Are these users? Would you?

[Joamon]

I bought these two items off of c...list. New in the box, unused.
I have always wanted one of these ovens, to try out, but not sure I want to use this one.







Keith

[parnold]

I know what you mean, I bought an anniversary lamp, and haven't been able to bring myself to fire it up.

[DragonFire]

I almost bid on one on ebay...that copper color, too. That's a nice find.

And as far as using it, if it's never been used, what good is camping stuff if it isn't being used? I would hesitate to use it, too. But somehow, use it gently, because that's what it was made for.

Or...WWDD? (What Would Doug Do?)

I'm guessing use it gently, keep the box, and enjoy. You respect that it's vintage and never used, so enjoy every time you use it.

I'm still hoping to find one someday...blueberry muffins for breakfast!!

[eamarquardt]

If you don't use them, what are you going to do with them? I'm not entirely convinced that they'll look good in your living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom and they'll just take up space in your garage.

Use em and enjoy em.

Cheers,

Gus

[Maureenm]

I vote for use, and love! Those folks that are lucky enough to have older items that they remember from when they were kids- they wouldn't have those great memories if dad kept everything in the box on a shelf.
Be gentle is great advice,though.
I have the current version of that little oven and it is fun to have.

[campmaster-k]

Use them ! Use it all. Shelf queens are good for nothing. Take them camping and show off your cool Coleman Booty.

[Joamon]

So what what does the term Coleman Keepers mean? Maybe some of this stuff needs to be around for future campers 100 years from now.
I may keep my eyes open for a user.
Keith

[Wolffarmer]

I bought a used oven yesterday at an estate sale. It is copper colored but the door opens down, and only about 2/3 of the front is the door. I am thinking about making tomorrow a photo op day of the new treasures I have picked up latley

Randy

[Mark72]

Heck use them! What else where they made for? My camp oven is 1947 vintage Milcor oven I bought still in the sealed box!

Mark

[Wolffarmer]

Oh, I say use them also. In Dec i bought 3 very very nice lanterns. Probably a restoration job on one, the others used very little. I fired them suckers up and converted one to burn kerosene.

Randy

[doug hodder]

Use 'em....just don't ab-use 'em, unless you want to be collecting ovens and legs. If you take care of it...clean it up when necessary and don't over cook it...why not? Believe it or not...I do use all my stuff. I don't throw a pound of bacon in it and just fire it up and let'r go, but they do get used and I make sure to clean it up afterwards. It's the "not" cleaning that really ages stuff. None of my resto's are daily users, I've got several that I really don't care that much about, and they are the daily workhorse stoves.

The oven in my opinion has a bit of a learning curve to it. Sometimes, temperature regulation is a challenge....but I've done pies, bread, biscuits with no problems. The older one like you have has a better (more accurate) temp gauge in it than the new ones. The newer ones, are made of thinner materials, get warped easily and don't want to collapse as easily and have more seams in it to allow heat to escape.

I think that's what makes this stuff so fun, it's relatively inexpensive and so what if you use a really nice unfired item? I don't know what you paid for it, but if you were to double your money on it, is that profit going to make or break you? I'd think the enjoyment of actually using it and cooking for others on it is worth more than the value. The satisfaction of baking a scratch apple pie when out camping and getting the rave reviews from other campers and your family will outweigh the value in having it sit in a box.

I plan on keeping my stuff and if I don't...I got the pleasure of doing the restoration on it and using it for a while. Then, someone else can enjoy it. Doug

[campmaster-k]

So what what does the term Coleman Keepers mean? Maybe some of this stuff needs to be around for future campers 100 years from now.
I may keep my eyes open for a user.
Keith

Others please help me on this. Coleman Keepers is a state of mind. For me its bringing life to a dead item and giving it a good home. A home that will use it and not abuse it.

[Joamon]

For those of you that have used these ovens. Most of the used ones I have seen seem to rust after use. Is that from poor care or do these things just rust easily??
Keith

[Larry C]

For those of you that have used these ovens. Most of the used ones I have seen seem to rust after use. Is that from poor care or do these things just rust easily??
Keith

I have had the folding legs for 40 years. I have used them for various stoves, and they still look great. The oven being sheet steel is another story, it will probably just get rusty. I would definitely use the legs, they work great!


Larry C

[starleen2]

Another vote for the "just use em" category
This is what I built:

to do this:


It gives me incredible control over the heat output. I can regulate the temp and it will hold the temp. I tried the single burner stoves but you really can't regulate the heat very well.