Oven advice, please

stickywicket

In our new home we inherited a built-in electric stove and hob and, after seven months. I still dislike them. The stove has twin ovens, the top one too small to take a family-sized casserole dish and the bottom, fan oven, so low that I can't throw the aforementioned casserole dish in let alone attempt to take it out. The death knell for the hob sounded when we had a short power cut and I couldn't even brew up :shock:

For many years I had a wonderful gas stove with a shelf attached to the side-opening door so that, when I opened the door, the casserole (or whatever) was already safely out of the main bit of the oven and only required picking up from a reasonable height. Does anyone know if they're still on sale and, if so, who makes and sells them?

Turbogran

Sorry Stickey I cannot help here I'm afraid I really don't know but good luck on finding one. I hope you mange it.

daffy2

Initial quick thoughts
I think there are ovens with telescopic shelves, don't know about the swing-out one.
Built-in double ovens do often seem to be compromised on internal space, single ones are larger but not good if you want to use the grill at the same time. Built-under not so easy to find but tend to be more generous. I had one many years ago which had a top oven fine for everyday use, with several options,which also housed the grill(oh the joy of being able to grill with the door closed) and a family size fully multi-function oven below. Not constrained by joint and other issues then of course.....
Would you go for a slot-in cooker replacement rather than built-in? Could you change the unit to make a 'midi' size oven housing to bring it up to a workable height(perhaps one of those where the door slides away underneath to allow easy access either side) with the hob elsewhere/alongside?

daffy2

Rangemaster?
Although only on versions with side opening doors for obvious reasons....

Airwave!

We have the same electric ovens as you describe, just a matter of getting used to them, a new oven is a lot of money? I'm not a fan of the fumes surrounding my food, given off my burning gas in a small oven.

daffy2

I'm not a fan of the fumes surrounding my food, given off my burning gas in a small oven.

Should only be carbon dioxide and water from natural gas. In a new oven there will be a certain amount of burning off of manufacturing residue perhaps, but the same applies to new electric ovens.

palo

I have a wonderful Fisher and Paykel double oven (both full sized) with custom built housing so it is at a perfect height, without very much bending for bottom oven. top one is grill too. Hubby made the housing with storage cupboard under the bottom oven. It is electric, always had gas previously but am totally converted now and would never go back to the vagaries of a gas oven.

Separate 5 ring gas hob with varying sizes rings and large wok ring in the middle - again hubby built housing for it.

So can always boil water regardless if one thing is out i.e. gas or electric!

So maybe get the oven you want and have housing built for the right level for you?

stickywicket

Thank you, everyone, for your contributions. I'm still very much at the thinking stage so all advice is very welcome and I'm following up all suggestions.

I inherited a rather nice built-in kitchen and am reluctant to chop bits off. I'd prefer a like-for-like but no way can I just 'get used to it'. maybe if my arms were longer and stronger

A friend has suggested a halogen oven which sits on the unit top. That sounds interesting too as it would do the larger dishes which I can't chuck into our current fan oven.

(I'm still worried about the cuppas though )

daffy2

Further thoughts.
Re the top oven. Are your large size casseroles in round dishes? If so would a different shaped dish help - rectangular or perhaps oval - to use more of the horizontal space and less of the vertical? Silver foil rather than raised lid?
Would a little camping gas stove kept with the emergency candles solve the power-cut brew up problem?
Is it worth going to look at single built-in ovens to see whether they would be possible as a replacement? The housing would need a bit of modification to deal with the different height, but width and depth should be similar(the internal dimensions can vary so worth looking at the spec, and another reason to see them 'for real' - trying to visualise the difference between x cubic litres and y cubic litres in terms of what you put in the space doesn't come easily I find...) to what you have now.

stickywicket

Thank you, daffy.

I did think about 'more squat' dishes. Maybe my top oven is exceptionally small but even that (with the foil cover) wouldn't cut the mustard. To be hónest, it's a good grill and little more :roll:

I'm still favouring the idea of a stove-top halogen oven if I could cope with one and hope to go and check a few out tomorrow. If they prove a no-go area I shall re-read all your posts and start from fresh again.

We do, somewhere, have a camping gas stove (for cuppas). It probably belongs in a museum but, if the halogen experiment works, that might be my next project.

stickywicket

Well, that was a waste of time. Our 'local' Curry's is shut as they're opening a new one at some point :? and Tesco, with an array of every imaginable electrical kitchen device, didn't have any :roll: I have to go into Edinburgh in 10 days or so so that'll be the next stage.