Very interesting about Chambers stoves. They look very practical. Rachel Ray must like them for a reason. I saw her flip open the stove top broiler (?) the other day to toast bread. Never saw that in a stove. Plus nice retro 1940s look same as her refrigerator and rest of kitchen.... I think. I will look more closely next time
FWIW I don’t like ultra slick kitchens with marble counter tops and top of the line appliances. I vastly prefer ye old Formica counter tops and average appliances. Mine are 1974 vintage GE and I like them just fine. You can have the best appointed kitchen on your block but if you or your wife cook stupid food in it that puts you in an early grave, what’s the point?
I used to be a cabinet maker and I will agree with your love of Formica (Wilsonart, Pioneer, etc.) entirely. The herd drive to high-end stone surfaces is beyond me. For starters, they scratch, chip and pick up stains - there are more complaints, but that’s a start. Formica just keeps on going - when it expires - a couple hundred bucks and you’re like new.
Cooking, or the ability to cook, brings in an entirely new dimension. I can’t tell you how many women I know that couldn’t cook a decent meal to save their souls. Oh sure, they have a dish or two they use to impress people, but real cooking (i.e., biscuits, canning, bread, pot roast, etc.) is several leagues outside their experience. Still, the demand for commercial appliances and tools has never been higher.
Go figure.