Appliances...Rangemaster or Smeg?
Discussion
We're going to be equipping the kitchen in our new house soon. The kitchen place only sells Rangemaster, and as it's a new build it's essentially VAT free so a good price. By the looks of things, Rangemaster is very good stuff, British made, and has won many awards.
However, I do love Smeg appliances, the styling is gorgeous. In PH speak it's an Alfa Romeo...Italian, stunning to look at, even if in honesty the knobs feel a bit flimsy. And, touching wood here, our current Smeg washer dryer (which we will be taking with us when we move) has been a lot more reliable than either of my 156s, and I guess all the appliances would match.
Compare this Rangemaster...
...with the Smeg
...and the Smeg wins the porn award hands down. I think I prefer the design too, I don't really want to be rummaging around in those floor level freezer drawers on the Rangemaster for coffee, where the Smeg could have them at eye level.
Similar story with the cooker, oh, and the Smeg is about half the cost of the Rangemaster equivalent.
Sooo...what to do? I've googled "Smeg v Rangemaster", and the only recent comparison thread is on Mumsnet, and I'm sorry, but NO. Any thoughts here people? I'm lucky that Mrs HD has also gone down the "ooooo, isn't that Smeg gorgeous" path, and hasn't investigated yet if the Rangemaster has a 2 cubic centimetre larger oven, or has a meringue browning setting.
Any feedback here would be great...thanks in advance.
However, I do love Smeg appliances, the styling is gorgeous. In PH speak it's an Alfa Romeo...Italian, stunning to look at, even if in honesty the knobs feel a bit flimsy. And, touching wood here, our current Smeg washer dryer (which we will be taking with us when we move) has been a lot more reliable than either of my 156s, and I guess all the appliances would match.
Compare this Rangemaster...
...with the Smeg
...and the Smeg wins the porn award hands down. I think I prefer the design too, I don't really want to be rummaging around in those floor level freezer drawers on the Rangemaster for coffee, where the Smeg could have them at eye level.
Similar story with the cooker, oh, and the Smeg is about half the cost of the Rangemaster equivalent.
Sooo...what to do? I've googled "Smeg v Rangemaster", and the only recent comparison thread is on Mumsnet, and I'm sorry, but NO. Any thoughts here people? I'm lucky that Mrs HD has also gone down the "ooooo, isn't that Smeg gorgeous" path, and hasn't investigated yet if the Rangemaster has a 2 cubic centimetre larger oven, or has a meringue browning setting.
Any feedback here would be great...thanks in advance.
Edited by Hard-Drive on Wednesday 30th September 08:29
Oh yes, and one other question...sink waste disposal unit. This seems like a really good idea to me...I'm assuming that any food waste goes down here, a cleanish plate then goes in the dishwasher, and you never have food in the bin getting smelly.
Is it worth fitting, or are they not as good in practice?
Is it worth fitting, or are they not as good in practice?
We've just bought a rangemaster induction range for our new kitchen, which is very nice, and works great - it replaced a standard-sized Smeg, which was also good, and had lasted 15+ years, so no complaints there either. We re-used our existing fridge, so don't have any comments either way there, although our builder has a rangemaster fridge, and had been underwhelmed by it - had apparently needed to replace the door seals several times on it.
We've got this Rangemaster http://www.rangemaster.co.uk/range-cooking/range-c...
Very good, however the quality of the knobs isn't great and the grill is nigh unusable due to it being fixed height and too close to the element for many applications. This one came with the house, and I would probably look elsewhere if we had to replace.
Very good, however the quality of the knobs isn't great and the grill is nigh unusable due to it being fixed height and too close to the element for many applications. This one came with the house, and I would probably look elsewhere if we had to replace.
Hard-Drive said:
Oh yes, and one other question...sink waste disposal unit. This seems like a really good idea to me...I'm assuming that any food waste goes down here, a cleanish plate then goes in the dishwasher, and you never have food in the bin getting smelly.
Is it worth fitting, or are they not as good in practice?
I'm amazed you can still buy these, I'm not a complete eco-loony, having 13-ish litres of car engine on the drive, but these cause all manner of issues with water treatment, not to mention the fact that everywhere has waste food collection these days which gets composted for fertiliser and many places even generate electricity from the methane as it composts.Is it worth fitting, or are they not as good in practice?
Stick it in the food waste bin and save yourself £200 on a waste disposal that'll just break or get clogged anyway.
Also, you'll only end up putting your hand in there to fetch your wedding ring and a gremlin will turn it on... or something...
rsbmw said:
We've got this Rangemaster http://www.rangemaster.co.uk/range-cooking/range-c...
Very good, however the quality of the knobs isn't great and the grill is nigh unusable due to it being fixed height and too close to the element for many applications. This one came with the house, and I would probably look elsewhere if we had to replace.
Exact same one here only an induction hob. 2 grand oven and the plasticky chrome stuff on the timer knob is starting to come off after 2 years.Very good, however the quality of the knobs isn't great and the grill is nigh unusable due to it being fixed height and too close to the element for many applications. This one came with the house, and I would probably look elsewhere if we had to replace.
Yep, the grill is a bit snug although turning over the wire tray so the legs are shorter helps.
Small things though and I still rate it
ILoveMondeo said:
Hard-Drive said:
Oh yes, and one other question...sink waste disposal unit. This seems like a really good idea to me...I'm assuming that any food waste goes down here, a cleanish plate then goes in the dishwasher, and you never have food in the bin getting smelly.
Is it worth fitting, or are they not as good in practice?
I'm amazed you can still buy these, I'm not a complete eco-loony, having 13-ish litres of car engine on the drive, but these cause all manner of issues with water treatment, not to mention the fact that everywhere has waste food collection these days which gets composted for fertiliser and many places even generate electricity from the methane as it composts.Is it worth fitting, or are they not as good in practice?
Stick it in the food waste bin and save yourself £200 on a waste disposal that'll just break or get clogged anyway.
Also, you'll only end up putting your hand in there to fetch your wedding ring and a gremlin will turn it on... or something...
We had a rangemaster oven in our last house, bought from new and at about 6 months old we shut the door and the glass shattered! Wasnt scratched or dirty and hadn't hit a shelf. Managed to get a replacement. I think rangemaster stuff is made locally as well (Leamington).
We also have an induction hob in our current rental and its a right PITA. Its touch screen but appears not to work if your fingers are wet or greasy (which isn't often when cooking, urr...). Hob stops working and beeps if a pan boils over etc etc.. Gone back to a normal glass hob with knobs in the new kitchen.
Edited by chrisga on Thursday 1st October 13:11
C Lee Farquar said:
The schoolboy in me sniggered when I first saw a Smeg branded appliance and I have always wondered if I could put up the name plastered around my kitchen.
Haha...there's definitely snigger value there! However, it could be worse than a subtle badge...I used to race these boats (18' skiffs) and this one always made me chuckle (although may well be why I want Smeg now). I never actually raced these guys but if we had, we probably would have called them the Smegheads...
chrisga said:
stuff
So, all in all it seems that my "head" thoughts about Rangemaster being The Daddy might be wrong, and it looks like it will be the "heart" brand of Smeg, and a few quid saved along the way too.Thanks guys!
Hard-Drive said:
So, all in all it seems that my "head" thoughts about Rangemaster being The Daddy might be wrong, and it looks like it will be the "heart" brand of Smeg, and a few quid saved along the way too.
Thanks guys!
Should say our rangemaster oven was at the budget end of their built in cooker price range and the induction hob we have now is ikea. You'd probably be at the other end of the scale from us....Thanks guys!
I've no experience of other brands of induction hob just find the one we have currently a bit of a pain day to day.
We went for a french door instead of a side by side. We cook a lot of food from scratch and for large joints etc, the side by side is too small. This also applies to the freezer drawers which are on the narrow side.
For your budget I would look at other providers - Liebherr and Fisher and paykel are excellent. I went for the latter in a french door setup
[pic] https://www.fisherpaykel.com/content/fisherpaykel/... [/pic]
For your budget I would look at other providers - Liebherr and Fisher and paykel are excellent. I went for the latter in a french door setup
[pic] https://www.fisherpaykel.com/content/fisherpaykel/... [/pic]
stanwan said:
We went for a french door instead of a side by side. We cook a lot of food from scratch and for large joints etc, the side by side is too small. This also applies to the freezer drawers which are on the narrow side.
For your budget I would look at other providers - Liebherr and Fisher and paykel are excellent. I went for the latter in a french door setup
[pic] https://www.fisherpaykel.com/content/fisherpaykel/... [/pic]
That Fisher & Paykel is lovely, and they sponsor an 18' Skiff so they don't lose out on any Smeg points there either, however that really is pushing the budget too much. Thanks for the tip on the French door though...For your budget I would look at other providers - Liebherr and Fisher and paykel are excellent. I went for the latter in a french door setup
[pic] https://www.fisherpaykel.com/content/fisherpaykel/... [/pic]
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