Bit of a Bell End for Belling! (Belling G707SS)

Member Name: Smokindave

Product:	Belling G707SS
Date:	08/09/09 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looked nice to start with. Hobs worked okay

Disadvantages: Terrible design especially grill, oven and oven door. Difficult to keep clean

When we were looking for an oven to set off our newly fitted kitchen the Belling G707SS stood out as beautiful and stylish, yet had the all round specification we wanted for our family requirements. Now three years on, what has become of this perfectly formed machine?

Well actuallywe threw it out about two months ago, and no it was not exactly all that we hoped it would be. The reason this cooker was not a match made in heaven is surprisingly simple; it was appallingly designed and manufactured. So lets get to the nitty gritty.

Once again on paper this machine should impress, with its double oven, cast pan supports, its sleek silver polished finish and its stylish sweeping door handles, no wonder we were lured into purchasing it. This Belling creation had a price tag of over £500; a reassuringly expensive purchase surely?

When we had it settled into its final resting place, installed by an old fashioned Corgi registered engineer (they have a new name now), the Belling G707SS did look a splendid sight. We even had a matching silver polished extraction hood hovering proudly overhead. So what really burst the bubble in the end?

Well, the first noticeable issue came when using the main oven. There are two ovens of course, the top one doubling as a grill as well. We found that the main oven would not cook food in a traditional manner; instead it would defy the normal laws of physics and actually provide greater heat in the centre of the oven than the top. This bizarre concept resulted in many a burnt pizza until we learnt the strange ways of the Belling. To this day I cannot explain how or why this happened, but we would consistently place food on the top shelf instead of the middle and adjust the cooking time upwards anything up to 50 percent higher than the instructions recommended. After much trial and error (mostly by my wife to be honest) we learned to work with this odd arrangement of oven cooking. So was that the limit of the eccentricities'? Well no, to be frank.

The next odd feature we discovered (not made widely available by the sales rep) was the grill set up. We discovered that in order to use the grill you have to slot a metal plate around the top of the grill in order to protect the control knobs from excessive heat. Yes, bizarrely the oven is designed first of all so badly that large amounts of heat leak out to the front of the oven, and secondly the control knobs are made of a composite which will not withstand this heat! The mind boggles as to how that design review meeting must have gone. So surely we have reached the climax of our faux pas list? No, perhaps just one more then.

After about a year of use we discovered that the main oven door became difficult to close. We would have to lift the door slightly to make the flimsy catch contact. Eventually one memorable day the top hinge just snapped off, leaving the door hanging helplessly by the bottom one. Obviously being outside its pathetic one year warranty I then began a long series of patch up jobs in a vain attempt to keep the beast alive as long as possible. The door seal fell off shortly afterwards and so we limped through almost a further full year using the top oven whenever possible, although its small size was a limiting factor.

So apart from looking pretty did the Belling have any other redeeming features? Well the gas hobs worked well; two large rings and two smaller ones, with the previously mentioned cast pan supports gave us no complaints. The smoked glass flip down top also worked and performed admirably providing the standard function of auto gas cut off to boot. The grill did work reasonably well but suffered somewhat from uneven heat distribution, but to be fair I find this with most gas grills. The electric clock and timer also preformed without issue.

Well at least she looked good; for a while at least. Yes the silver polished finish did tarnish quickly and a layer of grease worked its way around the control knobs. Why didn't you polish I hear you say. Well Belling in another inspirational moment of design genius decided to paint the makings for the hob layout etc on top of the polished finish. So any slight rubbing in this area would result in removing the paint.

You won't be surprised to hear that I am not recommending the Belling G707SS in any way, perhaps it matters not as I don't think it is available any longer. So I guess I am sending a warning to anyone out there who spots one on eBay looking for a bargain. Luckily it won't be ours as it is currently residing at the local council waste recycling area; or the dump as we used to call it!

Summary: Just avoid at all costs!

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