Quality item with a few shortcomings/omissions
4/5
Well made, well insulated double oven which when operating, unlike the Hotpoint it replaced, does not heat the kitchen to an unacceptable level - indeed heat leakage, into the atmosphere, assuming the door is kept closed, is virtually nil.
The two ovens are well isolated from each other as well. Case in point: with our previous Hotpoint double oven I could cook a meal in the main oven, with plates in the ‘top’ oven (NOT switched on/powered up) and, at the end of the cooking cycle, sufficient heat had leaked from the main to the top oven to warm the plates to an ideal temperature for serving the food - handy, but hardly efficient use of energy also bearing in mind the point made in the first paragraph above.
On attempting the same ‘shortcut’ with the Bosch, at the end of the cooking cycle I was presented with plates at the same temperature as that when they were inserted! Far from a negative, this proves how well the unit conserves energy. (Plated CAN be warmed in the top oven using the simple expedient of applying 40-50 degree heat to that oven for the last 5 minutes of the main oven cooking time.
FAR more efficient, I would suggest, than harvesting the constantly leaking heat source of our previous oven.
However, setting temperature, for either oven is quite problematic - certainly when installed as a ‘built under’ rather than an eye-level ‘built-in’. The index marks on the knobs are very difficult to see and, therefore, line up with the appropriate temperature setting - we now keep a small torch near the cooker to achieve accuracy in this regard, with the associated need to bend over, as all the ‘usual’ temperature index marks are around the ‘6 o’clock’ area of the dial position. - not brilliant, to say the least.
The unit is only supplied with one adjustable shelf for each oven, where the competition normally supply two shelves for the main oven, with the adequate single shelf in the top oven/grill. Speaking of which, NO conventional grill pan is provided. You are expected to grill on a shelf using one of the 3 supplied ‘drip pans’ to catch the ‘juices/fat’.
Needless to say, extra shelves are available for a significant 2 figure sum - not so a grill pan.
Actual operating facilities are excellent with lights in both ovens (as you would expect), a main oven ‘rapid heat up’ pre-cook setting, a main oven with full or reduced fan-power cooking, as well as ‘conventional oven’ non-fan cooking, grilling facility (door closed) in BOTH ovens as well as a cook/grill combination cooking action in the main oven.
A good oven which could be excellent with a bit more attention to detail.
