| Product: |
Smeg Opera A42 |
| Date: |
05/09/02 (1378 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Quality, Looks, Features
Disadvantages: Price, Annoying Stickers, Heavy
Why would anyone spend £1000+ on a cooker?
Well, we hadn't planned to, but when it came to the crunch, because of the type of cooker we were looking for, there wasn't really much choice.
We are lucky enough to have an absolutely perfect location for a decent freestanding cooker in our kitchen, and the gap size was just over 70cms. Most standard appliances are 60cm, but we have heard that there are a (small) selection of cookers that are available in different widths, and whilst conducting our research we found that the extra 10cms width (now stop it!) really did make a huge difference to the cooking area over the standard 60cms.
Our choices were limited: The Smeg (£1050), CDA (£800), Zanussi (£650), Baumatic (£700), or a Stoves (£1000). The Zanussi, Baumatic and the Stoves were ruled out straightaway because they all had single ovens only, which when you spend this much money on a cooker is not really adequate.
So the choice came down to the CDA and the Smeg. They both look similar, with the new CDA copying the Smeg's timeless, cool style somewhat (and who can blame them), and both have similar functionality. What tipped it was that at £800 the CDA was 'only' £250 cheaper than the Smeg, and it really couldn't match it on looks, or build quality - so it started to look overpriced. Added to that the extra features that the Smeg had (more below), and the £250 difference started to look smaller than it did at first - so we went for it.
Delivery came shortly after, and be warned, if you go for this cooker, it is VERY heavy. However take off the incredibly substantial packaging and it sheds a few kilo's and makes it easier to move. There were some really annoying warning stickers stuck to the glass doors which were difficult to move (we resorted to White Spirit in the end which won?t damage the glass), which was a slight annoyance.
Using it is a joy, it is lovely to use, everything works
nicely, and turns beautifully, and you just want to keep opening and shutting the doors to feel that quality.
As for features, will the first is that it is self cleaning! Smeg make quite a big thing of this in the documentation, and I won't explain how it does it, but it works! Apart from the grill pans the doors or sides never seem to need a dose of Mr Muscle. Great stuff. The second best thing is the rotisserie function which is great for cooking chicken's and other things that need even cooking - it also helps because the fat drops off the food rather than being cooked in it so is healthier. There are a host of other things like the superb range of gas burners, including a super rapid burner, and a wok attachment.
The cooker came with a host of grill pans, rotisserie attachments, handles etc, so everything was there to start using it straightaway.
Lastly, it just looks so cool, but in an odd way also looks very timeless. The lines are clean simple and should let fashions pass it by.
It is the single most expensive thing we have ever bought (apart from car's and a house!) but is one that will last 30 years+ so over the time, although it may not seem it at first, we reckon it makes it a good value choice. Highly recommended.
Summary:
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