Lovely Lo-Tech Cooker for Skeptical Elderly Lady
5/5
This cooker was bought for the house of an 81 year old lady with chronic back problems, arthritic hands and a real reluctance to replace her very old and very broken electric cooker. It’s fair to say she was skeptical!
The cooker was delivered a week ago now and has so far been a great success. It seems robust, well-constructed, energy-efficient, attractive- and fantastic value for money. It suits our needs perfectly; I already love it and Mum is coming round fast.
The knobs are clearly marked and easy to use, even for a person with a weak grip. The oven is placed high and so easier to reach than on the cooker it replaced. The hob is bigger than the old one, with plenty of space for pots, handles etc. The black enamel top is easy to clean and doesn’t show every splash between wipe-downs. Haven’t done a big oven clean yet (my department!) but so far it seems to wipe clean fine. The closed door grilling has even solved an annoying problem we used to have (excitable smoke detector lol)
The oven has a usable variety of practical heating and grilling options, and is big enough to cope with both batch cooking and occasional large-scale extended family catering. It seems to run true to oven temperature, though I haven’t tested it rigorously. It also has a light which means there is less need to open the oven during cooking. I’m sure it will work out significantly cheaper to run, all things considered, than the much smaller model it replaced. I’m also sure family gatherings will be less stressful to cater.
This cooker is very easy on the eye, pleasingly straightforward and unfussy in design, and the stainless steel finish is a slightly champagne-y colour which we both like a lot.
That brings me to a couple of points which may help you finally decide if this is the cooker for you. First, if your existing decor or other appliances are steel, it might be best to check you like the overall look; the steel finish of this appliance is perhaps unusual and mat not blend in with all kitchens. Second, If you’re looking for cutting edge tech in a cooker, this is not the one for you. It has, for instance, a simple mechanical timer and no newfangled touch-screen digital features. It suits Mum precisely because she needs something that is better than the old cooker, but similar enough to make the switch intuitive and simple for her.
For me, there are 2 minor missing features which are forgivable at this price point, and for which we would have happily paid a bit extra: there is a large space below the oven which would make a perfect pan drawer, but is not…; and the inner oven glass does not come off for cleaning, though the door as a whole does (sounds a bit scary tbh). Other than these partial caveats, I’d highly recommend this Electra cooker.
One final thing; I’m one of those nerdy types who actually reads all available reviews before picking a product; this cooker was my clear first choice. Unfortunately I was slow and it went out of stock. As we urgently needed to replace the old cooker, I went with choice # 2 from another supplier which will remain nameless. This was delivered damaged, followed by a gruelling and ill-tempered process of getting the useless cooker removed and the money we had spent refunded.
By then, Mum & me were both totally stressed, and this model was back in stock. A0 were great, quick and true to all arrangements made. The delivery team in particular were fantastic, going out of their way to deliver on the day agreed, despite difficult circumstances. They have really restored our faith in good honest customer service, and rebuilt Mum’s belief in human nature the process.
