jema
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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
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tahir
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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
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sean
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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.
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tahir
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 Go Sean!
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jema
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Nice  I admit rapid heat would be very useful.
jema
ps) wandering off to ebay to look for hob bargains.
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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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!
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cab
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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.
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wellington womble
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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! 
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jema
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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
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sean
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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.'
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Sarah D
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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.
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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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! 
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wellington womble
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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!
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Treacodactyl
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| 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.
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jema
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I'm a slow cooker fan, so a lot of my simmers go in the crock pot.
jema
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Treacodactyl
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I have one in the loft, I must get it down now we have some worktops in our kitchen.
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alison
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In the house we have a very old aga, oil fired. We also have a creda cooker and electric hob, which was fitted with the kitchen.
In the B&B we use the oven we had as a wedding present 15 years ago. Creda electric, ceramic hob.
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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| the fiddlesticks crew wrote: | 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! |
no Aga sized envelope has thudded on to the mat -sulk- 
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Gervase
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At the moment I'm using an absolutely sh*te LPG cooker in the caravan with an oven just big enough to roast a teal and four tiny burners. When the kitchen's done, though, the Rayburn is for the heave and an LPG Britannia range with electric oven will be the centrepiece. Ah, such stuff as dreams are made of!
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anneka
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Where is it?As I live with my MIL I use her Aga - it is very good. I can't remember how to cook using an electric oven any more. It's oil fired, but does not rely on electricity to pump the fuel, so good in a power cut.
As and when we get to the kitchen in our house we will get a solid fuel rayburn (a lot cheaper and more efficient than Aga). My parents have one of these and were recently discussing whether to convert it to oil but decided to leave it as it is for a number of reasons. Practice makes perfect when it comes to keeping dust down to a minimum - mums super good at this, and veiws the daily shuggeling and stoking as looking after a pet. They don't let it go out in the winter, so they stay at home or get one of us to look after it (along with the other animals).
Anneka
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Debbie
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what sort of cooker do you useAt home we have a bog standard electric oven and hob. Would prefer gas but there isn't any. We are lucky to have electric and that is a bit erratic.
At work I have to use an oil fired aga. I HATE IT. I used to think I wanted an aga till I met this one (parents had a solid fuel one). It is a 4 oven aga (probably two cobabled together is the expert opinion) and is ancient. The two left hand ovens do not work. The top right oven does what it feels like and the bottom right oven takes half hour to get plates vaguley warm. The top left hob is the "fast" hob and took an hour to make two pints of cheese sauce. The right hand one you might as well forget about. It is serviced every six months. Try cooking a six course meal for 16 on that and keep a smile on your face.
It hates me 
Sorry........rant over.
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EMW Sanctuaries UK
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solid fuel rayburn yes another solid fuel rayburn user here, though have got a little Creda leccy one 'just in case' and for when it's boiling hot in the Summer ( though who cooks then???)..love th Rayburn, instant heat, really easily regulated oven temp and nowwe've got an airbrick in the wall along side and a fan above it's fume free too...( also brill for warming/drying gloves/socks etc...and the odd chick or 6 have hatched out courtesy of Rayburn!)
emw x
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alison
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Debbie next time you get it serviced, your boss people, get the engineer to turn the tube inside so it aims the heat differently. Ours did this for us and the difference was fantastic. (Excuse the non technical terms)
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Debbie
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what sort of cooker do you useThanks, I'll try Alison. The service people seemed to think it needed taking away and reparing but they wanted £3,500 to do it!!!!!!! Can't see that happening in a hurry its been the same way for the last 12 years.
I'm probably being unfair to all other agas that no doubt behave themselves as all agas should do
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jema
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Re: what sort of cooker do you use | Debbie wrote: | Thanks, I'll try Alison. The service people seemed to think it needed taking away and reparing but they wanted £3,500 to do it!!!!!!! Can't see that happening in a hurry its been the same way for the last 12 years.
I'm probably being unfair to all other agas that no doubt behave themselves as all agas should do |
What is the cost of a new one then?
jema
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alison
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I think it about £8000 for a 4 oven
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jema
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| alison wrote: | | I think it about £8000 for a 4 oven |
But it sounds like the sort of thing you could get at a catering auction for a lot less than the new price?
jema
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alison
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A catering cooker maybe, but not an aga. Not all rural areas have gas though, and a range is best with gas, imo.
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anneka
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You can get them second hand, refurbished though. Don't know how much MIL got hers for £1500 about 10 years ago. May have P/X with the old one though.
Anneka
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