Hi all, I haven't been on here for a while because I have been sick and am in the process of tring to get my disability. Because of this I have not been able to work in 9 months. So I am going to have to try and sell my 50's O'keefe and Merritt stove, This Baby is in excellent condition and everything works great on it. It is perfect on the outside and a good cleaning on the inside will be really all it needs. If anyone knows of anyone that may be interested in this beauty, please wmail me at psa195460@yahoo.com I really need to sell this because of my medical problems and I would like to get at least 2000.00 for it. It sounds like a lot of money for this to me too, but as I said it is a beauty and works great. thanks so much

Mikael, Interesting thoughts. I would imagine that a HVAC professional who's a good tinkerer could fix you up with stronger burner outlets in a vintage range, but then you'd have to figure out how to increase the capacity of the valves themselves, wouldn't you? I'm certainly no expert, but dimes to donuts some geeky gas tech guy who lives in his mom's basement could outfit you in a jiffy. ;-). But aren't gas stoves (like the OKM) UL listed for the btus they're designed with? The efficacy of doing such a modification probably depends on how severe the building code/inspectors are in your area. If by surface flames you mean the burner pilot light (it's one for all 4 burners), it is well covered and not exposed. Our OKM pilot does make a slight warm spot under the griddle where it sits, but I rather like that feature for tasks like melting butter. But maybe you mean unsealed burners? I will share that I used a friend's full-grated Wolf gas stove while on a visit a while back, and those honking big grates actually rather annoyed me. I wanted to put things down -- stirring spoons, mise bowls, etc -- in the center between the burners, but couldn't do so because of the full grate. So I suspect that's all a matter of habit, like many of these issues. If you've never slid pots back and forth without lifting them slightly, you won't miss not being able to. Question: what's a "patio stove"? Up here in Maine, anything like that would be covered in 5 feet of snow half the year. :)

I lost my beloved 1953 O'Keefe & Merritt when we downsized a couple of years ago, but yes, the oven and broiler doors were always very hot. I suspect the insulation was pretty much shot. It's too call for anyone to call Child Protective on me, so I'll admit that when my then-toddler (now age 45, and her own kids are mid-teens) was heading toward the broiler door one day and reaching slowly toward it, I said loudly and firmly, "Christy! Do NOT touch that! It's very hot! You'll get burned and it will hurt!" I stayed very close but did not stop her as she reached out one inquisitive finger and got a tiny blister. I gained a heck of a lot of credibility that day... There are ways to take an O'Keefe & Merritt apart, remove the old insulation, and replace it... A good idea we never acted on. You might consider doing that, for safety's sake. There are also some rebuilder$ who do that work, but you'd need to live in or near California.

Has it been refurbished or is it in original condition? Has it been converted from pilot lighting to modern ignition and modern safety features? I ask, because in some locations this can't be reinstalled unless the range is modernized, or if it is installed without modernization if the house catches fire, insurance may be voided. It's tricky in some areas because if is original it may be grandfathered, but it can't be removed from one place and installed in another. Typically an original condition gas range will sell for around $500while the same range refurbished may bring 10x -15x that. I am facing this with a Chambers oven and cooktop. I got them for a couple hundred dollars but will spend several thousand having them completely restored and modernized. A Chambers C model will often sell for under $1000. A restored copper finish C model is for sale for $13,500. All the money is in the restoration. There was a very fancy and rare O'Keefe and Merrit eye level double oven for sale for $19,000--after full restoration.