New Oven Needed Urgently.

[modeller]

I've had a Cannon gas oven and a Sharp Microwave for 25/30 years but the time has come to replace the Cannon ( the doors are falling off , the catch mechanisms are worn through ). The Micro is OK but if it also gives up I would have problems.
I have always repaired them in the past but this time I want to start again . I live alone but that's not much of a consideration apart from wanting things that are quick and easy to use.

However there have been many techno' changes over the years and I would like some advice please as to what would be the best, items to buy.
e.g. Are fan assisted ovens worth having.?

My present Cannon is conventional with a low level grill so an eye level grill is not an option, apart from that it can be anything. It is 92cm high 54 wide and 64 deep. If need be it could a bit wider.
Thanks in advance .

[tonyav]

Takes less time to cook something in a fan assisted oven, so my Mrs says.

[MadMen]

Definitely yes to fan assisted. They heat up much quicker and the food takes far less time to cook.

[gingejbee]

Are you sticking with a free-standing gas cooker? If so, Cannon is still a good bet - although the cheapest Best Buy in Which? is a Zanussi.
(Think fan-assisted are all electric ovens, btw.)

[Mosaic]

We recently replaced a cannon we'd had for decades with another cannon - low level grill, and oven below. It seems to fit our needs fine. The ignition system has changed over the years to make it safer ie if it doesn't ignite, the gas cuts out. Also the grill seems to have a fan for a reason I cannot fathom, but it comes on automatically when the grill reaches a certain heat.
I think if you browse online the main thing that you are paying for is width, a grill/oven as opposed to just a grill, and a lid, in a free-standing cooker.
I could happily live without a microwave but OH loves it.

[Canary42]

I too live alone, and only have a halogen (on worktop) oven - cheap to run and fan-assisted as standard.

Read about them (admittedly a bit biased) here :- http://www.halogen-oven.co.uk/wordpress/about/

[modeller]

SORRY ! I answered you all but for some reason it hasn't come up.
I'll try again later. I hope this comes up.

[theshedman]

I too have a new Cannon cooker after many years of use out of the old one. Mosaic the fan I was told is to keep the controls cool, not that I think it does much. Don't think the new Cannon is as good as the old one as it took us 3 new ones to get one that actually worked properly. Since they were taken over by Indesit and are no longer made in this country the quality seems to have gone down.

[modeller]

thesedman. That's interesting when I was looking for Cannon I found Indesit
kept coming up fo servicing and Hotpoint seemed to be in the same group as well. That fan almost sounds it's to cover up a design weakness. So far
I haven't found any other gas cooker that uses a fan as well .

Canary Can you do everything with it ? e,g. Does it have a hob for frying
and putting on sauce pans ?

[Smowball]

Agree,fan assisted ovens definitely cook faster.

[modeller]

Snowball is that with a gas cooker ?

[modeller]

canary . What make is your Halogen oven ? I've read some of the reviews and they look interesting. I hadn't realised how cheap they are ,I may as well get one whilst making up my mind about the gas oven . I could just use my gas oven as a hob.

Can you put ready made meals in it. The ones in plastic containers that you normally put in the Micro wave . ?

[modeller]

I thought you might like to know , Cannon,Hotpoint and Indesit are all now in the same company.

[theshedman]

Yes they are all part of Indesit these days and most if not all appliances are now made in Poland, so the engineer told me last time he came here.

[Canary42]

My halogen is a Coopers of Stortford one - one drawback is free-standing lid - I believe you can get hinged ones now which may be better - the lid has the heating element and fan in it and it is fiddly finding somewhere safe to plonk it while adding stuff during cooking.

I do have a separate free-standing 2-plate electric hob to supplement it.

As far as ready meals go, if they are suitable for a conventional oven then they should be OK I would think - haven't actually tried it myself, always take the microwave route.

[Canary42]

P.S. The lid is quite heavy too.

[ladybirder]

modeller, I use my Halogen oven most of the time now. Yes, you could then just use your cooker for the hob. Yes you can cook ready mades in it but if they didn't you could empty them into another container. It heats up immediately, only has to heat a smaller area, is quicker, so saves you money. Your only problem would be if you wanted to cook a whole large chicken or a turkey. It's electric and just sits on your worktop when in use. Here is the one I bought. You need to decide what capacity you need.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4234470.htm#pdpFullProductInformation

[modeller]

I went to Currys today hoping to see some but they didn't have any on show. However I was able to see some cookers including the Cannon gas cooker which was priced at £646 . On the web it was about £450. from several sources.

Incidently I've noticed for several years Argos is quite expensive compared with other web providers.