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It's dead, Jim.
So for about nine years, all I did with the oven was done in convection fan mode. When we moved in here, it was perfectly able to bake three large sheets of things perfectly at the same time. Recently, though (which means in the last two or three years), there were some colder spots here and there, and the dough was not perfectly done everywhere. Still good enough, though.
About half a year ago, we started thinking about thinking about a replacement, since the oven would clearly not last forever anymore... and then, last Wednesday, it died a quick and quiet death on a Biskuitrolle (Swiss roll is probably the best translation).
So. Time for a new one... and we hope to make a good choice for one that will both do what it's supposed to do, and do it for a long time. Though I am not expecting it to last as long as the old one, which must have been somewhere between about 40 and close to 50 years!
Comments 4
Oh, the old ones are the best: none of this 'inbuilt obsolescence' rubbish or too many new tricks to go wrong. Why would your kettle need to talk to your toaster anyway?
In the UK the charity shops have finally branched out into electricals and furniture, all of which are guaranteed and electrical tested. So when we moved house we visited two and politely but firmly left then and there with anything marked 'Bosch'. We now have a zanussi fridge-freezer that's older than my husband and possibly more reliable than anything else in the house. I can see the argument of double-spending, but it gives time to replace with what we actually want which can be bought in a sale.
Every home I have lived in has had a dodgy oven and circumstances in which it can't or won't be replaced. Usually it's the seal or thermostat having gone. This means that all my 'baking' has been adapted over the years to recipes that won't give food poisoning if everything comes out squidgy. In the last home the oven exploded (a soft "boom" and bright orange light) which we thought was a bit much. The current one is built in with soft fashion dials so it's anyone's guess as to what temperature it's on. And people wonder why I don't cook for fun...?!
Well, yes and no - old and indestructible is nice, but so is "new and efficient". Inbuilt obsolescence can happen at any time, too... and our oven once must have been he newest, shiniest shit-hit on the market. Convection fan! Wooot! So hot you will never want any other method for baking!
True, but if it lasted at least 30 years it's unlikely it had inbuilt obsolescence in it.
Efficiency is good and comes with many forms. Tests showed that my 23 year old polo was as efficient and polluting as a modern car, but one final unarguable reason the old car was replaced with a new one was that when my husband and I were hit while in his car the first thing we said once the dust had settled was, "I'm glad we were in this car, not that one."
We would go for Miele without a question. My DH once helped my brother to revise a Miele washing mashine his father in law gave him. It was 20 years old, but inside it looked like new. Our first dishwasher was Miele and after a lot of use, it seemed to have a leak. With closer inspection it was only a badly connected drain. They are made for eternity.