Rangemaster Toledo 90 GAS SS

I've had the Rangemaster Toledo 90 for just over a year and am very pleased with my purchase. I have the all electric, ceramic hob version and find it attractive to look at, efficient and versatile. The product information shown on CIAO for this model (although mine isn't an'E' and it has 2 fan ovens) is the one that best fits my cooker which explains why I've chosen to review a product without a photo!

I chose this cooker as I was ...
...particular, I opted for the Rangemaster Toledo 90. I chose it on the grounds that Rangemaster is owned by AGA, a reliable and growing company, it looked good (brushed stainless steel) and it provided me with the extra oven and hob areas that I needed. Now, I know some people are wary of ceramic hobs but as long as you use pans with smooth bottoms so that there is maximum heat transfer from the hob to the pan, cooking is quick and energy efficient. ... more

I've had the Rangemaster Toledo 90 for just over a year and am very pleased with my purchase. I have the all electric, ceramic hob version and find it attractive to look at, efficient and versatile. The product information shown on CIAO for this model (although mine isn't an'E' and it has 2 fan ovens) is the one that best fits my cooker which explains why I've chosen to review a product without a photo!

I chose this cooker as I was finding that my normal 600mm cooker really wasn't big enough when my children all visited, now that they both also have spouses in tow! So I managed to persuade my original kitchen fitter to come and move some kitchen units around so that I could fit in a 90cm wide cooker and thus be the proud owner of a cooker with 2 ovens and 5 ceramic hob areas.

I did my research and being a fan of electric cookers (far safer and better results when baking, in my opinion) and ceramic hobs in particular, I opted for the Rangemaster Toledo 90. I chose it on the grounds that Rangemaster is owned by AGA, a reliable and growing company, it looked good (brushed stainless steel) and it provided me with the extra oven and hob areas that I needed. Now, I know some people are wary of ceramic hobs but as long as you use pans with smooth bottoms so that there is maximum heat transfer from the hob to the pan, cooking is quick and energy efficient. The hob elements light up immediately they are switched on and are very easy to control to the temperature you want (much more so than gas).

The day of delivery arrived and this very, very heavy piece of equipment arrived. It was carefully manoeuvred into place and connected up and I was left with the users guide to peruse.

The clock is easy to set (providing you follow the users guide!) and I find the timer (minute minder) very useful. You can also stop and start the oven automatically which is useful if you want to start a meal cooking while you are out. The clock has a lock which when activated means that a child could select a cook programme but the programme won't be activated and the oven will not switch on.

This cooker has a brushed stainless steel front and black ceramic hob. Contrary to what a lot of people think, it is very easy to keep clean, usually only needing a wipe with hot, soapy water. Any stubborn marks or finger marks on the stainless steel can be wiped off with olive oil or even baby oil, and then the metal comes up as good as new. The hob is normally cleaned after use with a quick wipe over but any burnt on food can be easily removed with a proprietary ceramic hob cleaner.

The hob has 5 cooking areas of differing sizes and kW ratings. Two of them are dual areas and have an inner and outer element so on each of these you can have the full area on for large pans and frying pans or just the smaller inner one for saucepans. This makes the hob very versatile and I found that at Christmas I had plenty of cooking space with which to cook all the vegetables, gravies and sauces. There are indicator lights for each of the cooking areas and I find these particularly useful. At a glance you can tell if the hob is hot or which element might have been left on (or turned on by little fingers if you have small children around).

With this cooker you also get a separate grill compartment with its own grill pan and grid (which can be turned over to give 2 grilling positions). The grill has 2 elements that allow the whole area to be heated or just the right hand half, which is useful and economical. Our toaster broke recently and I had to use the grill- I was amazed how quickly the toast browned, just as quickly as the toaster!

The Toledo 90 cooker has 2 fan ovens- a normal size main oven and a tall thin one. The main oven comes with two normal shelves and a 'handyrack, which fits to the oven door and provides a shelf that is easy to attend to without taking the food out of the oven. This is a great feature. The tall oven has 4 adjustable shelves and a plate warming rack. This is a really useful oven which I use a lot when I'm batch baking as the food can be cooked on the four shelves without wasted space around it and this makes for real economy.

The main oven has a glass door and internal panels that have been coated with special enamel that partly cleans itself which helps to reduce the amount of manual cleaning needed. I have to say, I use my oven a good deal but it still looks like new, so in my experience these coated panels are very effective. There is also an oven light, controlled by a switch on the front of the cooker, which enables you to see the food cooking behind the glass door (good for checking cakes rising, browning, etc). Both ovens are fan ovens, which means food cooks quicker and at a lower temperature, and they both have a 'fan only' facility (no heating element comes on) which can be used for defrosting frozen foods.

You may have guessed that I love my cooker! It's the star in my kitchen and well worth the £1200 I paid for it. Prices vary so you do need to look around but if you are looking for a range cooker and want something that is attractive, easy to use and very versatile, then look at the Rangemaster Toledo. It is available in gas or electric and dual fuel models. It comes in larger sizes too but for a smallish kitchen the 90 doesn't take up too much extra room and is much more useful than a 30mm cupboard! 

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