Do you have a 90cm range? Come tell me about it. (Or even a 100cm one, I can't decide)

[30andMerkin]

Hi domestic goddesses,

I currently have an 80cm Smeg range which came with the house and is utter shite uselessness. The single oven is vast and takes a day to heat up, the gas hobs blow out or turn themselves up every 10 seconds, and the warm drawer at the bottom is a filthy waste of space.

The only other 80 on the market seems to be the same one, or a Hotpoint, so we're looking at going for a 90cm range but DH is concerned that the main oven on most of them seems small, and at floor level.. Can anyone tell me if it's a pain or ok?

The other option is to butcher the kitchen a bit more, and go for a 100cm so you get symmetrical main ovens nearer worktop height.

Not looking to pay top whack either way. Stoves Sterling Dual Fuel is our preferred option, having had a Stoves gas built in oven in our last house which I loved, although I've seen some people on here saying they've had bad expereinces of Stoves. Don't really like the Toledo styling at all.

Anyone want to help me out!? It's a big old cheque to write!

bumpity bump

Have you had it serviced? It should not blow out.
It might work properly if someone accredited had a look and gave it an MOT so to speak. Less costly than a new one.

Smeg are supposed to be quite good.

I've got a 90cm range, it's a smeg one with ceramic hob

the bigger oven is fine - it's big enough for everything I've thrown in it

smaller oven was a little narrow for some of my baking trays, but I've found slimmer ones easily enough (and I don't do expensive cookware, so they would have been cheap!)

my gripe with it is that the under oven space is a flap not a drawer as they promised when I ordered

I suggest you take your favourite baking trays and see what fits in the showroom. I'm sure the main oven on my range is as large as my old 60cm oven

I am also on the lookout for a 90cm as I am having my kitchen refitted soon (ordering this week ). My current dual fuel is a small 60cm job but it has been fab, its a belling and has a gas hob, leccy grill/small oven and then a leccy fan oven. The oven is low and to be gin with, its now 8yrs old, I noticed it being low but I don't anymore. I quite like the freestanding look.

I'm going to go and have a google for the Stoves one you mention as I haven't even started looking yet....

as for smeg being good - I don't think I'd buy one again! it's nearly 4 years old and thankfully we got a full warrantee with it

when it was first turned on it was incredibly loud, turns out the cooling fan was faulty and needed replacing

at 2 years old it went bang in quite spectacular fashion, turned out the main oven top element had gone pop AND the safety thermostat and main fuse had gone. Repair man said these were not linked and should not all have gone at once.

We've also had the door seal replaced on the smaller oven, but repair man suggested kindly that was cos it wasn't clean enough and grease was causing it to tick to the oven surround and caused it to break when opened the door!

Saora it's about 15 years old, came with the house, the pan supports are bent to buggery, it has encrusted filth in it because it's impossible to clean, and having searched MN for other reports of Smeg ovens apparently the blowing out thing is a really common fault of the design. It looks beautiful when I can scrape the worst crud off it, but never again. And it's not staying!

So we've been looking at ones like the Stoves Sterling and Rangemaster Toledo design, which have one narrow skinny oven and one low down fan oven, but am not sure if the fan oven looks a bit crap to use down that low?

Right, I have had a Rangemaster 110 for eleven years now and think it is brilliant. (It is electric).

Spares are easy to get and the entire unit is easily cleaned.

We have a secondhand Falcon 110, almost identical to saorachd's picture, and it is great, everything fits in both sides and it works brilliantly.

Yes, once you get to that size you can have a decent oven size at just below work top height, which looks great. We definitely can't go up to 110, so it's either 90, or possibly 100 at great expense, so trying to decide between those two if anyone has any advice.

Bumping because I'm still concerned about having the main oven right down at floor level, like this here

Anyone?

I've got the Toledo 90 and think it's great. Having the versatility of the grill+tall oven+main oven has been really useful. Not sure what your issue is with having the main oven right down at floor level - all older style cookers are like this. If it is a problem with bending the rangemaster main oven has a shelf attached to the door which is great for basting roasts and there's an internal light which you can switch on to see what's happening without having to open the oven door.

Thanks spiral that's really helpful. Tbh it's my DH who has a problem with it, and I'm not sure why! I think he thinks it will increase the chances of our dog stealing his roast chicken! But it did look a bit awkward so good to hear it's fine.

1200 brittania. double oven but should of gone for 3/4 and 1/4 ovens.

However we dont live in the main house at mo and living in adajent modern house which has built in wall Neff unit and I do like the eye level. Not sure if it would of been better. Could of had this in a wider version.

I have the toledo 90 and love it.

I wasn't sure how much I would use the tall oven but it is very practical. I have gunmetal grey which is great and doesn't show the marks!

I have the Toledo 90 as well, only critism is the "knobs" on the gas rinks are easy to catch and switch on but other than its fine.

I have this:

www.stoves.co.uk/range-cookers/richmond-1000gt/

I ADORE it. It is by far and away the best cooker I've ever had. The larger ovens heat up in less than twenty minutes (to properly hot, eg 200C) and the small ones heat pretty fast, too. The slow oven is a godsend and it's generally all round magnificent. Highly recommended.

Oh, actually, that's not the right model. All my ovens are electric. It looks the same, though. Oops.

Sorry, it's this one:

www.stoves.co.uk/range-cookers/richmond-1000dft/

I have the rangemaster professional 90.

Electric ovens, gas hobs.

I really like it. Though the ovens are fan assisted and super hot - not really got used to it yet after being accustomed to a 30 year old parkinson cowan.

Rangemaster service really good. Have the griddle/hot plate which I use all the time for cooking meat.

The main oven is roomy, and the side oven perfectly good for puddings and roast potatoes/side dishes.

I was given a free set of rangemaster saucepans, which was great. Have bought some of the rangemaster enamelled roasting tins because they fit the side oven perfectly.

If I could change one thing, it would be to have one fan assisted electric oven and one gas oven.

brittania 100cm with 60/40 split
great
we use both equally as big one is fan oven

britannia, same as ggirl.

unfortunately mine is def not great. 3 years old and one of the rings doesn't work and the oven cooks unevenly.

not sure if we were just unlucky as i read lots of good reviews before we splashed out (although i have to admit i ignored lots of bad reviews because i loved the cooker - the love faded fast!)

we have a Rangmaster 110, bizarrely DH (tall) prefers to use the lower-down LH oven and I normally use the RH one. For years I had a normal width freestanding cooker and never had a problem with the oven being low down. It is far outweighed by the usefulness of a separate grill.

If I was to change I would look at a Stoves Sterling 90, it has the biggest oven capacity of the 90cm ranges and I think, sliding out shelves. I pored over specifications for ages looking at all the oven sizes.

BTW it's not just the ovens, check the layout and combination of the hotplates/griddles etc suits you as well.

I have a Rangemaster 900 and am really happy with it. I use the narrower side oven most of the time (daily) - for say chicken breasts, oven chips or jackets pots or my everyday sized casserole (serves 4) so it's not actually lower down than normal. I use the large oven (say weekly) mainly for a roast or when I'm using my extra large casserole (6-8). I'm sure this oven is the same size as the one I used to have on my old 60cm standard cooker. I also have a grill compartment and tend to use this for plate /dish warming when the big oven is on.
Ours is electric ovens and gas hob and I've had no problems whatsoever and would choose the same again if I could turn back the clock.

That's the one we're thnking of going for greenlotus, as I had a great Stoves gas built-in before, and luuurrrve the telescopic shelves. Need to go and compare oven sizes but agreed that it seemed roomy!

I think i"ll just be so overcome with the ability to simmer things that any kind of working hotplate arrangement would be just peachy! Only thing I really want are uber heavy duty pan supports to withstand DHs frenzied potato mashing,