It was becoming a regular occurrence to dismantle our old Hotpoint cooker to change the controls and elements. It had more or less become a "Triggers Broom". So after more than 25 years of service and self repair I decided a new cooker was needed.
Because of the ready availability of Hotpoint spares and features like a separate grill control instead of a shared one, we decided to go for the Hotpoint Ultima HUE61XS Electric Cooker.
Over the next weeks we found various issues which resulted in the cooker not performing its job of cooking adequately. One of the issues was potentially very dangerous.
The points we noted were;
1. The oven has no vent to allow the gradual escape of sream so when you open the oven door a massive cloud of superheated steam erupts out and up to the ceiling and could easily scald your face and arms.
2. It takes up to 50% longer to cook than our old oven.
3. Have to turn oven up to 220 to cook a roast.
4. The hot plates keep switching off too soon, even on full power, resulting in slower cooking times and food not frying properly.
5. Puddles of water form under the front of the oven.
6. The oven fan turns off with the thermostat, this causes the temperature in the oven to become uneven.
7. Food on the lower shelves in the oven are under cooked as a result of 6. above.
8. Not enough adjustment on the Hot Plate controllers, 2 of the hot plate controls are not variable but have 6 preset positions, one position is too low (not simmering) the next position is too hot (boiling)
I raised all this with AO where we purchased it from. After a visit from a Hotpoint engineer who carried out no tests other than check the mains wiring and earth to the cooker. it was confirmed the cooker was performing as per specification. However AO were prepared to take the cooker back and refund initially 50% of the purchase price, this was later increased to refund 70% of the initial price.
AO then suggested they contact Hotpoint again and a second engineer visit was arranged.
This engineer used a temperature probe to check the oven, and I showed him the hot plate switching off its elements to regulate the temperature after only a minute or so on full power.
The oven control was set to 200C and the temperature varied between 208 and 166 degrees. He confirmed the cooker was not performing to spec +-10 deg. so was able to issue a "uplift number" meaning that the cooker could be sent back to Hotpoint and AO could issue a full refund.
It looks like we will be choosing a Zanussi ZCV66250WA, this cooker does have a vented oven, and we believe the oven fan stays on. However on this cooker all the hotplate controls have 6 preset positions, hopefully they will be better than the Hotpoint.
I would like to say that the customer service agent at AO has been very good and has helped a lot to get this resolved.
Mike
Because of the ready availability of Hotpoint spares and features like a separate grill control instead of a shared one, we decided to go for the Hotpoint Ultima HUE61XS Electric Cooker.
Over the next weeks we found various issues which resulted in the cooker not performing its job of cooking adequately. One of the issues was potentially very dangerous.
The points we noted were;
1. The oven has no vent to allow the gradual escape of sream so when you open the oven door a massive cloud of superheated steam erupts out and up to the ceiling and could easily scald your face and arms.
2. It takes up to 50% longer to cook than our old oven.
3. Have to turn oven up to 220 to cook a roast.
4. The hot plates keep switching off too soon, even on full power, resulting in slower cooking times and food not frying properly.
5. Puddles of water form under the front of the oven.
6. The oven fan turns off with the thermostat, this causes the temperature in the oven to become uneven.
7. Food on the lower shelves in the oven are under cooked as a result of 6. above.
8. Not enough adjustment on the Hot Plate controllers, 2 of the hot plate controls are not variable but have 6 preset positions, one position is too low (not simmering) the next position is too hot (boiling)
I raised all this with AO where we purchased it from. After a visit from a Hotpoint engineer who carried out no tests other than check the mains wiring and earth to the cooker. it was confirmed the cooker was performing as per specification. However AO were prepared to take the cooker back and refund initially 50% of the purchase price, this was later increased to refund 70% of the initial price.
AO then suggested they contact Hotpoint again and a second engineer visit was arranged.
This engineer used a temperature probe to check the oven, and I showed him the hot plate switching off its elements to regulate the temperature after only a minute or so on full power.
The oven control was set to 200C and the temperature varied between 208 and 166 degrees. He confirmed the cooker was not performing to spec +-10 deg. so was able to issue a "uplift number" meaning that the cooker could be sent back to Hotpoint and AO could issue a full refund.
It looks like we will be choosing a Zanussi ZCV66250WA, this cooker does have a vented oven, and we believe the oven fan stays on. However on this cooker all the hotplate controls have 6 preset positions, hopefully they will be better than the Hotpoint.
I would like to say that the customer service agent at AO has been very good and has helped a lot to get this resolved.
Mike
