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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Britannia or Falcon help me please

59 replies

Honestyisbest · 27/01/2013 16:04

help me! I am choosing a range cooker, dual fuel stainless steel. it comes down to Falcon continental 1092 which is the entry level model at 2.5 K, gulp or the Britannia L line for the same price.
help!
One big down on the Falcon is there is no timer, I love this feature as I can walk in to a cooked casserole. But if you have either make please tell me pros and cons.

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Original poster

Honestyisbest · 29/01/2013 15:35

mum47- that is hilarious!

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reastie · 29/01/2013 18:18

puffle yes we have cabinets either side on the wall above the cooker, but I'll definitely check the width of the rangemaster extractor we currently have chosen

mum - so come on, which baby name would you choose from the 2

Re: induction, the keeping it clean easily is the main plus for me - I hate with a passion keeping gas hobs clean, don't know why but it's my house job that drives me insane. I'm longing to just spray and wipe!

dottygamekeeper · 29/01/2013 20:49

I considered having an induction hob but didn't want to pay the extra, esp as I would have needed to buy a complete new set of pans, also was worried about scratching/breaking the glass (well, not me, more likely the DH, DCs or MIL!). Reastie, I do agree with you re keeping gas hobs clean - the Falcon is OK but still a little bit fiddly. I have both the matte pan supports and the glossy ones, due to a mix up in ordering, and I use the matte ones all the time because they don't show up splashes so much.

Another consideration, living in the countryside where we often have powercuts, is that with the bottled gas hob, I can still cook even if the power is out, just by lighting with a match, whereas with induction I would be unable to heat anything without getting out the camping stove....

reastie · 29/01/2013 21:01

dotty I was thinking the same re: powercut - that is a disadvantage of induction. We only get powercuts rarely but when we do it would be good to have gas. I'm sure we'd cope though. What s this scratching breaking surface of glass you speak of though? Hope that isn't easily done

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 29/01/2013 21:09

I'm going to go and have another look at the two cookers at the weekend, but so far it seems the Falcon fans are more vocal! Thanks everyone.

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reastie · 29/01/2013 21:13

OP let me know what you decide and how you find the falcon (if you pick it) as we won't be getting our for a couple of months yet. What colour are you plumping for? We are going to the ivory/creamy one

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 29/01/2013 21:24

I will reastie. Were going for stainless steel, lots of polishing! the creamy one is lovely too.
I have to decide within the next week. Along with taps, sink, handles, flooring.....

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Original poster

Honestyisbest · 30/01/2013 13:43

Just found out that Aga make Falcon, Mercury and Rangemaster, so seems whatever I do my money may end in Aga's pockets!

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throckenholt · 30/01/2013 14:14

We have a falcon continental with electric hob - have had it about 5 years. Very good build quality - no complaints from us at all.

Far better build quality than the cheaper range ones.

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 30/01/2013 17:56

Thanks throkenholt. Is is stainless steel? How's the cleaning?

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amazonianwoman · 30/01/2013 18:06

Honesty - my friend's is stainless steel, it's easy to clean, just remove the pan stands then the steel hob is pretty much one piece. She puts the pan stands in the dishwasher once a week.

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 30/01/2013 20:39

and there is always the lovely Ovenclean man....
Pufflemum, we are starting next week. Builder is knocking a supporting wall down first to join the dining room to the kitchen. Good idea to take pictures before and after

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gardeningsarah · 30/01/2013 21:31

I have a britannia which is great. I also liked the falcon but because it didn't have the timer we didn't go for it or any other similar style which didn't have a timer.

throckenholt · 31/01/2013 07:21

no - mine is black. Cleaning is fine - although the glass on the oven door does get quite dirty (most models don't have glas doors though I think). The hob - I just use a normal ceramic hob cleaner.

I would have liked a gas hob, but with no mains gas it didn't seem worth the expense and hassle to get gas bottles installed just for that.

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 31/01/2013 13:12

gardening sarah- do you find the main oven on the Britannia a bit small? It is much smaller than my current oven. Its just under 40 cm.

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reastie · 31/01/2013 13:26

honesty are you me?! we're knocking down a supporting wall to make a kitchen diner too. And we're getting the same oven as you!!!

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 31/01/2013 13:36

Thats funny. We are smashing down the other kitchen wall and fitting a bifold door. Are you? Spooky.
Oh and what are views on those hot/cold taps things? My DH loves, I'm not sure

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amazonianwoman · 31/01/2013 13:37

We're moving the whole downstairs round to accommodate a kitchen diner. I'm going for a cream Falcon with solid doors because I hate cleaning glass doors Or at least that's today's decision, I still haven't ruled out an Esse or Everhot yet (heart over head decision)

amazonianwoman · 31/01/2013 13:39

Do you mean the Qwooker (sp?) tap? I quite like the idea of one and one kitchen designer was waxing lyrical about them, but then I read someone's account on MN of hers blowing up

reastie · 31/01/2013 13:42

honesty we are bricking in the current back door and turning a window into french doors, so half the same there too . I love the hot tap idea but I'm not sure if it's a waste of energy and expensive to have hot water on tap?? Also, if you're a tea drinker you'd have to make sure the water reached 100 C as there's a chemical reaction which happens with tea around that temp and if you just use v hot not boiling water it makes the tea not taste as nice.

reastie · 31/01/2013 13:43

I just googled qwooker. The basic one is £850

amazonianwoman · 31/01/2013 13:58

I tested the qwooker in the kitchen showroom with my own tea bags! The literature claims it dispenses water at !00' and it did taste fine, but it's still a lot of money for hot water on tap, even if it would free up kettle space.

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 31/01/2013 14:02

Sounds lovely reastie.
Re the hot cold tap apparently its very economical to run. DH has one at work, he thinks its fab. I will find out the make as its around the £500 mark I think. We have a water softener so we have to have separate drinking water as hard water is better for drinking.
Soon we will all have kitchen diners with Falcon cookers and hot/cold taps, we can chill with a cup of coffee and a

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reastie · 31/01/2013 14:57

I'm of your water softener. I really want one as water here is super hard and I hate cleaning limescale off everything. We went to Cornwall last year and the water was so soft - I was amazed the taps and sinks still looked shiny at the end of the week with no cleaning. DH says it's a waste of money/cupboard space. He will probably say the same to hot/cold water on tap . He does drink ALOT of tea though so it would appeal. These taps do cold water and warm water too? So this is the only tap in the kitchen? I wonder how much boiling water it can do at a time as DH and I have big pint mugs we use. I'd be interested in info on the £500 one - I think I could budget that in. Or, maybe we could do a gas hob on the falcon not the induction to save a bit to pay for the tap

Original poster

Honestyisbest · 31/01/2013 18:29

We had the water softener out in before we changed our bathrooms. Our water was soooo hard, would have wrecked to new taps etc. I am pleased with it. You have a separate drinking water tap. I used to have to descale the kettle every 3 months!
Will update re hot/cold tap. I know you do need a separate normal tap too.
Or you can go for a three way tap, hot, cold mixer with side arm of filtered! Much much cheaper. However, not available on the swooshy shower head kind of swirly huge tap that I want.

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