Are Lacanche ovens worth the money?

[dms1]

Just that really. They look stunning, but do they last a long time? We currently have a Rangemaster which needs refurbished after 19 years of use. Lacanche seems so expensive but I think they look lovely. Just wondering about their performance. Would appreciate opinions on those of you who have bought one.

My parents had a Lacanche and hated it!

To expand: it was a range. The oven temps were unreliable. The burners took forever to light and ranged from super hot to nuclear - simmering was impossible.

I don’t know what other models are like.

We bought a Lacanche for our new kitchen but before even installing it I began regretting my decision as I felt it was style over substance.

I plan to sell it and get a Rangemaster instead. We've previously had two Rangemasters (Elan 110) which we were very happy with, but I'll probably go with the Elise this time.

Edited to add, at our last house we had a Bertazzoni professional range and that was awful. Looked fab, but terrible cooking experience.

@LibertyLily what was it that you didn’t like? We have a Rangemaster Kitchener at the moment. It lasted almost 20 yrs.

I can't really put my finger on it, but overall I'd say it just feels a bit clunky and the gas burners are so fierce it's untrue. Ours is a Cluny.

We went from Rangemaster to Falcon. We had the deluxe 110 (I think) with gas. The Falcon is good, it cooks well but lacks basic things like a timer, which I didn’t notice!! I don’t think lacanche have timers either, not sure if that’s important to you or not.

We have had a lacanche for 5 months brand new. I LOVE IT. Everything heats up so quickly and cooks exactly as it should. Wouldn't change it for the world and was worth every single penny. We have an electric convention oven

We had a Lacanche Cluny which looked beautiful but was a nightmare. Anything and everything that could go wrong with it did - fan, oven and grill elements, lights, door hinges and seals, it would regularly cut out and had to be reset (and the reset button was difficult to reach). There was no protection for the hob controls above the grill so that they would get too hot to touch when the grill was on, and the grill itself had no temperature control - we just had to move the grill pan nearer to or further away from the element. This was a good few years ago and I don't know whether they have changed the design since, but I would never again buy a Lacanche. We replaced it with a Falcon 8 years ago and haven't had a single problem.

I love my Citeaux. Definitely worth it.

I had one and hated it. None of the 3 ovens worked well. Nothing cooked evenly. The burners were fine though, bus as someone else said, quite powerful. Simmering was difficult to achieve. I would say it's not worth the money.

@dms1 Why do you think 20 years is a decent life span? My Miele induction hob is 16 years old. It’s perfect. It will
definitely get to 20 years. Ditto my Miele ovens!. Why think 20 years is good and spend silly amounts on a Lacanche? It’s really style over cooking experience. I’d probably remove a range cooker if I bought a house with one. High quality modern appliances are so much better!

I’ve had two rangemasters and now a stoves, prefer my stoves as has an extra oven (3 plus warming drawer as grill is also an oven) I’ve moved and sold range with house each time so can’t comment on whether they last beyond 12 years. Never even heard of this brand, certainly not sold in normal shops

I don’t think 20 years is a good lifespan. My rangemaster needs to be completely refurbished & I am miffed. We’re moving house & will be installing a new kitchen, hence I was asking if Lacanche is worth the money. Have looked at other ovens but I like the style of lacanche the best. Not spending huge amounts of money on something that is rubbish. I’d like something that performs well and will last. I liked the rangemaster’s performance (until it broke!).

@dms1 They aren’t that great in terms of longevity. They are the cheap and cheerful end of range cookers in my view. Lancanche are double the price but you get so much more with a suite of Miele or similar quality separate appliances.

My parents had a Lacanche at one stage : the oven temperature was unreliable. They got rid of it.

For some reason my step brother also got one (despite knowing how unreliable they’d found it) and I absolutely hate cooking on it at his house. It’s difficult to clean, has hot spots on the rings and again the oven temperature is unreliable. The controls also seem weirdly clunky. Brother loves it but I think he’s deluded. Far prefer my cheap & cheerful rangemaster which has lasted well for 10 years so far or my partner’s Miele induction hob.

Love my Lacanche, incredibly versatile & reliable. Great range of custom options for ovens and hob, excellent customer service. Can’t fault it.

I would highly recommend Lacanche - we have induction and gas hobs so totally flexible. I loved the fact that I could design it to my own specification. Having previously had an Aga and a range master there is no comparison.

@RainbowsAreNotTheOnlyFruit What decent appliances are not reliable? It’s surely rare for an oven to go wrong? Bending down to ovens is the worst and cleaning the hobs and knobs! It’s style over substance. Showy appliances and how much money you have!

We inherited one with the house we recently bought it’s awful I can’t wait for it to go when we re do the kitchen. You can’t simmer even on the smallest flame and the oven is totally unreliable to the point I’ve stop using it and use an air fryer.

If i wanted a cooker to last for ever i would get an old, traditional AGA. I know they are not very eco friendly BUT gas ones are extremely reliable, still work in an electricity outage and require very little maintenance. I wouldnt touch the new electric ones which are controllable because thats not what an AGA shiukd be.

Thing is, Lacanche ranges do look lovely - they often seem to be used in deVol kitchens (which is what ours is - vaguely - based on) -and definitely set the tone for a high end, traditional style kitchen.

But, I do miss our Rangemaster Elans. We previously had both a dual fuel and one with an electric hob. Adult DS now has one too which he thinks it's the best thing ever and I get all nostalgic when at his house!

We've had an AGA before and both hated that so much we had it removed (it was already in a previous house when we bought it), although I do like the look.

I don't like the contemporary appearance of eye-level ovens, plus they wouldn't easily fit in our smallish, quirky kitchen which has three windows, a chimney breast and wide opening to the dining area - so not a huge amount of wall space.

I'm definitely leaning back towards another Elan - particularly since realising the Rangemaster Elise doesn't have a built-in timer function.

You can have an oven built under! Still an issue with an aching back, but no oven has to be eye level. Many in small spaces are built under! Standard.

We chose a Falcon over a Lacanche based on build quality. That was nearly 30 years ago, it has had one minor repair (£15 for a part fitted by ourselves), and it is good as they day we bought it.

Back then, they were an independent manufacturer who I think were bought out by Aga. I have learned since they are now owned by Rangemaster so don't know if they are still the same.

Only downside is that it is quite hard to keep the brass clean and shiny and the iron trivets are very heavy. It looks beautiful though!

Yes, sorry, I did realise that. I just think for us and our quirky style, range cookers look best 😉😆

This is our kitchen (still a work in progress with no running water or worktops!) with lacanche range.....