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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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