Smart-looking cooker that takes a bit of getting used-to
4/5
A solid and smart-looking gas cooker that definitely has a premium air about it - as it it should, given its premium price tag. We opted for the full-fitting service that AO provide (essential with a gas cooker) and this all went fine, the installer even changing our existing gas connection fitting for a new one that could be properly secured to the wall, this making for a much safer connection point. So, that part was all good.
Unfortunately though, we did subsequently endure some issues with the main oven randomly turning itself off which, as you can probably imagine, made cooking the Christmas dinner this year an even trickier task than usual! Getting the issue sorted though (via a call to Stoves Service department) was relatively straightforward but, as this all happened over the Christmas holiday period, we did have to wait a while for our engineer visit.
There's also a bit of a knack you have to learn when it comes to lighting the hob burners. Don't be tempted to release the control knob as soon as the gas ignites because, if you do, the flame will just go out again. You need to keep the controller pressed-in for a few seconds after the burner has lit and then slowly release it. I believe this is one of the cooker's safety features in action but it has taken us a little while to get used to it as our previous cooker seemed to be much easier to start - that cooker was well-over twenty years old though and, no doubt, wouldn't be up to today's safety standards.
With regard to actually cooking things, notwithstanding the issues we've had, it does a pretty good job. Both of the ovens are a good size, the electric grill works well and the hob burners are nice and controllable. It's a 5 star cooker that, for us, only dropped a star because it arrived with a fault.