oil fired esse cookers and add on electric esse

[annabelindajane]

Does anyone have any experience of the above? Would be looking at a new one, see various neg comments previously for wood fired one,

We have an oil fired else + the electric module. The main Esse was here when we moved in and we added the electric cooker.
I would have preferred an AGA, but only because that was what I was used to - I certainly couldn't justify removing and replacing.

I love ours, like all AGA type ovens it takes time to get used to but I am 100% happy with it.
We have ours serviced annually and touch wood, it is problem free

Thank you for that , how is the electric model - does it make good sponge cakes? Do you have a gas top or an electric one ? How are the ovens in the oil fired part ? Do they get rusty ?

Also - does yours do central heating / waterand if so how many radiators does it run?

We have an Esse Plus2 electric companion cooker and it is appalling. Oven temperatures are completely unpredictable; it might overcook or undercook or sometimes, just to surprise us, it does something right. I have checked temperatures using an oven thermometer and they are random - set to 160ºC the top oven has been known to produce 120ºC or 190ºC, or any point in between. The temperature in the lower oven switched off has been 130ºC when the top oven was on at 215ºC so I guess one problem might be insulation. The top rings are no better; I had some marrons glacés on their final cooking, simmering gently, then turned my back for a very short time to return and find them burned to destruction. It's very disappointing - for a tenth of the price we could have got something that worked. Ours was installed in January last year and I think Esse may have adjusted the design since then. They tell me that ours is completely fixable, which is good (though the dealer has told me he can do nothing about design faults).

The Plus2 is companion to our Esse 990 CH range whose shortcomings I have described on another thread.

thank you for that, lots of other comments with same issues , however realise people who are happy with them probably dont comment, I cook a lot so its important.
Am looking at heritage cookers now,

I love agas but wouldn't consider getting a companion of any of the ranges as you are paying a lot to cover an ordinary cooker in cast iron. I would buy built in ovens and separate hob if I needed to, but I don't have room in my current kitchen and cook with my 2 oven aga all year round and love it.

Very good advice , suspect i will go for Heritage Cooker that does central heating and have a separate fan oven and a gas hob -