What sort of cooker do you use?

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What sort of cooker do you use?
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jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28234
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:00 pm Post subject: What sort of cooker do you use?

Whenever I am in an electrical shop, I admire the gleaming rows of great looking range cookers, though I wonder what % of people use them for anything but making their kitchens look flash

But I always think that practically, especially when dealing with anything with a lot of hot fat, i'd much rather have the builtin double oven we have, as it is on a level where you don't have to bend down. The OH reckons she would not actually be able to fully use a range oven beause of this.

The other thing about our oven, is that apart from some "self cleaning" sides, it is about as basic a fan oven as you can get, aside that is from being a double oven. We just couldn't see that we would get any real use out of any fancy features.

So what do people here use and why?

jema

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45669
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:02 pm Post subject:
Gas hob cos I like the controllability of gas. A built in oven at a decent height, and an eye level built in combi oven

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:05 pm Post subject:

A 90 cm Britannia range, which is my pride and joy. Six burner hob, including a wok burner. Two ovens, 60cm and 30cm. The 30cm one has a built in spit

. The 60cm one has about ten functions, but I mostly use it as a conventional oven. Oh, and it has a rapid heat function, so it gets to 200C in about 5 minutes. And it's A rated for energy efficiency.
And in answer to your question, because I'm worth it.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45669
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:07 pm Post subject:
Go Sean!

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28234
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:10 pm Post subject:
Nice I admit rapid heat would be very useful. jema ps) wandering off to ebay to look for hob bargains.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:18 pm Post subject:

we have the oven and hob that came with the house - we've only been here a year - its an old Creda electric fan one, but I have my doubts as to its efficiency as it was probably put in when the kitchen and house were built some 10 years ago. The hob is a ceramic one. There is no gas in the village, some folk have oil or LPG but we are all electric. I use to have a Neff fan oven in the last house which was just brilliant. I would love one of those again as the cirotherm thingy was just so reliable, but I would really like a range cooker, for the flexiblity of two ovens which I also used to have. An Aga would be the ultimate. Both would mean a whole new kitchen which we know we will have to do whilst we are in this house, but its not possible at the moment, need dosh!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 4:19 pm Post subject:

I've used a big range cooker, I've used gas, and I've used electric. There's a slight advantage to gas, in that it's very fast for changing temperature, but ultimately it hardly matters.

We have a simple belling electric cooker; it was in the house when we bought it from our old landlady. Thought about replacing it afortnight ago when one of the rings died, but instead I bought a new ring and fitted it (I'm on a roll; also fixed two electric lamps and an iron that evening!).

I suppose anything that isn't one of the awful stone-like electric hot plates; those things heat and cool down so damned slowly that I think they're pointless.

When we do replace it, we might get a gas one.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 7:10 pm Post subject:

I like gas. I don't so much mind about the oven, but it's got to be a gas hob. I've never had any problems with my gas oven (unless you count cleaning it!) but I hated my mums ceramic hob. I also hate eye level grills (who's bloody eye level for a start!) and hobs that aren't above the oven. I don't mind the bending. Actually I don't use the grill at all much.

I love the big gas range cookers, and the time I could have used the extra oven space are numerous! MIL had one, and used it all the time,. but FIL is a food techie, so it was semi commercial.

Can't figure out how rayburns work, despite looking on their webiste (it doesn't say what they run on) but love the idea of an aga - I thought they had real fire in, until a few days ago!

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
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Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 7:16 pm Post subject:
Definately gas hob, electric oven, mine is right by the hob, so as convenient as if it were below. Have used an electric hob recently on holiday that was a lot more advanced and controllable than the run of the mill electric hob, but my money is still on gas. jema

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 04 7:33 pm Post subject:
As my brother put it when doing his kitchen: 'People say get a flash electric hob, because they're nearly as good as gas now. But gas IS as good as gas, and a lot cheaper.'

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 04 12:57 am Post subject:

When we bought our first house, I had an electric cooker which we bought. When we had the kitchen re-fitted/built/done, I got a cooker with a gas hob and electric fan oven, which I thought was brilliant. However, we bought our current house on the strength of the garden, but a closely run second was the Rayburn. We had decided to have a Rayburn or Aga anyway, but this one has a 1970s Rayburn, which was run on oil when we moved in. Mr L converted it back to solid fuel, and we have never looked back. I could/would not return to gas or electricity; I like my cooker to have soul! We were given about 6 months by a lot of people, who expected us to go back to oil, or at least buy an electric cooker as well. No chance. Wouldn't have anything else now. It heats the water and the house; yes, it can be temperamental, but then, can't we all? I cook/use it according to how it decides it is going to run that day.
The only other cooker I would consider would be an Esse cooker (brought up on that, albeit oil; I believe you can get solid fuel ones), or a proper woodstove.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 04 9:37 am Post subject:
I shall write this quietly but...... theres a prize draw to win an Aga in todays Telegraph you're not to enter cos I'm going to win it!

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 04 2:18 pm Post subject:
Off to buy the telegraph.. If I win, I'll loan it to you untill I have a kitchen big enough to fit it in!

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 04 6:33 pm Post subject:

Lowlander wrote:

I could/would not return to gas or electricity; I like my cooker to have soul! We were given about 6 months by a lot of people, who expected us to go back to oil, or at least buy an electric cooker as well. No chance. Wouldn't have anything else now.

Having watched my mum use a wood fired Rayburn for several years when I was a lad that's the type of cooker I want. Yes it was temperamental, but with a little understanding on both sides it was great.

Currently I use a gas hob and an electric fan oven (AEG and less than �350 from B&Q for s/steel). I've found the most used burner is the smallest one, but then we do simmer things a fair bit.

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28234
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 04 6:36 pm Post subject:
I'm a slow cooker fan, so a lot of my simmers go in the crock pot. jema

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