Hi Abby. First off I also want to thank the \OP Waverly and all of the others for their post and feedback, There honest opinions are the reasons that we looked forward to getting ours. I feel like I'm hijacking this post but please know that i I'm writing this here with hopes that others will find this thread as helpful as my wife and I have. We are now on week 2 of owning our oven so these are really our first impressions. This maybe a little long winded so please grab some coffee.
Before I go over the pros and cons, I would like talk about the issues with the install and cosmetics we had before using the AGA. I realize that this has nothing to do with the actual use but its extremely important that if you reside in the US that you read this.
Electrical Issue:
During the install, one of the technicians was pushing the stove back and touched our mixer. (You can see it in the picture on our previous post). The mixer shocked him enough that he stepped back and said that the mixer just gave him a good shock. We immediately unplugged the mixer being apologetic, they continued with the install. The next day my wife was using the oven and she got shocked. She said she was able to replicate it by touching the oven and the range hood at the same time. I tried it myself and nearly got knocked on my butt. We called the appliance company and the immediately send out one of their tech. The tech used a multi-meter and touched the range hood and the oven at the same time and to our surprise it showed 240 volts. He did some research and found that because this oven is from England and we had a 3 prong plug that there needed to be a additional wire attached that would ground the oven properly. So please please please, if you buy one of these ovens in the US and you are using a 3 prong plug question this before having it installed. If you have a 4 prong this wont be a issue.
Cosmetic issue:
There are 2 pegs that get installed on the bottom panel that keeps the panel from falling inwards (Its the bottom panel that reads Mercury,this panel drops down so you can address the level of the oven). These were missing from our unit and well as a screw that secured the inner grill panel door in place. This prevented the grill door from closing securely each time. A tech is coming back out to make sure that the correct screws and pegs are ordered.
Now for the pros and cons.
Pros:
One of the biggest complaints we read was the induction top can be noisy when cooking. So far, we have not encountered this. Also as a test, we turned on both ovens and grill and were amazed just how quiet the ovens were as well. The construction of the oven is truly a solid built.
The doors are a solid build, but you can not tell by moving them because the hinges are so smooth. Leveling the oven was all done from the front making it very easy to adjust to the appropriate height and level. No need to pull out the oven to adjust the leveling and height of the oven.
This is our first induction oven so there was a bit of a learning curve. Cooking using induction is a lot faster and you have more control over the heat. Example: You bring a pot to a boil and the minute you turn the knob to a lower setting, its almost immediately reduces the heat which eliminates the need to pull the pot away. We suggest you have everything prepared and ready to be cooked before doing so.
Cooking on this cook-top you will notice that your kitchen is a lot cooler. On our previous ovens because their is a flame or a heating element that heats up the pot, a lot of this heat gets lost around the surface and in the air heating the entire kitchen. With induction because the pan is the only thing that is heating up, the magnetic connection to the bottom of the pot confines the heat so you don't have heat being lost to the environment.
This is going to sound like a odd pro but, we love the fact that this oven has knobs instead of a interactive display panel. It does have a display panel but not its not interactive. Being you use the knobs you don't have to worry about this issues with wet fingers not making contact with a interactive panel. (wet your finger and try to use your phone, lol)
Cleaning the cook-top is the biggest pro by far. If you are afraid of splatter, you can always cook on top of a paper towel or soft cloth on the cook-top. This is not just a trick that will scare your friends and family but a great way to cook greasy foods like bacon. If the surface does get dirty just simply wipe it off with some soap and water. We follow it up with a little surface cleaner and a shammy, it looks brand new each time we do this.
The ovens cook evenly. The right oven is your European convection oven and the left oven is a multi-function, convection, convectional oven. Both of these ovens have cooked and baked wonderfully so far. Absolutely no complaints there. We have used the defrost option on the multi-function oven and it worked surprisingly well for just using air. The oven racks are easy to adjust once you learn how to adjust them. We had to refer to the manual to learn how these work. The racks are smooth and some are on gliders.
The broiler is nicely designed. It glides out easily and the way you adjust the broiler height using the rack is brilliant. So far we have used it to toast bagels, cooked steaks and everything turned out perfectly. Cleaning it is very easy as you just remove the rack and the tray and clean it using soapy water and a soft kitchen sponge.
Cons:
The oven is smaller then the a traditional oven. But that being said it hasn't been a inconvenience at all so far. Cooking on multiple racks and utilizing both ovens at the same time makes up for any issues that we would have encountered. Example in our previous oven we use a large cookie sheet but could only use the center rack to ensure the the heat was evenly cooking the food. With this oven we can use multiple racks and get even cooking. If you have large baking trays and cookware that you use in the oven you may have to buy something a little smaller. Only two of our cookie sheets didn't fit. The rest was good to go.
Having the right cookware is a con but to be honest we checked our cookware and found that 80% of what we were already owned worked and was compatible with induction. If you are not sure what works, just place a magnet on the bottom of your pots and pans and if they stick you are good to go.
The broiler rack is a bit on the heavy side. Just being picky but if you have a handicap or a disability that prevents you from lifting heavier object you may find this on the heavy side.
Conclusion
We are extremely happy with our purchase and support we have gotten so far. We are going to continue to use it and as we discover new things we will update you all.
Thank you all who took the time to read the entire thing. Hope we didn't bore you and if you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to ask or if you want us to try something, let us know.
Bill & Anita
Q
Thank you! Very helpful!
Q