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Rangemaster Classic 90
by Lunaria
My favourite appliances in our kitchen are a Breville kettle (review written) and this Rangemaster classic cooker. We bought and installed the cooker a few years ago when the renovation of our kitchen was finally completed. It stands almost centrally at one end and provides an attractive focal point. We have the matt black model with a ... chrome bar and handles and also a matt black cooker hood to match.
The Rangemaster classic reminds me of a much loved little Rayburn in the first property my husband and myself lived in, the cooker has a traditional look about it and suits our cottagey style kitchen. It stands 90cm high, 60cm deep and 90cm wide, it doesn't overwhelm the kitchen or look too bulky for a range cooker in any way and this I'm very pleased with.
The gas hob consists of 5 burners. A large double ring burner is on the right hand side with plenty of space around it for a frying pan, wok, jam pan or griddle plate. The other four burners are arranged with a large ring and small ring at the front and two medium rings at the back. I find the large ring at the front a little awkward in its position and would ideally swap it with one of the medium size rings at the back, however as I mainly use the largest double ring when cooking I find little need for it anyway. I like the sturdiness of the pan supports, they are cast iron and finished in matt black. Heat control of the burners is superb in my mind.
We use the grill almost daily finding the width suitable for grilling food for a family meal as well as using the option of heating only half of it for toast in the mornings. The grill heats very quickly and again there is a good control of temperature. The grill pan is made of enamelled steel and the chrome rack is adjustable for height.
Out of the two electric fan ovens I mostly use the oven below the grill. It is a good size at 54cm wide and 45cm high for the majority of the baking and cooking that I do. It is extremely quick to reach temperature and holds a good constant heat. The interior has self cleaning panels and adjustable shelving. The glass window in the door is easy to keep clean and provides a good view of inside the oven with the use of an interior light. The second oven on the right hand side is tall and narrow, ideal for when I make a large batch of tarts or muffins or want to keep food warm. The temperature gage on the front of the tall oven provides constantly accurate readings (my husband has tested this... don't ask....) Both oven doors open smoothly and catch into position securely.
I love the black and chrome knob controls along the front edge as they are not only stylish but comfortable to use and easy to position. A central display panel indicates the time and settings chosen. One little aspect to perhaps mention is when the clock is not set as is often the result of a power cut, the ovens will not operate.
Everything about this cooker has a feel of quality and sturdiness to it. I rarely have to put much in the way of effort towards keeping it clean, it is a pleasure to use, easy to operate and reliable in performance.
Available in a choice of colours; cream, cranberry, matt black, racing green and royal blue. The Rangemaster classic 90 range cooker is for sale online at Currys priced £1,549.00 and at CookersAndOvens for £1467.00.
Thank you for reading x
This review also appears on Ciao.
© Lunaria 2012
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Hotpoint HUG61G
by lak11
HOTPOINT ULTIMA HUG61G GAS COOKER
GOODBYE NEW WORLD HELLO HOTPOINT
My last cooker was a New World gas oven. It was won by my son who entered a local newspaper competition when he was primary school age (he is now twenty-two) and I think whilst still in the infants. The oven must have been fifteen or sixteen ... years old. For its time it was a good cooker, in my opinion, with good features but was a little on the small side for our family, being only 50cm in width and it was a single oven. I coaxed him to enter although didn't think for one minute he'd win (Don't tell him I said that!) as at this time I desperately needed a new oven and was wondering how I could budget for this expense. We came home from our week's holiday and among the mail waiting on the doormat was a letter saying that he had won first prize-a New World Cooker and a child sized chef's hat and apron. You can probably imagine that my son wasn't overly thrilled at winning an oven, although it's nice to win something. But, in winning he'd saved me a considerable amount of money and so I thought it only fair to use a little of the money I would have had to spend to buy him a games console; this worked out a lot cheaper than an oven.
I did think, in more recent years, of getting a cooker upgrade but, as it had been won by my son, I didn't like to; I'm funny like that!
Recently, however, this cooker just gave up on us. Maybe we worked it to hard being a family of six. One Friday it was working and then on Saturday when I was out my eldest son rang my mobile to ask if I knew what was wrong with the oven. The gas was lighting but would only cook on a very low setting and only reached a temperature high enough to warm plates.
Luckily I have a small electric mini oven and a combination microwave so could make do for a few days but these don't seem to be working very well enough. It wasn't ideal but better than nothing, and I suppose I'm fortunate that I have other small cooking appliances to use, if I'm really pushed, such as a George Forman grill and a slow cooker but, then again, I don't really have the kitchen space to have so many appliances in use. I couldn't leave it long until I purchased a new oven.
WHY I CHOSE THIS OVEN
I decided that I wanted a double oven and one which was wider and of a bigger overall capacity than the one I had been using. Not long ago there were only three of us living in my home but now that there's five (and six when my youngest is home from university) a larger oven would be desirable. I've found when cooking a dinner that I have to do a lot of changing over of baking trays on the two shelves within the oven. This is particularly necessary as two of us don't eat meat and so if I prepare curry, Bolognese, chilli con carne or a casserole, I have to make two. I thought with a larger oven I might be able to place two casserole dishes alongside each other and nearer to the top of the oven where the food cooks quickest. Also, having a double oven would be very useful when cooking Sunday lunch or Christmas dinner. I decided to look for:
A gas oven with single fuel
A double oven
A lid to close over the hobs
A 60cm (width) sized oven
When looking on-line I short listed to three or four possibilities and then decided to go to Curry's and Comets to look at the ovens. I was disappointed with both shops though as they didn't have many single fuel gas ovens on display and so I had to visit another store to see the ovens that I had in mind. Eventually I chose the Hotpoint HUG61G
WHERE TO PURCHASE?
Now I knew which cooker I wanted I looked on-line to see if I could find a good price. I found that prices varied. Finally I decided to purchase from Co-op electrical stores for the offer price of £437.99. I considered this a good price although it wasn't the very cheapest, but I trusted the website. Also delivery was free and, as we have Co-op membership, we would gain points on this purchase.
I ordered on-line and the process was easy. I chose a delivery day which I think was in three days' time. If I had purchased from Curry's this same day was the soonest they could deliver and they would have charged £20.00. As well as paying for the oven I also paid £9.99 for the service of removing and recycling my old cooker.
I immediately received a confirmation email and this informed me that a further email would be received advising of a delivery slot for the arranged day.
DELIVERY
I was advised the day before that my cooker would be delivered on the Friday afternoon and I was given a ninety minute time slot. It arrived a couple of hours earlier, but this was after I received a phone call asking if earlier delivery would be convenient.
The oven was brought into the kitchen.
The old cooker had been left on my driveway and although I had paid for the delivery men to remove it someone beat them to it-scrap merchants. I told the delivery man of this and he phoned his company's customer services who then spoke to me and said that I would be refunded the £9.99 I had already paid. This would be paid directly into my account. It did.
APPEARANCE
This gas oven is supplied, I believe, in black, white, silver, stainless steel and graphite. I liked the black but chose graphite as it goes with my other appliances. I now think that although the oven looks good in the graphite colour, black would have been a better choice and would probably stay looking pristine for longer than the lighter graphite. Oh well, too late now!
I think the oven looks good. It has a lid which provides extra work space and I like the hob to be covered when not in use. However, I find this lid when lifted almost flies up and I think it would be better if it were heavier and felt more solid.
The oven has a digital display on the front near to the controls.
The main oven has an interior light.
USING THE OVEN
(MAIN OVEN)
I like the way the door of this oven opens and closes with ease. The door opens to the side easily using the large easy to grip handle which goes across the width of the door. When opening display oven doors I found some were more difficult and had to be tugged quite hard. This isn't a good thing in an oven especially if pans are in use on the hob. The HUG61G is lovely to use in this respect.
The controls for the main oven start at 'S' and then are numbered from 1to 9 and this means that the temperature can be set between 80 to 230 degrees centigrade.
The main oven has two shelves which can be changed into different height position quite easily. With some other models that I was considering this wasn't as easy.
One great thing about this oven is the fact that it seems to pre heat quickly and so the cooking process is certainly quicker than with my last cooker.
I can fit two largish casserole dishes side by side in this oven, meaning that a meal is much quicker to cook as both can be placed in the hottest part of the oven and swapping over of shelf positions becomes less necessary.
Once the food is cooked then the 'S' operation can be used which keeps the food warm or 'S' can be sued as a slow cooker. I had this feature in my old oven and use it often.
TOP OVEN
The idea of the top oven is to cook smaller amounts of food than in the larger main oven or, if cooking a large meal then some items can be cooked in the top oven as well as using the main oven. I've found that it's big enough to cook lots of different types of meals for two.
I like the way with this oven that if the grill is on (and the door of this oven/grill must be open when using the grill) and I need to get to the main oven I can open both doors at the same time. I couldn't do this with my last oven and to access my oven had to almost close the grill. This is much easier and safer.
The door of the oven/grill opens downwards. The handle is easy to grip.
The top oven can be used as a small oven or a grill. I think a small oven is a good feature as quite often as if only cooking for two then this is big enough and must be more economical to use than the larger main oven.
When using as an oven it can be set from 1 to 8 (120 to 225 degrees centigrade)
One shelf is supplied with the top oven and its height can be adjusted.
GRILL
A grill pan is supplied and the grill on the HUG61G can be turned up or down which I had thought was the case with all grills but during my search I discovered that some cannot be varied; they're either on or off. I like a variable control grill for foods which I finish off under the grill and like to adjust as I go.
The same control switch is used for the grill and small oven-turn one way for the grill or the other way (with the numbered settings) to use as an oven.
HOB
Another thing I liked about this cooker is that it has four hotplates two of which are large rapid burners and two medium. One of the large hotplates is situated at the back. In some ovens I viewed there was only one large burner and it was placed at the front. If frying, or boiling potatoes, I use the large burner and always like to keep large pans and chip pans to the rear of the oven where there is less chance of them being knocked. I rarely have children in the house but my kitchen can be like Liverpool Street Station at times and anything that makes things a bit safer makes sense to me.
Lighting these hotplates with automatic ignition takes a little getting used to as they have to be held in and I kept letting out the switch too soon and the flame then goes The top of the oven has four burners of which two are medium and two large rapid burners.
There are four enamel pan rests which I think is an advantage to my former oven which had only two; four small rests are easier to remove to clean and they also fit easily into a washing up bowl.
TIMER
This oven has a digital display clock/timer. Both the top and main oven can be controlled to time cooking but not to a different time i.e. if the main oven is set for one hour then the small oven can only be set for this same amount of time.
The timer can be set easily by pressing the digital display either in its plus or minus position. Once the food has been cooked for the amount of time set the display shows 'END' and a buzzer sounds.
FITTING THE OVEN
Our problem was that we have a fitted kitchen and this was fitted for a 50cm oven and we purchased a 60cm model. My husband had to move things along and trim some worktop off here and there to enlarge the housing space for this oven.
Luckily we know a couple of CORGI registered installers and can usually contact one quickly to help. In this case installation was very straightforward and quick.
Please bear in mind that it is my understanding that according to current legislation gas appliances in the home must be fitted or checked by a qualified CORGI gas fitter.
OTHER FEATURES
The glass lid has a safety cut-out device which means that if you accidentally close the lid and the flame is still lit it will go out when the lid closes as the gas supply will be halted.
It has a flame supervision device (FSD) or flame failure device) which detects if the flame is extinguished accidentally and then will cut off the supply of gas.
The oven has 'stay clean' catalytic liners inside both the top and main oven
Automatic ignition variable gas
Grill zoned gas ovens
Electronic clock & minute minder
Enamel pan supports
Slow cook setting
DIMENSIONS
900 x 600 x 600 mm (H x W x D)
GETTING JUST A TINY BIT TECHNICAL
Main oven (usable volume): 60 litres
Top oven (usable volume): 23 litres
AVAILABILITY/PRICE
CURRY'S: £549.99
CO- OP ELECTRICAL: £449.99
BOOTS KITCHEN APPLIANCES: £546.00
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I like this oven as it is easy to use as well as looking modern and attractive and blending well with other appliances in my kitchen. It's easy to keep clean both inside and out (catalytic liners inside the ovens). The inner glass on the door slides out (this was the same with my last oven) and can then be cleaned so that the internal glass can be cleaned of any grease splashes. But although I like it I don't think it is the perfect cooker, if there is one, yet I think, bearing in mind cost and the space I have available then for my family, it is very suitable. I believe I paid a reasonable price for this.
I think (and hope) that my HUG61G will last well but possibly not for as long as my previous cooker did.
And, I will admit, however nice any cooker is. I would rather let it rest often while I go out to eat, letting someone else use their cooker instead of mine.
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Cannon CH60ETC
by thedevilinme
I hate eye level grills! They seem to be designed purely to spit hot fat in your eyes. Once those big and round Walls Sausages go under you better make sure you have pricked them well or you going to lose your 'meat pies' mate! Where possible the grill should be 'crown jewels' level, end of! I do most of the grilling food in the ... microwave now because of that.
Gas ovens are too expensive to run now and so never a consideration for our new cooker and if I'm going to be suffocated from carbon monoxide build up it's still going to be because of our old boiler. You can also leave electric oven doors open in the winter after cooking to heat up the kitchen lovely! If you live in a tower or apartment block you can heat your whole flat that way!
So, Cannon make cookers? It was one we had to 'snap up' at this price! See what I've done there? I will admit we didn't pay anywhere near the asking price at six hundred bucks and got a display model through Laskys, around 270 bucks. They wouldn't deliver it though. I would not recommend buying anything on tick from this company only if you have to, outrageous interest rates on offer. We bought ours by slamming cash down on the desk. In fact it's always asking if you can buy window products that are not pre-packed and have been used but still pretty new models, which is the case here.
This one has all the bits you expect with a feet level oven and a chest level grill, like I said, eye level grills a bloody nightmare. The grill heats up quickly and the filaments well protected by bars so you don't burn your hands and fingers and doubles up as a small oven. The fat collecting tray could be deeper and it's still a mystery what we are supposed to do with used fat as far as the new recycling rules go. I tend to pour it over the compost like treacle to flavour it for the hedgehogs and foxes.
The main fan oven heats up nice although you should always go by your judgement when it's hot enough and not those instructions so much on the back of food packets. The hob is at a sensible level for adults although higher than normal and so if you have small kids the dangers are obvious and pans can easily be pulled off, not enough of these modern cookers having some sort of safety rail to stop that. As always designers and retailers want everything to look pretty as they know it sells better that way. When you have small kids you have a little gate at the top of their stairs and so you should have a safe cooker. You can't cut health & safety corners in the kitchen. Our car safety seats have to be very strict to European law yet no law on safe cookers?
The ceramic hob heats up quickly and feels more power efficient that way. Nothing worse than waiting for ever for your pasta to cook because it took ten minutes to boil. The grill is also a small fan oven with a glass door so you can keep an eye on things without losing that eye. You will burn your hand if you touch anything hot on the plat or grill though. You will be amazed how stupid consumers think we are and what diagrams they think we need to stop us doing just that. Ceramic hobs do keep the surrounding areas cooler though than traditional electric plate's and gas rings though.
The supplied trays and mesh are fine for your grilling and cooking needs and the handles to pull them out reasonably sturdy. Again you need to trust these guys not to uncouple and splash your lower half with hot fat when the tray falls off the handle. The oven claims to have self clearing linings but we will wait and se on that one. Cookers ALWAYS need a good clean and because it's a horrid job we don't do it enough. Listen to your old mum on that one. The grill try handles are detachable and at times it's like trying to hook the caravan up to the car to get these handles to lock in, again all to do with aesthetics. The knobs and buttons to turn things on and off and set timers etc are big and sensible and so neatly practical. You will need to wire this in directly to the cooker switch though and so not plug and play like most things in life. If its your FIRST electric cooker read the instructions.
I would not recommend a long warranty of over three years as they are generally a rip off and where salesmen and women earn their real commission. You are buying something practical and so it doesn't need to be pretty or expensive but just cook your food. We did it with wood and fire to get where we are today so it can't be that hard. There are not that many component parts to a cooker and as its very sturdy if there is a fault its normal a small fuse or you haven't cleaned it enough.
So summing up we have had no problems yet and got a good deal shopping around and perhaps wise to have at least one year's warranty. DO YOUR MEASURMENTS as cooker don't squeeze into tight gaps and make sure the plug point will stretch to the wires. Cooker flexes are not standard length and need to be wired in correctly. Also measure your doorways as you can lift and turn heavy duty kitchen ware to get through side doors. This model is 60cms wide and not all kitchen doors are.
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