Kitchen appliances chat

I always thought an Aga casing plus some MDF would make a nice kitchen storage unit.
Just throw away all the central cast iron guff and re-use the enamelled and shiny bits to make something actually useful.

Ear defenders required.

Take Aga out, replace with cooker. Fit ceiling mounted infrared panel heater :)

Any recommendations on a built under oven?
Cant decide on single oven or double grill/oven set ups.

Does anyone know of a kettle that’s quick boil for large amounts for cooking etc but also able to do one cup of tea?

Have you thought of having two things?

• One normal kettle for the cooking
  
• One hot water dispenser for cups of tea
  
  

We had a hot water dispenser (nicknamed "Steamy", made by Breville I think) in my last office as we didn't have a sink so we couldn't have a normal kettle (office Health'n'Safety regs say you need somewhere to pour away water if you have a kettle. Something something Legionnaires' disease something.) Worked perfectly well for a whole bunch of us wanting tea and coffee.

If our kitchen work surfaces weren't already too full I'd get one for home. Some 20 years on and I still haven't trained Mrs GB not to put 2L of water in the kettle for two cups of tea/coffee.

I cook quite a lot and I've really struggled to justify paying for a double oven. I think the cases where I would genuinely use one in a way that I couldn't get away with using a single oven is maybe twice a year (one of them being christmas)

I ended up going with an AEG model - AEG BPS552020M

Mostly because it has pyrolytic cleaning and a handy inbuilt temp sensor.

Whatever model you buy i'd suggest getting a graded appliance from somewhere like slightlydamaged or kingdom appliances.

Reckon I've saved about £2k across all my purchases by buying things with scratches in places invisible to the eye once installed.

What is the difference between fridges that makes an A energy rating versus an E rating and why the fuck are the better ones more expensive? Governments subsidise stupid fucking electric cars but why aren't the most environmentally friendly basic things like fridges the cheapest (or only) option?

E rated fridges aren't actually shit, the ratings were changed a couple of years ago because they kept adding better products to the list so we had A+, then A++, then A+++ etc. E fridges would have been A++ under the old system.

Yeah, that's progress. But there's a measureable difference in power consumption. So, I want to know why that is and why it costs more.

I know they're all the rage right now but will you have an air fryer? If so then that is effectively a second oven.

The only time when I would like anything other than a single oven is when I'm doing a big roast and roast potatoes are in at a high temperature and I also want some meat or veg or something in at a lower temperature, but the last few times I've had an air fryer for that lower temperature cooking.

The rating is derived by dividing power consumption by volume - so bigger ones can get a higher score while using more power overall.

You can stick it to the man by buying a smaller one.

Most frost-free fridges have lower ratings as generally frost-free systems take more energy to run.

Most A-rated fridges use inverter compressors and better insulation, which both cost more.

Go single. If you want an extra oven get a combi microwave/oven/grill. I use my graded Miele all the time.

So there is a actual difference not just some bullshit switching tech that means more expensive run less to cheat the tests. Anyway we went with an E rated one because A was twice the price.
It would've paid for itself over its life, but it's not for us and ain't nobody got time for that.

Did this with out "American style" fridge freezer. It a huge stainless steel LG model with ice and water dispenser for £600 ish. It had a small dent on the side and little scratch on the front. The whole unit is covered in magnets and the kids drawings so you don't see them. Got it from the AO outlet shop. It cost the same as getting separates .

air fryer

There are some fancy integrated ones with dual options too. But a separate stand-alone air-fryer does sound like a cunning option for the larger meals that are only done on special occasions.

Haha wow, if I was living on my own I would absolutely get my own Steamy. Alas, if my gf came home from work to find I’d installed one she would probably put my head under it

Inbuilt temp sensor - is that a probe thing for cooking meat?

On previous kitchen appliances I have just visited the Hotpoint outlet and bought whichever had the most discount or FB Marketplace. This time trying to explore options and make 'the right' decision.

I quite like the idea of having a separate grill instead of having the main oven door open. The Smeg DUSF6300X has reasonable sized main oven and separate grill. As you said it can be bought for half priced as a graded item.

Yeah a meat probe basically

I paid full whack for the same and it was dented and scratched within a month. Over a year in and I'm still sore about it.

Teehee

Does it fit in your cabinetry or are you putting in new joinery at the same time?

It's a non standard height being a type of "double" oven, so it won't fit in a normal DIN slot

Putting in new cabinetry

It’d use an inordinate amount of fuel to get it up to temp

I often use two ovens one might be used for low temp eg reverse searing some meat while the other is roasting veg.