The Tale of the New Oven

When we moved into this apartment in October 2013, we noticed the oven/stove combo was none too efficient.  Once, it took 4 1/2 hours to semi cook a raw chicken (fresh, not frozen).  Finally, we borrowed an oven thermometer to test the oven.  When we set the oven for 450 F, after 3 hours, it had heated up to almost 275 F.  Not enough to really cook by.  Brown? Maybe.  Melt cheese? Probably (if you had the right kind of cheeses here, which we don't).  But cook a casserole?  Hardly.  Not to mention never getting up to the temperature needed to safely cook raw meat.

So, we spent months limping along with heating up ready made meals (which with kids translates to meatballs and chicken nuggets).

Finally we were able to coordinate with the owner (who lives in a foreign country) to approve the charges of an oven to be taken off our next month's rent.  But then we had to comparison shop prices and features.  We finally found a couple of models, emailed the owner's daughter (the only one in the communication chain with an email address), and they were deemed "too expensive".  They countered with the cheapest thing on the market, which fortunately didn't fit the space so we could eliminate it from consideration.

Finally A (daddy) found an internet store which sold the model we desired at a price which was much less than the brick store we had visited.  Still more than the landlord had hoped, but so much less than our first suggestion that they eventually agreed.

So, A placed the order.  But it was the holidays (Jan 1-9 no one works in Russia).  So at the end of the holidays, the internet store arranged for delivery of the new oven (of course delivery is extra).  Of course, coming in a truck, they were subject to Moscow crazy traffic, so they couldn't give us anything more precise than a delivery date (no time).  At last it arrived, the delivery guys hauled it up in the elevator, cut open the shrink wrap and styrofoam, and we paid cash for the oven and delivery.

And there it sat until the next day.  Installation of the oven is extra.  And since delivery couldn't be guaranteed at a certain time, the installer couldn't come until the following day.  The kitchen isn't very big, so the oven took up most of it.  At first A thought he could just shift it into position and plug it in himself.  How hard can "installation" be?

Pretty hard.  The oven had an electrical cord coming out the back which looked "hacked off", i.e., just insulated wire with metal ends sticking out, no plug.

But when we shifted the old oven out of its place (not covered in delivery) there wasn't really an outlet to "plug" into either.  The old oven had been "installed" by screwing the loose wire to the wall electrical feed.  Pretty scary.

So, when the installer came the next day, he could be much more precise about his arrival because he took the metro (the best thing about Moscow, by far, and totally reliable as to time).  He brought all the relevant missing pieces (I guess they are used to this).  He installed a heavy duty outlet onto the wall and wired in a real plug onto the oven.  Yah, done.  (Now we see why it's an extra charge).

Only problem?  The outlet with the oven plug protrudes at least 3 inches from the wall.  That means the only thing that can go in front of the plug is the oven itself (which has an overhang in the back to cover the space between the back of the machine and the wall.  So we had to rearrange the other cabinets to put the oven in its place--the cabinets are flush against the wall.

When the landlord's agent next came by, we proudly showed her the gleaming new oven. She got upset it was right next to the refrigerator.  (In her world, both of those kind of things "leak" too much hot/cold to be put next to each other).

But we like it.  Now we can cook for real.  Best part?  "Delayed start" regime.   Put a roast in the oven before the marathon day we call Sundays around here (we are gone about 6 hours), come home and the roast has just finished cooking.   You can see the timer in the photo, counting down to the finish.

Hot meal at the end of a long day? Priceless.

Well, about US $ 675.