Help me love my Rangemaster 90

[WishIWasACavewoman]

My much longed-for new range cooker, installed in new kitchen a month ago, is the Rangemaster 90 Classic Delux. It's one of those one-and-a-half size ones, with a normal size oven and grill on one side and a tall narrow oven on the other. I decided against the 110 cm one with 2 full size ovens as I thought it might dominate and didn't need 8 hob spaces on top. I freely admit I was dazzled by all the gadgets as well. As soon as it arrived I realised the bigger one wouldn't have dominated and in fact might have looked more balanced but thought the faff of arranging to send it back was too much and its still a lovely new cooker... But! The narrow oven doesn't fit any of my baking trays and tins, and I can't use the plate rack thing without taking out half the shelves. The full size oven has a handy rack thing on the door which actually just gets in the way and means I can't get to the other shelves easily. The whole kitchen was designed around this thing as a feature and I want to love it as much as I paid for it... obviously I need to get rid of the gimmicks, buy more standard shelves and trays that fit the narrow oven. Please give me your tips for what you've done to love yours!

Yes, in your situation, I wouldn’t change it. Find the things that work for you & go with them. Now I’ve read this thread, I’m thinking that the 100 sounds pretty cool! Great idea about investing in other equipment, too. My friend has the version just mentioned with the glass cover & I love how gleaming it looks. Enjoy it!

I felt exactly the same (inherited mine from vendor, older model). It doesn't have the main oven rack thing, but the small oven I thought would be useless.

Now, I mainly use the small oven, with smaller trays, lengthwise. Only use the main oven for pizza, roast potatoes and meats. I will eventually replace the rack in the small oven for an extra shelf, presently, I just balance a tray on it if need be.

This oven is at least 15 years old, as previous owner also inherited it! Only thing wrong with it is the decals have all rubbed off round the knobs, but they can be replaced (I just guesstimate 😂).

Mine is induction, and honestly I have never ever regretted changing from gas (and cleaning was one of the big reasons for us too, that and the fact that there was no gas pipe anywhere near the kitchen and we had concrete floors...).

The flat hob is so easy to just wipe, and it also makes a great worktop for putting pans on straight out of the oven. And it's just as controllable as gas, if not more so - and can boil water really quickly. I'd never go back.

@TokyoBouncyBall That is good to hear as we need to switch to induction soon (moving to a house without gas). I've bene worrying because I've only ever used old fashioned electric hobs before and find it hard not to burn everything. Is induction very different?

@MamEmma It’s very easy to control and use - when you turn it off it’s as quick to react as gas. And once you learn what your own one is like they are incredibly predictable

I bought a 60cm classic and felt very disappointed , it felt 'flimsy' and poorly made .
The griddle and other parts were missing when it was delivered , the grill function wasn't good and the rangemaster label started to melt , it was a real let down .
The manufacturers were hopeless and so the shop i bought it from refunded me.
I then bought a similar style made by belling , I've had it years it's sturdy and powerful, easy to use and it was cheaper .

@TokyoBouncyBall thanks so much for that info. Do they scratch? I was reading something about a silicone cover but is that more faff?

@Lightninginabox Not really, you have to try quite hard to scratch it, and I've never even thought of one. Everything looks used after seven or eight years and I can live with it!

What you do have to be careful of is leaving a hot lid on it for a long time - it's so flat that they form a tight seal, and then the lid cools and shrinks slightly and the top cracks (yes, I did this). So put them down hanging over the edge...

Also, the one thing about the tall oven that I don't think anyone has said, is that it's really quick to heat up and uses much less energy than the big one, which right now is a total bonus.

Massive bonus Tokyo, although I haven't actually compared them on the smart meter, this was one of my hopes when choosing it

These ikea pans fit perfectly in our Rangemaster:
ingka.page.link/CNVrZPZdvjFF8yph9

I have a rangemaster 90. It isn't the same as yours but it has the tall one at the side. I love it. I rarely use the bigger oven. Just buy some new trays to fit, I got mine from duneln, I think.

We rarely use the ridged tray but I have an old roasting tin I inherited from DGran that fits to door shelf and has a flat bottom. So I use that a lot for flatter joints, potatoes, roasted veg etc.

I know my good heavy tins for the small oven are "only" Swiss roll style so not high sided, but are good enough to cook joints in and make gravy on after. I got them in TKMaxx. And I do have 1 shorter but high sided roasting tin (also from DGran) if it's very sloppy stuff.

We have this, really love it. I use the tall oven almost exclusively as a warming oven, although it’s great for cooking when the main one is full. I find I can only put 2 things in the main oven-say joint of beef plus roasties, so I take the beef out to rest before shoving in the Yorkshires and whacking up the heat. I do have to juggle trays/dishes to make it all fit. I can’t remember if we ever had the door rack, certainly wouldn’t use it.