Alderlea a dirt magnet? (checking out a sour review)

[mar13]

I was reading one of the Alderlea reviews (T6) and the person was complaining about cleaning the exterior and regretted not getting a Summit/Super Classic. I recognize anything with lots of reviews will get a few sour reviewers.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/ratings.php?do=viewrating&ratingid=2418

What's the experience of Alderlea owners out there with regards to keeping it looking nice? Over all, I see positive comments about the Alderlea with regards to performance and looks, and assume choice would still just come down to whatever one the buyer personally considers better looking.

I'm still waiting for my state stove voucher to arrive, so the extra time waiting has me spending (excessive?) time researching before I get to pull the trigger.

Thanks!

 

[AlbergSteve]

@begreen might chime in...

 

[begreen]

True of almost any cast iron stove and not peculiar to the T6. Actually this is one of the things I like about the T6 is that after 10 years the paint still looks good. This is because the jacket doesn't get nearly as hot as a true cast iron stove. I just give it a wipe with a slightly damp rag when cleaning out the ash. We're careful about what we put on the stove and while there is some minor staining on the trivet top, overall the stove's finish still looks good.

For fussy folk an enameled stove may be a better option. The Summit Classic is has a porcelain enameled steel jacket, just like a kitchen stove. It's an easy wipe down to keep it shining bright.

 

[mar13]

Thanks for your input, begreen. I was anticipating your reply with some good insight. I'll just consider that reviewer an outlier. I've been using a painted black cast iron for 15 years (VC Vigilant) and haven't found it a bother to keep it clean enough to meet my standards, so I suspect the Alderlea line shouldn't be any different.

Enameled stoves... I wish more companies enameled cast iron in black( , but that would be a different thread). The Bostonian does and the Alderlea used to. I guess the market isn't out there. (Their white and majolica , didn't appeal to my wife.)

 

[begreen]

The Alderlea keeps much cleaner and fresher looking than our VC Resolute did. I agree with you, the Alderlea T5 in black was sharp looking.

 

[sutphenj]

True of almost any cast iron stove and not peculiar to the T6. Actually this is one of the things I like about the T6 is that after 10 years the paint still looks good. This is because the jacket doesn't get nearly as hot as a true cast iron stove. I just give it a wipe with a slightly damp rag when cleaning out the ash. We're careful about what we put on the stove and while there is some minor staining on the trivet top, overall the stove's finish still looks good.

For fussy folk an enameled stove may be a better option. The Summit Classic is has a porcelain enameled steel jacket, just like a kitchen stove. It's an easy wipe down to keep it shining bright.

I'm one year in on the f55 and while it's technically a jacketed stove the top cast is not jacketed. See the impact in the pic below. I'm going to have to run some paint on it and not really looking forward to that.

 

[mcstatz5829]

I’ve only had it a few months, but I don’t find my Alderlea to be difficult to keep looking great. When it’s cool I just vacuum the ash that fell on the lip.