new stove?

[zen]

i will be claiming my pitifully small amount of super now i've turned 55, i'm not waiting another 5 years... and i have it mostly all spent already of course, so many things to do around our house! i am really looking forward to replacing the fences on both sides, high colourbond the dog next door can't jump over (hopefully) or go through like the dogs on the other side do.. anyway... that's not the point here...

one thing i am really looking forward to is replacing the stove! when we bought this house just over 2 years ago now, we knew the stove had to go.... what i am looking for here are opinions/experiences/suggestions maybe, on what to get.. we do not have gas unfortunately, i do not like the idea of tanks, they seem an accident waiting to happen to me... and there's no hope of having natural gas plumbed in..

we like the look of stainless steel, i know people have told me they mark easily but they said that about the brushed metal finish on the fridge too, but i manage to keep that looking ok, no kids with sticky fingers here..

there are a few choices in stove tops, i have read up, but still can't make a decision. i like fan forced ovens, with the grill inside on top.. seems it would be easier to clean than a separate griller.. ?

i really like the look of the black ceramic stove tops, but have heard some people say they break/mark/stain far too easily? induction sounds good, but you need special cookware?

any comments would be appreciated... :)

[Naomi]

I have sticky kid fingers here, a brushed metal fridge and a SS stove and I rarely get marks on the appliances. The few occasions I do, they clean off really easily anyway. (And I was the one whinging to DH when he wanted to get the fridge when our old one died, that it would be a PITA to clean :roll:)

The stove we have here is an Ilve (gas stove top, electric oven) it was here when we moved and mostly I love it EXCEPT for the grill function which is inside the oven itself, just slide the grill tray in but it just doesn't seem to do a great job to me. (although we have a sandwich press and a toaster so I rarely use it). I prefer the fan-force option, things seem to cook more evenly.

(With the fencing, will your neighbours agree to pay half? ... since the problems are with their dogs etc)

Edit - to put it in context, I loathe cooking generally and even I quite like our oven

[miss kiki]

i hate our stove, but then again i'm really trying not to put more money into this place when it comes to something expensive-painting here and there fine, but that's pretty much it! :)
my mom has a great stove though..it's an electric-not sure what it's called, but the stove top is flat and the burners are like underneath the top?! it's so easy to clean too. she gets this special gel type thing at the supermarket and everytime she cooks-after she'll just apply some to the stove top after it cools down and will give it a quick wipe and everything comes off. it hasn't got any burns or marks on it, because she keeps it clean and all. :)

[Alexa]

Good luck Zen with your search for the perfect stove, there is a place at the factory outlets at Tuggerah that I did a mystery shop there once and they had some gorgeous stoves and ovens.

Have you thought of looking at a seconds place or a place that sells slightly damaged goods (most seemt to be to the boxes and not actually to the applicances?) my sister go her dishwasher that way and I think she saved over $400, as it had a slight scratch on the side and once it was in the cupboard, you couldn't see it.

[miss kiki]

alexa, my mom and her DF told me and DF about places like that too. unfortunately we spent hundreds on a new fridge-when eventually i'd like a stainless steel in a brand new house, lol-and we could have gotten a slightly damaged one for a few hundred less. :yes: now that DF and i know about it, we'll probably get appliances for this apartment from there, that way we don't spend too much and would be able to get nicer stuff for when we buy a house. :)

[Heather]

Zen, I bought a new ceramic top stove mid last year.....love it. Yes you have to clean spills all the time but really it is just a wipe down after cooking....you don't have to take the elements and the spill trays out ....just a simple wipe. One a week I use the special cleaner recommended to do a 'just to be sure' job.
The fan forced oven is definitely a bonus.
I didn't want the stove to be stainless steel....the other whitegoods aren't...but to be honest, I don't remember too many SS Electrical stoves anyway.....well not ones I could afford.

[zen]

thankyou for comments...

naomi - there are housing commission tenants in the two houses either side, so i will be asking for a few quotes first, then tackling the h/c about the fences.. they are old, and in bad condition, and need replacing, even if there were no dogs.. i am hoping i have no trouble there, i know the tenants wanted to complain earlier, but i asked them to wait till we could afford our half.. i will be asking for high colourbond because of the dogs mainly, but also for privacy, and to match the front half.. and i am also hoping the little kids won't be able climb it like they do the wooden ones - i hate having little boys faces at my bathroom windows! so i have a few good reasons for it.. weird i know, colourbond in the front, and old wooden palings in the back, but i figure if the h/c came to the party for the front, the back should be ok too.. unless the previous owner here paid for it himself.. argh... hadn't thought of that till now.. i'll try to not think of that... :uhno:

Alexa - good point! thankyou... if i can save a little on the stove, then maybe i'll have a little left for something else.. i am hoping to get a new pc out of this too.. (please....)

one of my brothers bought a few things that way, he saved heaps just on a few scratches that were not seen once installed.. i should have remembered that, but i've been looking at new ones...

that sounds ok Heather... i clean my stove top every time i use it anyway.. did you have to change over your pots and pans too? has it scratched at all with use?

i saw one i really liked in hardly normal, wasn't too much more expensive than the white ones, and had a storage drawer at the bottom too.. it had the ceramic top that i wondered about.. looks so easy to clean!

another question, with the grill in the oven, does the oven door need to be open when used? i suppose i could look that up elsewhere...

[Heather]

I have stainless steel pots and have had to change nothing....I wish my stove had a drawer....I had a two level one in the old stove....I sure do miss it, had to rearrange to whole kitchen.

You do realise that whatever type of fence you put up, the neighbours only are liable for half the cost of a normal sized wooden fence....and I'm not too sure if even the cost of that is legally enforceable....might be an idea to trawl thru' the 'net and check.

[zen]

i kinda figured that Heather.. but anything would be a help with the fences.. another of my brothers had high colourbond put up all round, and even tho i forget right now what it was, i was surprised as it was lower than i had expected.. and thankfully, we do not have a large backyard anyway.. can only keep my fingers crossed on that i spose..

one thing that did really surprise me was the cost of gutter guard with installation.. we might have to rethink that one, maybe buy a ladder and do it ourselves...

went one better Heather - just rang the H/C and the person on the phone said that they usually came to the party on fences, i should just send in my quotes, and they might even pay half of the colourbond, depending on circumstances and their budget...

[susiq]

Just remember Zen, anything over your standard 6 ft fence (1.8m) needs council approval. I personally am not a fan of colourbond. Too much heat generated and no air flow.

I, like Naomi, have an Ilve free standing stove and love it to bits. It is gas on top and electric oven. So not much good to you. Depends on how much you want to spend though - Ilve start at the $3,000 mark so you might be better off going to somewhere like Winnings. They sell brand new items but they may be partially damaged. I don't know if there is one on the Central Coast - there's one in Crows Nest.

Good luck.

[Cherie]

Would you believe it. Tonight my stove blew up...Great, Now I will be looking for a new stove top too.:yes:

[zen]

susiq.. that's something i didn't know... but 6ft would do fine.. i've been thinking 6 foot all this time... the last house we rented had high colourbond all round, and i thought it was fine! :)

we need to put in another free standing stove, we would have to remodel part of the kitchen for anything else.. and even tho i would love an oven higher than my knees, the budget would not cover it.. not if we want fences, gutter guard etc.... and a new pc! lol... i want my pc! with all the bells and whistles too.. :D

the SS stove i've seen was around $2000... but i will do some research into seconds perhaps.. or grays online maybe... closer to my funds paying out.. i have most of my forms now.. yes! before anyone says anything, i was stupid.. lol! i know this... but i think i have found it all now.. thanks ATO!

Cherie.. that's no good at all! have fun looking for a new one!

[Patricia]

Zen good luck with the fences, I hope you get a better deal than we did when we fenced our property (7 acres)..none of the three neighbouring properties contributed a cent to the fencing but now have lovely secure fencing courtesy of us..:roll:

When we approached them and they said basically no and that they couldn't give a rat's we decided that we would just have to go ahead and do it anyway and that way we would know we had done everything possible to keep our animals secure. Hopefully the HC will have a much better attitude and in fact they probably have a protocol in place with regards adjoining fencing.

Stoves..mine is fan forced and I find that a bonus, something I wouldn't buy again is a stove top with solid elements...IMPOSSIBLE to clean to my satisfaction. I made a bad decision with the stove..we were building the house and seemed to constantly be making choices and by this time I was fed up and let Hubby choose it...in hindsight this was not a smart move :hehe:

Hope it all goes well for you and that you manage a new computer as well :D

[Heather]

You won't need your stove tonight will you?

[zen]

Patricia... that really sucks about your fences! not fair at all, but yes, can see why you would go ahead anyway, especially with neighbouring people like that!

the solid elements, oh yes.. had those in one of the houses we rented.. they had obviously been replaced before we moved in, nice new clean things... they were impossible to keep nice! clean yes, nice no... i know what you mean there.. but nothing was said about them when we moved out thankfully..

the induction tops are quite expensive it seems... so i think my choice basically comes down to ceramic or good old coils... the coils are supposed to be more energy efficient than anything other than the induction or gas of course, and cheaper too.. still unsure. :)

my husband's comment? when we win lotto and buy our waterfront mansion, and rent this house, tenants would probably break the ceramic cooktop.. :D dream on...

[Barbara]

Zen, we had to buy our stove when we built this house as the builder only put in a wall oven and that wasn't what we liked. We researched them a little bit but I had my mind set on a ss freestanding oven with gas & electricity and I wanted cast iron trivots (I'm fussy :P). There were a few out there all electric but I prefer gas (and of course, we have it naturally so that made it easier). My oven is a Lofra - made in Italy and wasn't too expensive.

It's fan forced which is great and when we grill (although I am yet to do this :hehe:), you just choose the function you want and yes, you do need to close the door.

And like Heather, I clean it straight after I have used it, and then wipe it over with special ss wipes every saturday so they are easy to keep clean :)

Personally, I'd would have loved to get an Aga but we have the wrong type of house for that but they are also very expensive (and I'd need to learn how to control the heat LOL so would end up burning everything to start with).

Baumatic have an all electric oven which is really nice :)

Good luck with your search :)

[zen]

i like those ss wipes, use them on the fridge and kitchen bin, they sure do make that chore easy.. i wondered about closing the oven door to grill, but it makes more sense.. i imagine i could make nice crispy brown roast potatoes by turning it on near the tend of roasting? or am i just dreaming there? :D

i just googled Lofra.. wow.. nice looking stoves! pity we don't have gas... not big on the aga stoves..

so are the Ilve stoves! the majestic range is something else.. i could go for the red one in a big way!

argh... choices... :) i must admit it tho, if we find a second with minor issues, i would take it if the price was right, as long as it isn't pink... just saw a pink or maybe mauve aga in their site and i was reminded of the stove my parents had while i was growing up, it was pink and dominated the kitchen in a big way... hadn't thought of that for a long time..

just remembered to google baumatic, first thing i saw? a built in espresso machine!! i want one!! lol... their ovens have removeable roof liners! i like that....

....you might be better off going to somewhere like Winnings. They sell brand new items but they may be partially damaged. I don't know if there is one on the Central Coast - there's one in Crows Nest.

just noted a Winnings Appliances at Newcastle on the Baumatic site.. close enough... :) thanks!


this automatic merging of posts never fails to surprise me! well done admin! :)

[Mesmereyes]

Hi Zen, I have used all sorts of ovens and the best I find is the fan forced, cooks a treat Good luck with your search for the PERFECT STOVE

[lizisme]

We have stainless steel oven (and dishwasher) and ceramic hotplate and it's easy to keep both clean so i wouldn't be concerned about that - you just need the right products.

[Stormy]

I like my ceramic cooktop but I would have liked a gas burner on it as well.....because I love cooking with a wok and an electric wok just doesn't cut the grade somehow. :)

I hope you find one that works best for you and your kitchen...don't envy you the search though. :hehe:

[zen]

we did it!! we bought a stove on the weekend.. this is it: http://www.westinghouse.com.au/product/display/model/PSN632S

isn't it lovely!! :D

now we wait of course, for delivery.. then i will have to wait for a sparky to come install it for us.. hopefully by the long weekend.. it's been so long since i bothered cooking anything in the oven we have, i wonder if i will remember what i used to put into an oven! :)

i guess i just put the old stove out on the footpath and have the council come pick it up?

two guys have measured up fences now.. only have one quote in my hands so far. there's no problems having a 6ft high fence, i just need to convince the Housing Dept. it's necessary - i think i can do that tho, what with a dog that jumps the fence there now, and little boys climbing on it, and staring through bathroom windows...

[miss kiki]

oh, i love it zen! especially the stove top. :yes: :)

[zen]

thanks Miss Kiki! i know it isn't too flash.. but we have no room for anything else, and this is like luxury to me! :)

[miss kiki]

oh no, i love it! my mom has a similar stove top and wipes it down after every time she cooks. it comes off so easily and it's so much nicer than having to clean the little grill type thingies with other stoves (if you know what i mean!)

[Stormy]

It's a Westinghouse too! :D

Oh and you asked a question about the grilling function a while back....ours has the grill on the inside of the second oven (top one is fan-forced, bottom one isn't) and I shut the door. I haven't had anything catch on fire yet ;)

[zen]

this stove has the grill separate... we almost saved $300 on a Euromaid stove, which has the grill inside the oven, but in the end we went for this one... the oven is larger, and it has the dual hotplate which i liked the sound of.. and it looks spectacular! lol.. the Euromaid finish was not as silvery as this one, and this one will match the fridge etc..

we even bought stainless steel finish cupboard door handles to match, what a difference they made to the cupboards!

miss kiki - yes i know what you mean, this is going to be so easy to clean.. :)

[Mad Old Cow]

Love it Zen & you will too i had a stove top like that when we lived at Bribie & it was so easy to keep clean

[zen]

the waiting is hard tho.. like waiting for my pc.. but the wait will be over soon enough! :D

[Barbara]

Looks great Zen - you'll have to take a pic of it in your kitchen now :)

[zen]

well.. as a matter of fact.. i just happen to have one! lol...

here it is:

http://users.tpg.com.au/adslnlhl/zenpics/stove-sm.jpg

now we need to replace the old rangehood too.. something in a stainless steel finish of course! :)

looking at that pic.. maybe a new blind in grey too.. one thing about updating anything, it's always seems to have a cascade effect doesn't it..

[miss kiki]

it looks great! very nice!

[Barbara]

Oh wow Zen, it looks really good - and a perfect fit :yes: