Maybe your grandma used to use tinfoil to line her oven floor to aid cleanup.
But times have changed; tinfoil is no longer made of tin. The stuff you use to shield your ham is actually aluminum foil, which has a lower heat tolerance.
The high temperatures of your oven floor can actually cause the foil to melt right onto that oven surface.
And you can’t clean it off.
We’ve had Warners’ Stellian customers spend hundreds of dollars replacing the oven floor on relatively new ranges because of this well-intentioned mistake.
Instead, aluminum foil-makers suggest you line the oven rack you’re using with aluminum foil rather than lining the oven itself.
Yesterday, we received pretty much the sweetest letter from a customer in recent memory.
Not only did it remind us how great our customer service department is, it rhymed (well, mostly).
We’re so very appreciative of our customers that we’re delighted whenever the sentiment is returned.
We’re publishing the poem with you here, because it’s too cute to be shared with only an envelope:
I arose this morning
Happy as can be
Went into my kitchen
And what did I see?
Water all over
My nice clean floor
I opened my refrigerator
And couldn’t believe what I saw
A small lake in the bottom
Some frozen, some melted
I dashed for the phone
I really needed help
Tomorrow, they said,
My fridge would be fixed
I said OK
My popsicles melted off their sticks
I called back again
And with Lauren in St. Paul I pleaded,
Oh somehow can my fridge get fixed today?
And by gosh she conceded and they were on their way.
An hour or so later
Mike & Bill did arrive
When the truck pulled up
I was so happy I almost cried
What a great team
They saw the problem right away
Out came the tools
And eventually, the ice melted away
What a great company
to do business with
Which I have for many years
Give a toast to your employees, use champagne not beer
I wanted you to know
What great people work for you
Anytime stop by for a cold one
The bottles are cold thanks to your crew
Regards, Mike
Seriously, customers. Any time you offer creative appreciation AND beer, you have our attention 🙂
If you’ve replaced your refrigerator within the last several years, your shiny new model might be making its presence known in noisier way.
Why?
For one, foam insulation — often used to make these appliances more energy-efficient — lacks the sound-baffling capabilities of fiberglass insulation incorporated into previous energy hogs.
Here’s some other “normal” sounds to expect, along with their abnormal counterparts:
Evaporator coil
A boiling, surging or gurgling sound as the compressor starts and stops. Also, a pop as the evaporator expands and contracts after defrosting.
Evaporator fan
The sound of air being forced through the unit is normal, but a continuous ticking or even intermittent squealing is abnormal.
Defrost heater
Sizzling or hissing sound from water dropping onto the heater during defrost cycle
Compressor
Newer fridges’ compressors are much more efficient and run much faster, giving off a high-pitched hum, whine or pulse. But watch out for clicking during start up (especially if the lights dim), banging or knocking during start or stop, a ping or snap followed by the compressor stopping.
Cold control and defrost timer
A snapping or ticking sound as the refrigerator turns on and off
Plastic liner
Cracking or popping as the temperatures change
Drain pan
Running water during or after the defrost cycle
Water valve
Buzzing, clicking or running water as the icemaker fills or water is dispensed
Icemaker
Cracking of ice and cubes dropping into the bin
Condenser fan
Air being forced over the condenser is normal, but squealing from the motor is abnormal.
Condenser
You should hear a surging or gurgling sound from the flow of refrigerant when the compressor runs, but an improperly placed drain pan could cause rattling.
If the normal sounds bother you, consider a piece of rubber-backed carpet for underneath the fridge. You could even put sound absorbing materials inside the cabinet if the refrigerator sits in an enclosure.
Thanksgiving means two things: lots of food and lots of dirty dishes. And more dirt requires more soap, right?
WRONG.
Despite what you might think, too much soap can actually prevent your dishes from getting clean — especially on the top rack.
You should only use about half the amount of detergent recommended on the package. And if you have a water softener, you need only 1-2 teaspoons of powder — even less if you use liquid.
I think these people may have used too much detergent.
Too much soap can cause over-sudsing. Our customer service representative Maghan explained to me that the dishwasher tries to drain as much of the soap suds and food residue as it can. But when too much soap is used and it produces so many suds, the dishwasher can’t drain it all in the time allowed.
So instead of draining, the soap bubbles pop inside, redepositing tiny food particles back onto the dishes, which show up most on glassware and silverware.
How do you know if you’re over-sudsing? Run a cycle without any soap. If suds are left at the bottom of the tub, you’re over-sudsing.
To remedy, we suggest a “vinegar cycle”:
Empty any dishes and shut soap door, without adding any detergent
Run dishwasher until it gets to the wash cycle
Open the door and check if the dispenser flap has opened
If it hasn’t, run for another minute or so until the flap opens
If the flap has opened, add the 1 cup vinegar and run through the full cycle.
You might have to repeat the process two or three times to ensure you’ve eliminated the build up of soap. Maghan also suggests trying a dishwasher cleaner like Glisten or Dishwasher Magic.
So you go to take your dishes out of the dishwasher and they’re completely wet. Sound familiar?
If your dishwasher has a stainless steel tub, you probably need rinse aid. Sure, your dishwasher could be the best, highest-efficiency model. It still needs rinse aid. Rinse aid helps dry dishes by reducing water droplet formation. (Note: If you have a plastic tub and your dishes aren’t drying, you might need a service call on the heating element.)
If you’ve added rinse aid to your dishwasher and your dishes still come out wet, check if you’re washing a lot of plastic dishes. Sometimes these can exacerbate the problem. Have you ever noticed that plastic dishes often come out with droplets of water while all your glass and porcelain dishes are completely dry? That’s because plastic does not hold heat the same way regular dishes do.
Why does that matter? It throws the dishwasher off its drying mojo. Here’s how the dishwasher drying process works:Â The final rinse water reaches a very high temperature (at least 157 degrees on European models) — and the final rinse temperature is really important to the drying process. By now, the dishes ideally hold a lot of heat. But the stainless steel tub (hopefully you purchased a model with a SS tub) is a cooler surface, so the moisture collects on the tub and condensation naturally occurs.
Other things that throw the dishwasher off its drying mojo:
Washing all the dishes before you load them. Scrape off large food pieces, but just say no to washing your dishes before you wash them! If the dishes are clean, your smart dishwasher cuts the wash time down. If this happens, the dishwasher may not have time to get hot enough. The water is heated to more than 40 degrees higher than the hot water being piped in. There are other reasons to not wash your dishes before you wash them, but I’ll save those for another post…
You’re using the light or quick wash cycles for everyday stuff. It won’t usually wash or dry as well.
You’re not using rinse aid (shame on you). Rinse aid is a key element in drying and it will keep everything sparkling as well.
Maybe your grandma used to use tinfoil to line her oven floor to aid cleanup.
We’ve had Warners’ Stellian customers spend hundreds of dollars replacing the oven floor on relatively new ranges because of this well-intentioned mistake.
