Best range style cookers to buy in UK?

Thanks very much for the feedback. Due to unexpected financial issues, the purchase of the range cooker has been put on hold until now. I had pretty much settled on the Rangemaster Professional 110cm in stainless steel. I think they are still UK made? I will take a look at Ilve too though now. Thanks again.

Well, long time no visit. But I haven’t forgotten this thread. Here’s an update on what happened.

Mrs B had her kitchen replaced and the range cooker of choice in the end was an Ilve Torino 100cm dual fuel. That may or may not have been a good choice.

The cooker is now around 18 months old. Like everyone, we have a budget and the 1st choice Ilve Milano cooker, a more sophisticated cooker, was out of budget. So we bought what was then a newly introduced, less expensive range cooker, the Torino. Essentially the Torino appears to be similar to the Milano but there’s some cost savings going on. Obvious – 1 Less sophisticated oven temperature control. 2 Less sophisticated timer/programmer. 3 Less appealing control knobs. 4 Different cast iron pan supports on the hob.

Major hardware seems identical on both models. The Torino cooker as a result is considerably cheaper than the equivalent Milano model. Since we bought it, the 100cm dual fuel Torino now costs £400 more though. A considerable increase.

Since new it has been apparent that the left side, larger, oven has been overheating. Like if the oven was set to 180 degrees C it would heat to 250 and still climbing. This was confirmed on two different oven thermometers. Ilve service are OK responding but it took a couple of visits before anyone came who was interested enough to try fix it properly. The service department seems willing enough but as in all walks of life, it’s a lottery who turns up on the doorstep. Anyway, it does now seem fixed after replacing the whole oven temperature control assembly. Previous attempts at adjustment were a waste of time but that was all the previous service guys would do.

An aside, the supplied Ilve instruction manuals are dreadful. Might I say that compared to German appliances, it’s something the Italians are very poor at. It seems.

One more niggle, the oven and hob control knobs are not wearing well. Another 18 months and they’ll need replacing through surface wear. They just pull off though and if I can, I’ll likely buy the better quality knobs for the Milano cooker. If they’ll fit. But a full set could be very expensive. Cross that bridge when I come to it.

So, would I buy another Ilve range cooker? Probably, given the diminishing options that aren’t built in Asia but are still reasonably affordable. If I could, I would not buy what seems to be a budget cooker in the Ilve line up. I think I would be prepared to pay for the more sophisticated model.

Overall, at the moment, say 7 out of 10 for the Ilve Torino.