Things that annoy me #72341 Dual Fuel Cookers

[andrewducker]

My cooker sucks.  The gas temperature in the oven is wildly variable, both compared to what I've set it to and in different parts of the oven.

I thought I'd get a dual fuel cooker - gas for the hob, electric for the oven - this seems to give the right combination of control and efficiency.  And then I discover that since the start of 2008 cooker being installed in a flat must have a Flame Safety Device, to stop you burning the whole building down. 

Which is fair enough - except that I can get a normal dual-fuel cooker for £230 - but the cheapest one with an FSD is about £600.  Not that the FSD is expensive, it just seems that they didn't both adding them to the cheap range of dual-fuel cookers, just the expensive range.

Which means I can get a reasonably cheap gas cooker with an FSD (again, about £230), or a ridiculously expensive dual-fuel one - but nothing in the middle.

This is clearly ridiculous - and I wonder how on earth things got into a stupid state like this.

Any suggestions?

Comments

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

Isn't the problem your oven rather than the gas? Wouldn't a new all gas cooker be fine?

However, if your heart is set on dual-fuel who is actually going to stop you from buying one without FSD?

(I wish I had a gas oven, there is no gas in our block.)

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

I assume the issue is that the installer will not fit it.

Which is why I am glad I have all-electric and am happy to fit my own replacements when the time comes. But I don't fuck with gas.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

Ah, I was thinking you could do that yourself. Or do you have to get a CORGI engineer these days?

[andrewducker]

All gas is probably fine, to be honest - I'd just heard that electric ovens were more accurate and efficient.

And nobody will stop me buying one - but a CORGI-registered engineer won't fit it...

[fetket.livejournal.com]

Interestingly... if you fit it they'll still service it... It's one of these regulations that only applies to new installed things, if you already have one then you can get it serviced... just you'll have to do your own installation.

[fetket.livejournal.com]

From experience duel is the way to go. Gas hobs are better and electric oven are better. Are separate oven and hob a possibility?

[andrewducker]

Not without a kitchen redesign.

Might just go with a gas cooker for the moment, and then do it properly in a couple of years time.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

If you already have gas there do you need a corgi registered plumber to fit it? When I bought a new dual fuel cooker in my last house I just got an electrician in to do the electrics for the oven and he connected the gas pipe for me, after pointing out that all you do is slot and turn till it clicks - no special tools required.

Which does remind me - You'll need to pay an electrician to put in a cooker specific point if you go duel fuel. I'm guessing you don't currently have this? And if you're electrics aren't up to it, it may also cost you a new circuit board as cookers need to be fused separately from the rest of the elctrics.

[darkoshi]

How is gas better than electric for hobs? I haven't had gas stoves since I was a kid... I remember one time accidentally catching a paper towel on fire and dropping it, running out of the kitchen freaking that the building was going to burn down.

I much prefer electric to having to deal with gas and fire every time I cook on the stove.

[andrewducker]

I've never accidentally set fire to anything with a gas stove. But maybe that's just me :-> I have set fire to a pan once with an electric stove, because there's no way of seeing that it's on.

Gas cookers are much more responsive. You turn down the gas and the temperature changes instantly - I can get a pot of bolognaise simmering exactly the way I want it to and then leave it that way. Doing that with an electric cooker is impossible, as the temperature overshoots one way or the other, and it takes several minutes to reach the temperature you've set it to.