Range cookers - which one to choose (they all have shit reviews)

[hinkyhonk]

I'm in the process of planning a new kitchen and getting a new range cooker. But every time I think I've picked one I like the look of, I read the reviews and they are totally slatted. Small usable ovens even though the stated capacity is good, poor quality knobs, inaccurate oven temperature, pats breaking and the supplier failing to fix for months.

I know nothing is perfect and there wil always be something for someone to complain about but I want this cooker to last longer than 2 mins. I don't want to do all this research and then go for one despite a dodgy review only for the same problem to happen to me down the line.

So does anyone have any recommendations? Looking for a duel fuel range 100-110 wide approx £1500 ish

If I had more money I would definitley be going for a Bertazzoni.

They still aren't silly money, but I can't stretch to £3+k

Our Rangemaster Classic 90 is 8 years old - we've never had any problems with it. Gas hobs & electric fan ovens. The only gripe I have is that one of the ovens is quite narrow so you can't fit a dinner plate in, but other than that it has been great.

If we were buying another one then I'd go for one of the slightly wider ones to avoid that problem, however the 90cm was the only one that would fit in the kitchen we already had.

We have a Rangemaster professional with an induction hob.

It was expensive (over 2k iirc) but dh (he's the cook) loves it and we have never had a problem. It's about 18 months old.

I have a mercury range which, now they have fixed the, initially, very loud fan, in many ways I love. BUT it was expensive and chipped when I dropped something on the top edge after I'd had it for a couple of months. VERY disappointingly there is apparently nothing that can be done about this except possibly replacing part of the front of the cooker for a couple of hundred pounds. So, I thought, obviously I'm an idiot etc. until I discovered that one of my friends had done the same thing to their Mercury range and I started to think that when you pay £3000 for something that is going to be used for cooking, perhaps it should be a bit more robust than this, especially if the manufacturer doesn't supply touch-up paint. :-(

Hello lottywotbot. I just got a zombie thread alert, but you posted on the 5th, so, I thought I'd reply.
I have a Mercury. They are brilliant. The build quality is great. I have currently got a problem with the smaller oven door hinge, but nothing major and I have had this range for several years.
I am replying because I did exactly what you did. I dropped a part of the range top onto the front edge and took a chip out of it. The only way to mend it is to replace the whole panel and, you are right, a couple of hundred quid. It would be good customer service to supply us with some way of covering this up, without having to layout loads of money, but then I suppose the thinking might be, 'if the customer has 3 grand to spend on a range cooker, what is a couple of hundred for a repair'.
My little chip remains and is now just a part of the cooker. :-)

The current Mercury bears no relation to the tank of a Cooker I bought 10 years ago. I happened to be in a kitchen showroom recently and couldn't beieve how flimsy the build quality of the newer Aga Mercury felt.

The original was made by a catering company and feels like it. The pan supports weigh a ton unlike the current version. If it ever needs replacing I won't buy another as they a shadow of their former self.

Have a Fischer and paykel. Expensive but it looks da bomb and is a great oven. Full size plus half size elec ovens, 4 gas burners and wok burner on top.

I have now invested in the smeg Victoria 900 and am v pleased so far. Looks lovely and cooks v well. Fingers crossed it carries on like this...

I have a stoves and I think it is amazing! In fact we are moving and buying another one the same. This is mine: Stoves

We got a smeg SY4110-8 from Appliance City for around £1450.
It's amazing And extremely good looking.

Not sure what to recommend... but DEFINITELY NOT the Rangemaster Classic 90. I have just bought one and as soon as you turn on the oven or grill an incredibly loud cooling fan starts up ....sounds like a jet taking off. Have had it replaced by an engineer, with no effect on the noise. Rangemaster Customer Service refuse to help and say it's normal. The noise is so loud that I can't invite anyone to sit in the adjacent dining room while the cooker is on - so disappointed and miserable ....a massive waste of money.

I have a Rangemaster , gas hob, grill and main oven and electric fan assisted second oven
Almost 3 years old and it is excellent
No problems whatsoever and looks lovely
I chose the cream one to match my kitchen but they do come in a range of colours as well

Have a falcon contonental, the ovendoors and deflector shelf get Very hot. does anyone alse have this problem!

We have a delonghi, duel fuel hate the bloody thing, it has the 2 doors which are handy 1 big oven and I little oven, hate the crap that gets under it, the big oven broke twice lucky I took a 5 year guarantee on it.. Hate cleaning it too as I am on my hands and knees cleaning inside, I do put the steam cleaner to clean the outside as its the only way I can get nice and shinny with no smears.... We are going for 2 single Neff ovens in 2 tall units with a Neff induction hob when we do are kitchen next year.... My mums has a belling and has had it for 10 years and has had no problem with it, and does a lot of cooking...

I've got a Rangemaster Elise 110SE and I'm happy with it. I think it was around £2k. Aga now own Rangemaster.

It has 6 gas rings, which is brilliant when cooking roasts, and 2 ovens, ditto.

www.rangemaster.co.uk/range-cooking/range-cookers/elise/elise-se-dual-fuel

I have a 2001 rangemaster Toledo duel fuel.

I have replaced the grill elements twice, the conventional oven element, the fan, the fan element, the fan oven inside door. (With the help of engineer DH). All the replacement bits came off the internet.

It is not as good as the top of the range 1980s New World gas cooker I had previously, and not quite as good as my friends Flavel Leisure which she bought a few months before, and is the same thing (firm was taken over, then sold off etc.)

The things I don't like: The seals and doors are flimsier than my old cooker, the oven linings are not as self cleaning as my old gas cooker (which only ever needed the glass door cleaning and the foil changing on the bottom). The conventional oven is useless and has no separate ventilation so drips dirty liquid onto the floor and the shelf arrangement on the door dangerous in IMHO. I only use it at Christmas. The drawer under the fan oven catches bits from the oven.

The things I like: the warming plate, the wok ring (love that!!) the fan oven.

I thought, since I had had it for quite a long time, I might buy an up to date replacement. There are rangemaster cookers with better arrangments of ovens, but I don't like the arrangement of rings, so I have given up for now.

Another request for opinions on the Leisure? We can't stretch to more than 1k and so rangemaster is out, but AO have a Leisure Range Oven for £850 that looks awesome...but I can't find many reviews!