Let's talk about cookers

[lettie9]

We will be getting a new kitchen soon, and we're a bit stuck on the cooker to get. We're torn between 60cm vs. 90cm, and on the brand. We do know we'd like induction, and we don't want eye level oven because of the configuration of the kitchen.

A 60cm cooker is more practical because it's a small kitchen, but we want two ovens and my husband thinks the top one is too small to fit much in.

A 90cm will have plenty of oven space, but I definitely won't need 5+ hobs, so that seems wasteful.

Is there a compromise? What do you have? And what brand? I like the look of Esse and Everhot, but not so much the price tag.

Thank you!

This is the forerunner

www.stoves.co.uk/en-gb/richmond-deluxe-s900ei

We had one like that (90cm) in our rental house and it was a total pain - took up loads of room, didn't need all the hobs or ovens, it all seemed a bit overkill. In theory the small oven would have been more economical but it didn't work very well so ended up using the bigger one more often.
We bought a 60cm John Lewis one (think it's a SMEG manufacture?) with top and bottom oven and it's been brilliant. Plenty big enough to cook meals for house full of people on occasion.

Thanks for the reply! My husband thinks the top oven in the 60cm Smeg isn't big enough for anything. Do you find it's ok?

I've got the 60cm Stoves mini range, mine is dual fuel and the ovens are more than adequate. When I looked at the 90cm ones the tall thin oven looked totally impractical, unless you have a penchant for loaf cakes, so you'd end up just using the wider ovens, which I'm not sure were as wide as those in a 60cm cooker.

@ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn I thought the 60cm one was great! May I ask what you use the top oven for, and does it seem spacious enough? My main concern is can we do Christmas lunch properly for extended family.

I have one that looks like the pictured 90cm one.
I mostly love it, although I have a fairly big kitchen.
My largest backing tray didn't fit, but all the others have. I tend to use the small oven as default and the tall oven for baking, or doing a big roast dinner. I love having 2 ovens. 5 hobs, I don't use the wok one very much but it does come in now and again. We've got gas (previously had electric) and keeping it all clean is a pita, also I miss how the electric one (flat glass top) effectively gave you extra counter space when not in use.

Baking tray, not backing.
Oh, I also use the tall oven to keep things warm if there's a lot of dishes as I'm not great at coordinating stuff.

[quote lettie9]@ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn I thought the 60cm one was great! May I ask what you use the top oven for, and does it seem spacious enough? My main concern is can we do Christmas lunch properly for extended family. [/quote]
The top oven will take one deep roasting tray but you wouldn't be able to roast a chicken in it unless it was spatchcocked! For big meals I tend to use it like a warming drawer and to warm plates from the residual heat of the oven.

The cooker looks great, I’d love something like that.

I wouldn’t worry about having too many jobs and it being a waste… but I suppose I do see what you mean as it will take up counter space in a small kitchen.

Two thought… do you use a kettle? If that needs replacing maybe you could get a stove-top one as that will free up the counter space and put one of the jobs to good use.

And/or, I’m sure there must a device you can buy to convert the top of the stove into useful space? Either a cooker with a flip-down lid (maybe that would look strange…?) or just a really nice, chunky chopping board, that can live on the hob and be used for… well… chopping. Maybe something worth looking into?

I don't know if this helps with what fits, day to day I store baking trays in mine.

That looks plenty of space to me. I thought this when we looked at the various cookers in the shop but DH was insistent it was too small

But if we do end up getting a 90cm, the chopping board idea is a great one. Assuming we get induction, the surface is probably fine for putting a chopping board on top of - please correct me if anyone knows otherwise!

Although good point @ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn that the main oven wouldn't be as wide in the 90cm as in the 60cm, due to having the tall oven too.

It's definitely worth doing your own internal measurements when choosing, I was dead set on a 90cm cooker and designed my kitchen around that but ended up being really disappointed with the useable space when I measured. I've had mine about 8 years now and the dual fuel comes with a solid drop down lid which I love as it means I don't need a splashback and I can hide the hob when I CBA to clean it

Yes, that was what I didn't like about the smaller oven on the 90cm one - it was too narrow to be much practical use!
The top/smaller oven on the 60cm is the right size to take a baking tray or sheet. I do most non-hob cooking in the small oven and it is fine for our family plus one guest (so 4 people in total, at least one veggie so separate food). I have a divided baking tray thing from Lakeland I use a lot so one side might have chips, the other fish etc. I also use some smaller size ones that slot in to each other so I can cook meat/fish on one and my veggie thing is separate.
I use the big oven once a week for a roast dinner and it's been fine for Christmas dinner etc for 6-8 people. TBH my main problem with big Christmas dinner is space on worktops!

Thank you - I'll check out the Lakeland divided tray. I reckon the 60cm is the best option. I mean, 120cm is probably the BEST option, but that really will dominate the kitchen.

A follow-up question if I may - is there a problem with having a kitchen island that's purely storage? I'm assuming that will cut down on Installation costs as there's no plumbing or electricals involved. But maybe I'm missing something?

I think there's a lot to be said for having an island that's clear for use as a prep area. It shouldn't be completely free of electrics though: you at least need a couple of sockets for food processor, electric whisk etc.

I have the smallest Everhot - 60cm and completely love it.

The 2 ovens are great and huge, there is loads of cooking space on the hob - no, it isn't induction but it is hot all the time and you just push the pans about for hotter or cooler.

If the price is putting you off then look at a reconditioned one - mine came in as new condition from a specialist reconditioning company who will also do it in any of the colours. It was about half the price of a new one.

www.secondhandeverhot.co.uk/

The other thing is that when you have the lid down, with a cover on it, it just turns into extra space and in a small kitchen that's v helpful. and the cat likes sitting on the warm top

We have a rangemaster 90 and I love it. I rarely use the tall oven but it's sooo useful when we have lots of people round and I'm cooking big meals. Unless your DH regularly cooks for 8+ people I think 90 is probably ott

If you're buying new I'd recommend waiting until January; sales mean much better value

Thanks @User0ne I didn't even think about sales! We're hopefully moving later this year, so I will see if I can hold out until the sales, but I may not manage.

@AnnaMagnani you might have to explain this:

'you just push the pans about for hotter or cooler' - what kind of witchcraft? Thanks for the secondhand tip. I felt £10k was a bit much for a cooker but £5k sounds more manageable!

@CasperGutman you're absolutely right re sockets. Sigh. So electricals required after all. Is this something a builder would do, or does it require an electrician?

The hob on the Everhot is a giant flat plate divided into a hot plate and a simmering plate. In reality you can switch the simmering plate off, it gets plenty hot enough just from heat coming over from the hot plate.

So unlike cooking on a normal hob where you would turn the gas up and down for hotter or cooler, or the heat of the induction, if I want hot I put the pan on the hot plate, if I want a simmer I use the simmering plate and if I want somewhere in the middle I just shove if half and half.

I push the pan around with my wooden spoon.

You can also use it like an Aga and get into cooking your veg in the oven with minimal water but I haven't really bothered. There are a couple of Facebook groups which are v helpful for cooking tips as there is definitely a learning curve when you first have it.

Socket wise you only need a normal plug socket, not even an oven socket.

Wow, the mysteries of the Everhot 😮 is it hot if you touch the surface with your hand? I'm presuming yes, hence the protector things that come down.

The front is a bit warm, the rail across the front to hang towels off it hot and the lid is hot. Most people buy a cloth cover to put on the lid.

It gives off a gentle heat into the room - not as much as an Aga, but enough that we scrapped our radiator plans for the kitchen for a much much smaller one that only gets switched on when it's very cold.

The ovens are very very deep - you can fit a lot of stuff back there and you can set the temps to whatever you want. This initially seems v appealing but for most people you just pick 2 temps and stick with them, and just adapt.

The grill inside is v good and also heats up the top oven v quick if you have accidentally left it too low and suddenly need dinner don't ask me how I know this

@lettie9 I'm no expert, but in general anyone doing electrical work needs to be competent. As a homeowner commissioning the work I'd want them to have some kind of certification/registration to reassure me of their competence. That said, adding a socket in a kitchen should be a pretty straightforward piece of work and some would probably argue that a fully qualified "electrician" would be overkill. I'm pretty sure some general builders or handymen persons, as well as many kitchen fitters, are registered as "domestic electrical installers" or something along those lines. This means they can do bits and pieces like adding a socket without the level of training a full on electrician would have for doing full rewires etc.

Thank you for that comprehensive answer! 😊