Buying Advice

Hi there

You gave some great advice when we bought our Miele fridge freezer so hoping you can help here too!

We want to buy a new freestanding cooker. Ideally it would fit a slot 55 cm wide but because we are due to remodel our kitchen a wider recommendation would be ok. So first question - do the options/value for money get better as the cooker gets wider? I understand that there's not much choice at 55cm wide?

Second question - what sort of money do we need to spend to get a decent cooker? We bake quite a bit as well as cook meals at both low temps and high temps. We're keen to try dual fuel (although our last ovens have been fitted electric ovens with ceramic hobs). Saw the 55cm wide Stoves dual fuel cookers DF550 on John Lewis website - are they decent quality? http://www.johnlewis.com/230538598/Product.aspx

We're a family of three with a toddler so an insulated oven door is important.

We inherited a Tricity Bendix electric cooker but the thermostat is broken (goes up to 280C when turned on) and would like to make sure that what we buy will cook better than if we repaired the existing oven.

REally hoping you can make some good suggestions - if you need more information please ask!

thanks again

Tamsen

Just wondering if there's any advice anyone can give us?

We just burnt another cake in the existing oven and really need to get a new one!

thank again in advance

Tamsen

Hi Tamsen

That Stoves is about as good as it gets to be fair as 55cm cookers are very thin on the ground generally. If you look at 60cm wide then your choice will be better as Belling, Cannon and Hotpoint among others are available.

HTH

Don

Thanks Don, that's really helpful.

May I also ask if you think it's worth going a bit wider? Are the Belling, Cannon and Hotpoint better makes/value for money? What sort of price will get us a decent cooker that will last ten years and more?

Thanks again

Tamsen

Tamsen wrote:Thanks Don, that's really helpful.

What sort of price will get us a decent cooker that will last ten years and more?

Tamsen

Probably one of these Aga's, it won't be cheap though.

Don

Thanks Don - So the Belling, Cannon and Hotpoint models are good but won't last the ten years? Not sure if we can afford an Aga - even a renovated one. What would be next best?

Tamsen

Probably the Stoves machines first then the Cannon.

Don

Thanks Don - is going for a 60 cm Stoves cooker better than the 55 cm or does it just depend on the features you want, as each seems to offer slightly different type of cooking? How long do you reckon the Stoves cooker would last? I've been chatting to the AGA sales man on his site and it's very tempting ...

The 60cm will give you bigger oven capacities and from there it just depends on the features which are best suited to you. As for life expectancy that depends on how it's treated and how hard a life it's going to get.

Average use and treated well I would like to expect 7-9 years lifespan.

Don

Thanks Don for answering all my impossible to answer questions (how long is a piece of string etc) One final one - would/should the AGA give 3x the life span if treated well? (cos it costs about 3 x as much?)

Tamsen

If they are built to the same exacting standards as their range cookers then yes it probably will.

I would find my nearest stockist and check them both out.

Any more for any more

Don

Think that's it Don! Off to check the stockists now

Oh and thanks again - really helpful as ever

Tamsen