Hi Our oven has died and needs replacing. Just looking for a simple free standing oven such as a F & P or Westinghouse etc. Any advice on good ones or ones that have been problematic for people. Consumer have very little. Thanks in advance
buzzy110,
Oct 8, 12:03am
I have a simple Westinghouse one and love it. It is fast and simple to use. I purposely stayed away from anything electronic, with flashing lights and lots of button pushing. My only gripe is that because the bottom oven element is beneath the floor of the oven I can no longer use an oven tray to catch spills and overflows so it has to be wiped down regularly and often to keep it looking pristine. Because of past experience, I am not keen on ceramic tops. The simple radiant element type takes more effort to keep clean but is better at controlling temperature. So when it is on low, it pumps out a steady low heat all the time, unlike cheaper ceramic stoves that heat on high until it reaches temperature then switches off and keeps doing that till it is switched off. One minute you are cooking away nicely and the next everything is burning. Drove me nuts. A simple stew had to be watched constantly and continually topped up with stock or water or it would just boil dry.
That was my experience. I'm sure others will disagree.
buzzy110,
Oct 8, 12:05am
One more thing. If you have children get one where the oven and stove knobs are on the top. My DD has a wall oven with the knobs on the front and now has to turn the oven off at the wall because little fingers cannot resist turning knobs when no one is watching. Lol.
grannymum,
Oct 8, 12:07am
I would be interested in opinions as well as mine has died too!Buzzy, what model etc is yours!
julie28,
Oct 8, 12:28am
My son opened the oven door and stood on it and brought the oven down on him and his brother :(
buzzy110,
Oct 8, 12:54am
From memory there were several models to choose from. I just bought a bog standard, white, normal sized Saturn model. All I wanted was one that cooked food well, fitted a number of things in at once (unlike small European styled ovens) and was reliable and fast and it has meet all those criteria. I bake bread and it takes 10-12 minutes from stone cold to 220dC. I can leave a pot of stew on an element on low, come back an hour or so later and it hasn't boiled dry and begun to burn out the bottom of my pot and it is simple to use. It has simple knobs that just turn. My grandie cannot reach any of the knobs either.
Like I say I only had that one gripe but most modern ovens have the bottom element concealed now.
jazzryn,
Oct 8, 2:46am
I have a simpson saturn model and just hate it, needs all new thermastats for elements, had a new thermastat put in oven and its bout 3/40 degrees to hot. Oven is bout 6 years old, have had this model before and it was fine but never again
elliehen,
Oct 8, 3:46am
I had one too.as soon as two element thermostats were replaced, the other two went bung.
I now have an Italian-made Indesit.
grannymum,
Oct 8, 5:01am
Thanks Buzzy. Elliehen are you happy with your Indesit!
chrissie91,
Oct 8, 6:39am
I have the same trouble with my F n P. It's my second one,, will try another brand next time, so am interested what comes up here.
elliehen,
Oct 8, 10:01am
Very happy, but then I'm no Masterchef.
I wanted one that looked good (SS and black) and worked well without bells and whistles (no fan-bake on my model).I didn't want it to have an upstand with knobs at the back, preferring it to look more like an inbuilt one.I like the European design.
The only thing I had to get used to was that the knobs turn from low to high anti-clockwise ;)
grannymum,
Oct 8, 7:35pm
Thanks Elliehen, it is good to hear from the users rather the manufactures blurbs!
weha,
Oct 8, 8:19pm
This is great.was going to stear away from ceramic top anyway as the high maintanence would do my head in. Any other tips guys!
elliehen,
Oct 8, 10:05pm
I didn't want a ceramic top (cost $200 more too) and the stainless steel top is very easy to clean.has a slightly higher raised 'lip' for spills than my old stove too.
elliehen,
Oct 8, 10:07pm
You have a 'granny' in your name (might not mean anything!) but if your vision is impaired, the element numbers might be harder to see than some.
nfh1,
Oct 8, 10:10pm
I have a ceramic top which is 8 years old, looks like new and needs nothing more than a wipe over with a damp cloth everytime it is used.I always had gas before and do miss how controllable that was, but in terms of keeping clean the ceramic is excellent.
elliehen,
Oct 8, 11:41pm
nfh1, I saw a tip from a chef for those who miss their 'controllable' gas.Keep two elements going (one high and one low), if you want to move something like a sauce or a reduction quickly from high to low heat.
buzzy110,
Oct 9, 12:33am
My stove came with this warning - do not leave elements on for any length of time without having something on them. I'd hazard a guess that theadvice has something to do with wear and tear on thermostats and attempts by the element to maintain the correct temperature.
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