Would you recommend your oven? Or is it pants? Help me choose please!

[MothershipG]

I have a built in gas oven that I need to replace. I have always had a gas oven but I'm thinking of switching to electric as they seem to be recommended and there is definitely more choice.

I regularly bake bread, cakes and biscuits as well as all the usual stuff and I need a built in double oven on a budget of around £600. I've looked in the review section on here but there's nothing in there.

Are there any makes I should stay clear of? Is it worth saving up a bit and spending a bit more or is it all just bells & whistles at the top end?

I have a Miele. I forget the model number but it's the cheapest of their pyrolytic ovens, although the word cheap is only a relative concept when talking about Miele appliances. I love it.

I'm not necessarily going to suggest that you "need" a Miele oven because I'm sure plenty of others are equally good. But I do absolutely recommend you get a pyrolytic one.

I spent money on getting a Neff and have been really dissapointed. Very uneven and poorly designed. I wish I'd gone for the Whirlpool with all the bells and whistles for the money now!

Gipfeli The cheapest Miele pyrolytic is £1000 and that's for a single oven! So I think we can safely say that Miele are well out of my price range!!!

Skiing That's really interesting as I was very tempted by the Neffs and they seem to have a good reputation, but your experience doesn't sound good!

Mine is pants. In new house, no instructions and just discovered this week I have been baking everything on some weird rotisserie setting - which does explain why the tops have been burning

It's an AEG electric one, no idea which one but don't get it!

I agree Miele, Neff all come out tops. Brittania do built in too unsure of cost. I have Neff as it came with house. very good.

Read up on the Which? guide always good feedback on there.

Thanks for posting this question, Mothership. I'm very interested in all replies too.

I've got a very basic, unreliable gas oven which came with the house, and it's so frustrating. We'd need to have some full-on rewiring done to change to an electric one, as apparently our current electrics won't support an oven.

I'd do that for the right oven, but don't want to go through the expense and upheaval for an oven which turns out to be just as frustrating.

Has anyone noticed which oven they have on Bake-Off? I really like the way the door slides under the oven, out of the way when it's open.

Hi Cake the GBBO oven is a Neff, I like that idea too but unfortunately it doesn't seem to come with their double ovens.

Sophie You can probably download the manual if you google the model number - maybe you'll like it once you get the hang of it?

Any one got a sub to Which? If not I think I'll have to try them out, although to be honest I've bought things on their recommendation in the past that haven't turned out so well, so I don't treat them as gospel.

Bacon I just can afford Miele I need a good work horse, don't need fancy rotisserie stuff or pyrolytic (lovely as that would be) just a good reliable, even temperature and a decent grill.

Have had two Neff ovens and they were both great. Ours isnt' a latest model, so won't recommend it - though would recommend the brand.

I was thinking about this recently because our oven is over ten years old and it's next on the list of things to break down!

I'd hate to have to get a new oven, I'd to have to learn to bake all over again, I know my oven and can make pretty much anything I like in it easily. When I go to friends' houses I am incapable of baking anything well (think profiteroles like blinis).

FWIW it's an Indesit (I got a washing machine at the same time, that turned out to be pants), but it's the whole cooker (three gas hobs, one electric) and th oven is a fan.

DONT get the Neff sliding door oven (on GBBO)! We got one in Feb and the oven door has fallen off 3 times. And Neff customer service is truly awful (apologies duplication with my rant on the hob thread ). Took one month to get them to come out the first time to look at it. The chap who finally came to fix it last time said that this was a common problem with them.

And it is hopeless for grilling. You can only grill with the door shut and things burn horribly within seconds. And the moment you open the door to check on the food the kitchen fills with horrible smoke.

Thanks MrsJohn - really useful to know. crosses Neff off of list

Mothership I've got a Which sub, but like you I've often disagreed with their reviews. I find Amazon reviews infinitely more useful now whenever I need to buy anything.

If you know anyone with a Good Housekeeping subscription it might be worth asking them to look it up. Their testing seems to be more relevant/reliable for kitchen appliances.

I changed from an all gas cooker to a Canon Dual Fuel last year. I love it, bakes, roasts well, grill heats up quick. Only pain is the fifteen minute wait for oven to come up to temperature. Oven and grill are big enough for my large Mermaid roasting tins as well.

Yes, thanks MrsJ Neff gets some bad reviews on Amazon as well! But some people seem to love them??

Cake Would you mind looking to see which double oven Which? like in my price range? OH works for Hearst (publisher of GH) so I'll ask him to have a chat to them, hadn't thought of that, d'oh! Although I don't think they are unbiased like Which?...

My neff has uneven temperature - cakes over cook on one side. The oven man said that was quite common. I don't think I'd get another one.

Ok, so my lust for a fancy Neff has been snuffed out by you guys so what makes should I be looking at???

I have a Baumatic. It was a Which? best buy. It is horrid, and I am willing it to die.

Oh dear Itsa what's wrong with it? And how do Which get it so wrong sometimes?

What's wrong with it? Everything it's not hot enough, and despite its so-called fan it does not cook evenly, and it takes 3 hours to warm up, the electronic display shows random symbols and all the lettering has rubbed off the dial and the pyrolytic thing was so rubbish I threw it away. On the upside the fecker has lasted 8 years and shows no sign of dying no matter how much I want it to .

What does 'pyrolytic' mean? It sounds sinister.

I've got a Zanussi that came with the house (new build). It's shite. Bits keep dropping off it randomly.

Ok, so far we have one poster who's likes Neff, but more who don't and thumbs down for AEG, Baumatic & Zanussi, a long lasting Indesit and a positive vote for Canon. Mieles are apparently good but out of my price range so I'm off to google Canons...

My Indesit oven was v cheap and cheerful - it works well but has been repaired twice in 4 years which I don't think is a good sign. The hob is shit. The other thing which is rubbish is the numbers for the temperature etc are some kind of transfer and I cleaned it a bit too vigorously and they rubbed off! I now have to guess the settings.

Ahh...Canon don't do built in ovens and if I got a range I'd have to rejig the kitchen and spend even more so that's not looking good.

Mothership I tried to post a link to the relevant Which? page, but it won't work for non-members.

So...here goes.

There were 4 Best Buys for built-in double ovens:
New World NW90DOSS (£380) scored 77%
New World NW90DOW (as above but in white)
Bosch HBM43B260B (£735) scored 75%
AEG DE4003020M (£665) scored 75%

Let me know if you need any more details.

2nd hand Rangemaster, £200 on eBay, £80 for a bloke to strip clean and service it. It's the total dogs it really is. I luuuuurrve it.