a small covered chef's pan and a stovetop/oven casserole type. Both are wider than the pots they are replacing.

    Would you mind sharing what you griddle have and how you like it?

    Interestingly, adco service did not respond in any way to an email. I picked up a different email address than I was given by reading their web site and forwarded to that address as well as the vendor. There's a weather event in our general area, so I'm not expecting much more today.

  • Nunyabiz1
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have the Chef King 23X14" carbon steel griddle.
    Best you can get, fits stove top perfectly and after seasoning is totally nonstick.
    I love it, use it probably every single day as I can not even think of the last day that I did not use it.

    It is the most used cooking implement that I have.

    You can buy it from Amazon for $51.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Chef King on Amazon

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! I was wondering if those were good.

    I'm really grateful for everyone's opinions on those photos and getting it repaired.

    I'm also grateful to Plessers - the company I bought the range from - for all the time and attention they have been towards getting the service the range needs. There has been a lot of communications this week between us, ADCO and NXR.

    I'm still awaiting further developments. I so hope it will be over soon.

    Adding the first time I used the broiler pan, the back of the broiler rack (not the pan but the blue ribbed thing on top of the pan) kinda exploded blue shards into the pan. I've got 4 quarter sized holes in the coating plus another one waiting that would turn into shards should I ever use the pan again - which I never will.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, sounds like another lemon.

    Call Duro/NXR and tell them about the broiler pan.

    It absolutely should not do that. I use my broiler pan frequently for broiling and roasting. Not only is it bigger than the pans that came with my previous stoves, but I've found the coating (apparently the same as in the oven) has been far easier to clean than any of the broiler pans that came with any previous stove I've owned.

    It is worth getting a good one and this is definitely a warranty issue.

    I'm suspecting that your stove really got dropped or slammed at some point in the shipping. (I can think of all kinds of bad things from the pallet falling off a loading dock to the shipping truck hitting a steer on the highway trip from the NXR/Duro warehouse in Southern California.)

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It came from AuxTex - they're now a distributor as well. Same Steer - different scenery. :)

    I'm still happy - it's so much better than poc-ge-profile. I don't like the drama, but we bought it for the performance and that part works! I'm so happy that our dealer is actively helping to clear up the door thing.

  • goodguy2k2k
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What ever happened with your repair? How has the NXR been holding up? Any issues? Do you still like it?

  • jwvideo
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Answering for Bmorepanic, It was a long, sad saga spanning several threads with the most recent thread linked below. Basically, NXR warranty service turned out to be capable of as much ineptitude and idiocy as you hear reported in the worst tales about other makers. The vendor, Plessers, bought back her NXR and bmore just bought a Dacor AG range instead.

    My personal opinion about this is that most NXRs are good stoves (and mine certainly has been) but, because of what happened to bmore, I would only consider buying another one from a vendor who has the kind of extended full-satisfaction, no-questions, full-refund return policy that Costco does. .

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hard to believe - August and the Nxr blueschips

    This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Nov 29, 13 at 15:10

  • bmorepanic
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yeah! Dat's what I says, too.