Hotpoint HUG61

When we moved into this house about 7 years ago it was our first house as a couple, and we had very little in the way of appliances and furniture, so when the lady offered to sell us her cooker we jumped at the chance. We put up with that cooker until we had our kitchen redone last year, and I knew that I wanted and needed a new cooker.

Although I have cooked for myself for over a decade, I wasn't that sure on how to buy the best suited cooker as there is so much choice out there. If we had a bigger house, i would have loved a big range type cooker, but as we were making a small room over it made the choice more tricky.

We browsed a lot of shops in person and realised that a lot of shops don't carry a big range of cookers, so we were judging what we had seen in shop and hadn't liked compared to photos online. Not ideal, but I think it worked.

So, the main criteria for me was that I wanted a gas cooker. I hate cooking with electric ovens and hobs, so as well as a gas oven, I wanted a gas hob too. I also wanted an integrated grill as I don't like cooking on eye level grills and having fat spitting into my eyes. I also wanted a large oven, as I like to cook properly from scratch, so I didn't want to compromise on space. I also wanted an appliance that came in a stainless steel outer case to match the grey appliances that I had bought for the kitchen. I also wanted proper knobs on the cooker, not liking the rubberised ones as I don't trust that they won't perish with the heat over time.

So, to say I wan't that fussy, that started narrowing my choices down considerably. Try searching for a double gas oven with gas hob, and you will see what I mean.

I spotted this particular hotpoint model at John lewis, for £550. It was fairly expensive compared to other cookers on the market, but when you are as fussy as me, the price starts to go up, and my husband has learned to say 'yes dear if you like it' seems though I am the main user of this cooker.

One thing that is new to me in the gas cooker market is that appliances now have something called a fuel safety device. This is something that is required by law for rental properties but not for your own house. Nevertheless, in a house with small children I find it useful that it has this feature. To ignite the ovens, grill or hob rings, you need to hold in the ignition button with the rings fully open for a certain period of time before it will stay ignited. There is no chance of small hands turning the dials and gas leaking out in a large enough quantity to smell. Also, if one of my pans boil over then the gas cuts out.

The main oven heats quickly. The door is unusual to me. There is a visible gap between the inner and outer door, and the inner glass section slides out on runners so it is extremely easy to clean by washing it up in the sink. My old oven required you to unscrew the door panel to clean the glass, so I really like this. The oven actually cooks food at the gas mark setting described in recipes and on packets. If it says whack your pizza in at GM6 for 18-20 minutes, that is when it will be cooked to perfection. Not incinerated. Not uncooked still. Particularly handy when cooking a roast. There is a light in the main oven which comes on when you light the oven and goes off when you turn it off so you can see your food, but also I can see at a glance whether the oven has been left on by accident.

There is a timer that works with the big oven, but I have never had call to use it as I am always in when it is time to cook.

The smaller second oven/grill is very similar in design to the main oven. It has the 2 glass panels again in the door, the inner one being easy to remove and wash. In this oven I find it really weird. If you light the oven then start doing something else in front of the cooker then it feels really cold as the cold air is pushed out the oven. It can also feel a little warm when it is in use once it warms up. The manual recommends that this oven is set one setting higher than your recipe calls for to get the temperature correct. I do this when I cook, and it has worked fine for me. No burnt offerings yet.

The cooker came with a heat shield which is meant to be in the cooker when you use it as a grill to direct the heat onto your food, and removed when you use it as an oven. To be honest, i find this bit of metal a bit unnecessary. Perhaps because my grill pan is always fully loaded so I don't want to direct all the heat one way.

The only thing I am not fond of is I am not that keen on the grill pan provided with the cooker. The handle is a metal handle which basically hooks around the tray, so unless you get it in the exact right place, then the handle falls off and you can't pull out the food to check it. I am not sure how they could get round this as you couldn't have an attached handle or the pan would be too big to fit in the oven when not in use. Also, you don't want the handle attached when cooking in the oven. Maybe a thicker handle? Or slotting the handle through holes in the edge of the pan at the top?

The hob has 2 different sizes of burner. I mainly use the smaller ones as I find the bigger ones are a bit too big for my pans and being able to control the heat as well as I want. I only just realised after months of using it that the burners can actually be turned back as though you are turning the whole thing back off. This leaves just the tiniest bit of heat for your pan to simmer. The burners are all a bit fierce on the lowest actual setting, and I have had many boiling over disasters on the hob because of this. It has taken a while to get used to.

The hob is really easy to clean. I usually wipe it with a microfibre cloth or the washing up sponge. I have to be careful not to scrub with the rough side though as it does scratch it. I also find that you have to buff it up a bit as even water seems to leave little marks visible.

Both ovens have catalytic liners for easy cleaning. I have found a quick wipe down inside while still warm with white vinegar keeps it looking like new.

The whole cooker is finished off very smartly with a glass lid which pulls down over the cooker when it is not in use. This also helps to protect the wall behind the cooker from cooking splashes.

Overall, I am still very happy with the quality of this purchase. It always looks very smart, and I love how it cooks how it should. It is an absolute dream to cook on compared to cheaper gas cookers we have had. I would highly recommend it. If you go to the hotpoint outlet website it is available in black, white and graphite for only £455, and also the stainless steel model i have is £495.