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Flavel Oven FBU71X
by blonde_girl774
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a review about one of my bargain kitchen products that I managed to purchase very cheaply from a kitchen showroom. Sadly the warming drawer isn't really a necessity to most kitchens, unlike the product I've decided to review today... an oven! I've currently got a Flavel oven (where do they come up with these ... brand names?) in my kitchen and have had it for over a year now. Luckily I managed to get it at a discounted price due to the kitchen showroom refurbishing some of its kitchen models... which kept my dad happy! Despite not being the best cook in the world (beans on toast is my specialty and if I'm feeling really creative I'll even add a bit of cheese!) I feel I've used it enough to now write a review of it.
An oven is very much a necessity in a kitchen these days (unless you're of the microwave student generation) and therefore I knew we had to purchase one. We originally looked at several different models before settling on the Flavel FBU71X model due to it being brand new but much cheaper than many similar models. The oven is predominately black in colour with stainless steel areas in terms of the control panel and the handles. Visually it doesn't look as hi tech or as modern as some of the other models I looked at but I was reassured by the simplicity of the control panel (for me that's a BIG deal!) and how sleek it looked too. It's advertised as being a twin cavity fan oven and grill in that it has two separate compartments if you like. It's 72cm in height, 59cm in width and 55cm in diameter which I believe is quite a standard size for ovens.
The fan main oven has a capacity of forty five litres and located at the bottom while the top cavity offers a dual circuit grill which has a capacity of 33 litres. Both have double glazed doors which are black around the edges and transparent in the middle area. Above the grill is the control panel which features a five button LED clock (this allows you to set timers and also to set the oven to come on at a certain time - I've yet to master this latter facility!) and three stainless steel dials. On the left hand side is the stainless steel knob to control the grill while on the right two stainless steel knobs which are used to control the oven. Inside the oven are two silver shelf racks while the grill features one shelf rack and a grill pan which came included.
Operating the grill is incredibly easy - I have yet to set the fire alarm off or to horrifically burn anything which is a huge improvement on my previous year's cooking! To operate the grill you simply need to turn the left hand knob to the temperature setting required which is measured from one to six. I find it heats up within about two to three minutes which is ideal as when drunk cheese on toast is a firm favourite of mine, or rather bread and cheese mash! If I had to wait any longer than three minutes I'd be at risk of falling asleep and leaving the grill on all night... I had a bad experience with fish finger cooking when at university! Operating the oven is also incredibly easy, although as there are two knobs involved it can be considered more of a challenge! The first one allows you to select the temperature while the second one allows you to select the oven setting (for example fan oven). It takes a variable time to heat up depending on the setting but I do find it heats up quicker than my mum's older oven and I've never had reason to complain about it. Once it has reached its required heat an indicator light next to the clock will go out so you know it's ready. I also like the fact the oven has a light in (yes I'm easily pleased I know) as I like to check things aren't black!
The Flavel FBU71X oven is currently priced at around £450 but this does vary depending what website you look on. I managed to secure myself a nice little bargain when I paid only £200 for this model as I got it at less than half of the retail price. It also came with a two year guarantee for parts and labour but luckily I haven't had reason to use the guarantee at all... and also haven't managed to give anyone food poisoning!
I've had this oven for over a year now and in that time my confidence with cooking has definitely grown... I'd say I'm now using the oven about twice a week which is a huge improvement on my student days when the sight of an oven and cook book would bring me out in a cold sweat! I've never had any problems with either the grill or the oven, they've always heated up quickly and cooked my food thoroughly (just like a good oven should)! I find them both incredibly easy to operate and imagine that, even without an instructions booklet, I could have worked it out (just)! The clock and the timer feature is brilliant (I know most ovens probably have these but it never fails to impress me) and the automatic turn on feature is also great (I just need to know how to work it and then it'll be even better)! I'd thoroughly recommend the Flavel FBU71X oven to anyone considering a new one as I've got absolutely no reason to complain about it... at the end of the day it's got an oven light and an oven timer as well which is enough for me... cooking food is just a bonus in my opinion!
Thanks for reading!
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Gino D'Acampo 12 Litre Halogen Oven
by tangoman84
I am someone who simply loves cooking and find it something which is very relaxing and love being able to have the ability to be in complete control and due to this I am not someone who is the biggest fan of using ovens as once you have your foods in the oven and shut the door then you no longer have any control other than timing as if ... you open the door then you are allowing heat to escape from your oven so when I heard of halogen ovens I decided it would be something worth looking into a little more. Following on from watching a few advertisements on home shopping channels and being impressed with what I was seeing I decided to go for it an purchase my own halogen oven with the one I chose being an offering from Gino D'Acampo...here are my thoughts.
Positives:
Halogen ovens use much less energy than traditional ovens thanks to the fact that you are heating a much smaller area than you would as standard. The oven also heats up immediataly so once you have your food in then it is just a case of setting a time (adjusting this in line with the fact that you don't have a pre-heat and also that you are using direct heat rather than simply heating a huge area around the food).
Even heat distribution is a must and thanks to the fan on this oven you needn't worry as it pushes and swirls the heat to ensure that your food is able to get an all over cooking process.
Great amount of cooking space. This oven provides you with 12 litres of cooking capacity which when you see it for yourself is simply huge and more than enough space for cooking your meat and vegetables all together. The oven also comes with a 5 litre extension ring which allows for the occasions when you may need extra space (like at christmas) which you simply slide into place so no difficulty in this.
3 modes of heating - direct heat transmission, infrared waves and a convection heat whirlwind.
Excellent value for money with this only costing around the £50 - £60 mark.
Watch your cooking thanks to the glass bowl so you can have a better understanding of the cooking process and make the food how you wish it to taste.
Simple controls - set your temperature and you time, push down the handle and away you go.
Self wash facility - put a little bit of water and washing up liquid into the glass bowl and set this to have a rinse and it will use the convection fan action to swirl the water to enable you to give this a nice rinse to make it easier to clean off.
Comes with low and high racks and also a set of tongues for picking out the racks to ensure you can easily remove these.
A simple manual with some recipes for you to try. The manual is worth a quick read but as it is so simple then you will be away and on your own quickly enough.
Negatives:
I haven't come across any and have been using this for a number of weeks now.
Having cooked a variety of different things in this oven I have found it a much better solution than a standard/traditional oven. I have cooked things like sausage rolls and cheese and onion pastries in this which are beautiful as you can watch and time your food to perfections thanks to being able to see the colour and how the items are puffing up. I have also used this for simple oven ready meals which whilst fine in an oven are even better in this as you needn't wait for the oven to warm up which makes it a quicker and so more viable option for me. I have so far only tried a couple of meats in the oven with a nice bit of gammon topped with garlic butter and a chicken breast with cheese, bacon, tomato puree, basil, parsley, oregano and a little garlic olive oil the ones thus far tried and I have been very impressed with how these have turned out thanks to being able to monitor the cooking process and if required to simply lower or raise the temperature to ensure it is cooked how I want it.
Overall if you are someone trying to eat healthier food (something I am actively trying) then this is something I highly recommend as the cooking modes ensure that your food is cooked to be fresh and tasty but also making it so that your fats are cooked and so reducing the amount of fat in your foods.
This was simply great value or money and allows for simple cooking to be carried out in a quick and easy way which is something that saves time, effort and money. Overall this is a great investment.
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Parkinson Cowan L50MWN
by SoadFan
~A reliable oven from Parkinson Cowan~
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Whilst this upright style of gas cooker with it's built in oven and eye level grill may be a thing of the past in many kitchens these days, there are still those who like this kind of oven as it offers a simple solution to your cooking needs with a ... minimum of fuss, frills and finery. When I purchased my Parkinson Cowan L50MWN model oven it was something that lasted for a good number of years of regular use, with no serious issues of note what so ever in terms of performance or safety problems that I recall during the life of the product. Making it a good buy at the time.
The style of the Parkinson Cowan L50MWN was neat and well formed with the whole thing having a smart clean look that made the unit relatively pleasing to the eye. Of course times have changed somewhat and these types of ovens are not as popular as they once were, however similar products can still be purchased from new for those who prefer this style of oven and spares for this particular model are still on sale should they be required. I have also seen these types of ovens being sold as reconditioned models in more recent times. When I was cooking with this product I found it very easy to use, as it heated up quickly enough when wanting to use the oven or gas burners to cook a meal and was also fairly easy to clean as required.
~The grill, oven and storage~
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The upright nature of the oven made it easy to use the grill pan as it was at a helpful eye level, which allowed me to see how my food items were doing when they were placed under the grill burners. The grill tray that sat under the hood of the unit was well made, with a solid feel that was neither too light and flimsy nor to heavy and bulky. The plastic covered metal handle that was attached to the grill tray was a little prone to working itself loose every now and then, although this was easily dealt with as it just needed to be screwed back in place with a small screwdriver from time to time. The metal grill that came as part of the grill pan was a smart looking silver tone and it could be placed to set your food closer or further away from the grill burners as required, just by turning the grill around from one side to the other.
Of course over time with regular use of the grill area, the lovely white enamel finish did become a little marked and required some cleaning to get it back to it's nice polar white pristine appearance, although I would say it didn't need any more work to bring it back to an almost new finish when compared to other similar products. The hob area of the unit was again neat and compact and in keeping with the rest of the design and there were 4 useful gas burners on which you could place pans of various sizes. I found that the gas burners worked well enough and heated the food quickly with minimum fuss, although the burners did need to be removed and soaked in hot soapy water from time to time in order to clean them and bring them back to their almost new appearance.
The oven on this model wasn't the largest or widest oven I have used to cook with and this of course did mean that I had to think about what I wanted to cook if making a meal for guests or larger groups of people as space was a little limited. As this was a gas oven I found that it would cook things at the top much faster than items of food placed lower down so that did mean I had to keep an eye on things to make sure everything was cooked all at the same time. Having more recently had electric fan ovens in use I can say that these do cook your food more evenly than the older style gas ovens that are in these types of cookers, although these newer electric counterparts can sometimes cook your food a little too quickly which is not always ideal.
The door to the oven on this model worked well and whilst it did get quite hot when the oven had been on for a good length of time, I can say that it was a never a problem that caused any harm to anyone using the product. The top of the door had a full width plastic style handle that was what you used to open and close the oven door, which worked well and was easy to clean when required. The lower part of this oven has a small storage section with a spring loaded door to it and this could be used to store cooking pans etc if wanted. Whilst that part of the oven functioned well enough I feel it wasn't ideal for anyone with mobility issues as it was very close to the floor level.
~Summary, price and rating~
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The features on this model are limited and the most up to date part on the oven was the click and start ignition that enabled you to do away with using a kitchen lighter or matches in order to light the gas. This part of the oven was the only thing that failed over time which was a real shame as it meant that matches or a kitchen lighter had to be used even when wanting to light the oven. Other than that this model was efficient and easy to use, producing an array of tasty food with no worries for the chef. At the time of purchase I recall that the product was priced at around £275 which was reasonable for this type of item. As the oven and grill worked well for a good number of years I feel it was money well spent which is why I feel the product is worthy of a 4 star rating.
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