Home > Household Appliances > Large Kitchen Appliances > Mini Cookers > Russell Hobbs Mini Cookers
Fine for one person 74 of 74 Ciao Users found the following review helpful
Rating from sunmeilan 4 Stars ()

Advantages Takes up very little space, does its job

Disadvantages White surfaces - impractical, light always on

Although I've just moved into a three-bedroomed house, it is one of those old Victorian terraces with a tiny kitchen and bathroom added on at the back as an afterthought. This is fine for me because I live alone. I was disappointed, however, to find that the kitchen didn't come with an oven (it's a rented property) and that there wasn't really room for one, not if I wanted a freezer and fridge as well. A mini oven seemed to be an ideal solution; I had one in my previous property and always found it to be very reliable and definitely big enough for one person.

Why this model?
To be honest, when it comes to mini ovens with hobs on the top, there is not a great deal of choice. Much searching on the Internet came up with three real possibilities in my price range; one was this one, one by Bush and another by Cookworks. Having had a Russell Hobbs kettle that lasted for years, I decided to go for the Russell Hobbs one, and a few days later, it arrived, care of John Lewis. It cost £99.95, with free delivery, and I got £6 cash back through quidco.com.

First impressions
It seemed really small when I finally got it out of the box - at least smaller than my previous mini oven. However, I think this was just because I was looking at it out of context. It is bigger than the average microwave oven; in fact, it is large enough to fit a reasonable sized chicken in, although I doubt it would do the massive turkeys my mum usually buys for Christmas! In any case, it is perfectly big enough for me.

Another thing that put me off a bit when I first saw it was the shiny door. It is designed to be see-through, which it is, but from a certain distance, it also acts as a mirror. That's not really a problem, but I did think it would probably be hard to keep clean, which has proved to be the case. Being white, I was also a little concerned that the rest of the surfaces would also be difficult to keep clean. Again, this has proved to be the case, but then many ovens are white and other people manage to keep them looking good, so it isn't that much of an issue.

Apart from that, all looked fine. The oven seemed to be well put together, and came with two oven shelves, a baking tray with detachable handles, and, of course the two hobs on the top. There are three knobs to operate the oven (up to 250 degrees), and the two hobs. There are also two buttons; one operates the grill, the other the fan oven.

Before using, you need to burn the protective coatings off the elements, including the hobs. This is quite a smelly job, so needs to be done in a ventilated room or with the window open. The instructions advise people with allergies to stay clear.

I barely gave the instructions a second glance - it is obvious how to use it to anyone who has used an oven. However, the instructions are really easy to understand. I perhaps should have read them first though - I've just found out that when using the grill, the door should be left open to avoid the thermostat from switching it off when it gets too hot!

Detailed Rating

Performance
Ease of use
Durability
User's Manual
Cleaning & Maintenance
Safety
Value for money
more

The Author

sunmeilan since 5 May 2005

Not around quite so much at the moment - new job and mum getting married - will catch up when I can. more

370 Members trust me

Rate this User Review

How helpful was this review to you? Rating guidelines

Attention, this is the first review from this author

Instead of giving a negative rating, consider:

  • Help this member by giving your advice

  • Report fraud (for example plagiarism) or other issue with the review to the Ciao support team

Activate low rating buttons

Add your comment

 Post comment  Post comment

JavaScript should be enabled to rate or post a comment.

Comments

Maybe you have a question about Russell Hobbs Mini Oven 13824? Ask here
Previous page Next page Page 1 of 15 | 1 - 5 out of 74 comments
  • Websearcher_uk 26/09/2010 23:26
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful
  • lustba 18/03/2008 15:49
    Rated this review as
    Exceptional

    Excellent review E from me!

  • mightymuffin 14/03/2008 19:44
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful
  • rd52169 14/03/2008 17:34
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful
  • Gangsta-ash 09/03/2008 16:10
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful
Previous page Next page Page 1 of 15 | 1 - 5 out of 74 comments

More reviews

for Russell Hobbs Mini Oven 13824

Compare prices

for Russell Hobbs Mini Oven 13824