We’ve had a Creda Europa Solar Plus for at least 25 years. Only had to replace the fan once and otherwise it’s been great! It’s just starting to become too difficult to keep clean and bits of plastic are failing.

Looking for the nearest equivalent we can find. Must have Solar grill/top oven and catalytic liners in the main oven.

Only one I’ve found so far is a Hotpoint that is suspiciously low priced. Any alternative suggestions or comments on current generation Hotpoint would be most gratefully received.

We’ve a freestanding AEG. Probably the cheapest of the more expensive choices 5 years ago. Partly chosen for its 5 year warranty, but also things like max. oven temp as we bake bread. Anyway it’s okay, nothing is cheap nowadays, quality-wise it’s also okay. Was about £550 back then. Here’s the current model:

https://ao.com/product/ccb6740acm-aeg-electric-cooker-stainless-steel-59492-11.aspx

    smallblueplanet We’ve a freestanding AEG

    Looks good but no Solar grill and I’m looking for a built-in double oven not a standalone.

      Ah right. There’s a built in AEG but I’ve no idea what a solar grill is, just thought it was a fancy name. :) edit: fwiw Hotpoint and Creda are both part of Indesit (I’m sure you knew that, but just in case).

        If it’s to be wall mounted, why not just buy two single wall ovens?

          smallblueplanet Thanks, I did know that but Creda wasn’t owned by Indesit when mine was made. A Solar grill uses glass ‘tubes’ as elements. They heat up very quickly and are much more controllable than a conventional element.

            Do you use the grill enough to make that a deal breaker? I only use my grill a couple of times a month at most.

            And the best tip I’ve come across for grilling is to make sure the food is a good distance away from the element (at least 15cm). You get most of the heat so it grills almost as quickly but you don’t get hotspots that mean burnt bits.

            Just about to pull the trigger on a replacement double oven which is 18 yrs old and has more hot spots than the sun. I would have thought there would have been lots of innovations introduced in that 18 years but not that impressed. Pricier kit has pyrolytic (which I like to think of as paralytic) cleaning. Never tried an oven with this so can’t comment. Temp adjustments are electronic rather than mechanical so hopefully more controllable. One I’m looking at has rails in the bottom oven so you can slide out whatever you’re cooking more safely. Other than this, that’s it. I am surprised more thought and design hasn’t gone into to finding a better solution to grilling. Oven I’m looking at has the generic double element which I really dislike.

              My biggest gripe with a lot of ovens is that they have a lip on the edge of the oven shelf so things can’t just slide on and off. I assume it’s a safety thing but having to manoeuvre a burning hot pan/tray/dish over that lip is such a pain. It ruled out a lot of ovens for me.

              What I have found really useful is a slightly bigger than average oven, I’ve not yet found something that doesn’t fit.

              I’ve never seen a lip on the front, but always a lip on the back. The lip is to prevent the grate from being pulled all the way out in a hot oven. Are you sure you don’t have the grates installed backwards?

              • Dusk replied to this.

                Couldn’t resist that. Looking at a Neff.

                  Systemic I would have thought there would have been lots of innovations introduced in that 18 years but not that impressed.

                  Had the same assumption and a similar disappointing experience. For its main function, I don’t feel my current oven is any better than it’s predecessors.

                  While older ovens had a top and bottom element and a fan, programs were limited to their on/off combinations. Now ovens add more and more “programs” by stupidly limiting the temp range and nothing more (limit the temp to low and it’s “Slow Cook”, limit more and it’s “Keep Warm” or “Meringue”. On the basic program you can’t go to the full temp, you need to go to “Bread” or “Pizza” to reach the full temp of the oven, etc.). So instead of having the full range of temperature on few simple programs, you have to move between those programs to be able to choose the temp you want, with no added benefit.

                  The oven itself isn’t more accurate, the cooking isn’t more even, the materials are not better than past ovens I had.

                  Systemic Pricier kit has pyrolytic

                  Wouldn’t buy an oven without pyrolytic cleaning for what it does, but on the other hand really disappointed with it. While it does a good job on much of the interior, mine does nothing for the glass door and also leaves an uncleaned area on a small strip around the perimeter of the opening. Also, the racks and rails are stainless, so also needs doing by hand. So it’s a good function, but leaves a lot to be desired.

                  Systemic Couldn’t resist that. Looking at a Neff.

                  Mine is a Neff, and I regret getting it. It has the Slide & Hide door. I shamefully admit it helped to sway me towards that oven as I was desperately looking for justification to replace a Siemens oven which was great (but didn’t have pyrolytic cleaning). I find the sliding door not only a gimmick with no real advantage, it’s also significantly more difficult to remove for cleaning (and it needs removing, because self-clean doesn’t work on it, and the sliding function means it’s very inconvenient to clean without removing. On the Siemens, removing the door was effortless and took no time at all).

                  The Neff only has four racks (compared to five on my previous, and I believe most other ovens), I’m not sure if this is because of the sliding door or just a design choice. Very often I fine that the missing rack is limiting the hight flexibility, and I struggle to fit all I want in the oven because of that.

                  While the oven is fine, function wise it doesn’t offer much over older ovens I had, and also has drawbacks as described. If I had to buy an oven today, I wouldn’t get a Slide & Hide Neff (unless in a very narrow kitchen where you don’t have enough space to open the door and move around it).

                        Loonster

                        No, I’ve checked many. It’s a thing but not on my oven as I couldn’t live with it.