Time for a new cooker any views on Britannia range Mailcopiesto: never

I've had a Britannia 60cm for c. 4 years. I like the oven a lot, although I wish it was bigger. I almost always use a baking stone which will influence the evenness of temperature; I suspect that without it, the underside of items cooked on the lowest shelf setting would burn -- the lower element is fierce (but very useful for bread :-) The grill is a trifle slow to heat, but good once it reaches temperature. I've had some bad experiences with fan convection cooking proving far slower than I'd expected, but that might be because I have so little experience of it. I use conventional oven, both top and bottom elements, for almost everything.

I find the lowest gas setting (as set by a Britannia fitter) is just that bit too hot for long simmering, even using heavy-bottomed pans. A flame spreader is invaluable; I also turn the control the other way, so that it's almost 'off' to get a low flame, but be careful that it's not so low it blows out. Alternatively you could try altering the flame setting on a burner yourself if you watch the fitter doing it. I'm not certain a *serious* oriental cook would find the wok burner hot enough, but I'm satisfied with it, and have come close enough to setting my clothes alight that I'd be a trifle cautious about something with much more heat output.

The stove top is not too bad to clean; there are some corners that require a toothbrush, and stainless steel does scratch occasionally (but I find this far less annoying than scratches in enamel). The enamel on the pan support thing over the wok burner, the burner I use most frequently, is showing some wear. The oven window disbuttembles for cleaning, which is convenient.

The 600watt vented extraction hood is brilliant. I wouldn't be without it, and I like the fact that the stainless steel screen filters can be washed rather than replaced.

regards sarah

-- Think of it as evolution in action.