Re: Range cooker recommendations?

[usenet]

Hi,

> I want to get a 90cm range cooker, budget up to about 2K. Currently torn > between a Falcon (expensive and long lead time) and Lofra (cheaper but > little info on this brand). >

If you search back in the Google newgroup archives you'll find I've made comments on this front a couple of times before. When we refurbished our kitchen we started out wanting a range cooker but after much hunting around and looking at cookers we decided that there simply aren't any range cookers (at any price) that really offered what we wanted:- Gas hob Burner/plate good for simmering Fast grill (not a folded immersion heater type) One large and one small oven.

We've ended up buying separate hob and oven(s) and are very happy that we've made the right choice. Even the expensive range cookers (like Falcon, Britannia, etc.) don't offer fast grills or slow cooking plates or even ovens that take advantage of the size of to cooker. We also didn't think that the expensive ones really seemed much better quality than the cheap ones.

[Baxter Basics]

Hi,

cheers for that. Ideally I would mix and match- not that fussed about the range cooker look- its just the only sensible place for a cooker we have is in the chiney (where the original range would have been) so I am looking for the best compromise which fits in a 90cm hole!

cheers

Bax

[Andy Hall]

We considered a Falcon at one point and it certainly is a well engineered product. I looked also at some of the Italian origin ranges like Brittania and they are OK, but not in the same league in build quality.

In the end we went with an Aga for a whole variety of reasons but that's another story.

Have you tried contacting a few Aga Rayburn dealers than your local one? You may find that somebody has one available or ordered.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Chris Harris]

I've got a Rayburn going spare. Not sure of the model, but 1960's vintage. Left-hand firebox (right-hand chimney), buyer collects from Stanley Falkland Islands ;-)

Available as soon as I get the new gas or electric (haven't decided which yet) in. I'm following this thread with interest as I intentend to look at various range cookers when I vist England next month. I like the idea of a range style gas/electric hybrid cooker to replace the Rayburn.

I was brought up on Rayburns using solid fuel (peat) and think that anyone that uses solid fuel as their prime cooking/heating source is a romantic fool, or has too much time on their hands. The house I have just bought has a Rayburn that has been converted to kero. It does the cooking and hot water. There is a separate diesel boiler for CH.

CJH

[Andy Hall]

Try contacting the British Antarctic Survey people. I know they have an Aga, that quite rightly they view with due reverence.

I'm thinking that Fedexing your Rayburn there would cost a bit less than to the northern hemisphere......

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Owain]

"Chris Harris" wrote | I've got a Rayburn going spare. | Available as soon as I get the new gas or electric (haven't decided which | yet) in.

Do you just mean gas or electric cooker, or is the gas or electricity itself a previously un-enjoyed luxury? And won't they let you have both :-)

Owain

[Gordon Henderson]

Be careful about the hole size! We replaced an aging coal fired Rayburn with a gas fired Stanley last year and had some problems. We fully blame the place we bought it from for not giving us good advice and leaving it too late to get the survey done, and that might have been down to our own naiveity, but in any case, we were told the Stanley was 920mm wide, so we widened the chimney to a few mm over 920mm, then were told it needed an inch either side by a the local Stanley fitter who really didn't want the work.

In the end we got in-touch with Stanley direct and a local plumber/gas fitter who was much more willing to take our money than the suppliers recommended man, widened it a little by removing the plaster and some underlying render and a compromise was struck. We got another Stanley approved fitter to commission it so we got the extended warranty, etc.

Just a bit of faff, but make doubly sure the gap is wide enough!

Gordon

[Chris Harris]

This house probably had electricity before you did up there ;-) since the

1920s anyway.

I mean the cooker. Gas hob/electric oven is the currently favoured choice, but also looking at all electric using an induction hob.

No when people had time and not much money peat was the normal fuel for heating and cooking here. Its use has been in rapid decline since the 1970s though.

CJH

[Owain]

"Chris Harris" wrote | > Do you just mean gas or electric cooker, or is the gas or electricity | > itself a previously un-enjoyed luxury? And won't they let you have | > both :-) | This house probably had electricity before you did up there ;-) since the | 1920s anyway.

1st March 1900

| I mean the cooker. Gas hob/electric oven is the currently favoured choice, | but also looking at all electric using an induction hob.

Induction-friendly pans can be expensive, though.

Owain