New Oven!

For those who have built-in ovens, are you aware that you have to use it or switch it on for about half an hour at least once a month?

Well, I didn't know that until recently. :( Apparently, failing to use the oven regularly will result in humidity (especially in Singapore's climate) being trapped in the internal mechanism which will in turn, cause the oven to break down.

Guess what - I didn't use my Ariston oven for almost 2 years!!! Think the last time I did was to bake some small cupcakes to give to Ying Ying's teachers for Teachers' Day in 2009! After that, I did all my (occasional) baking over at my IL's place so that my baked goods could be enjoyed by more people PLUS I didn't have to do the washing up (they have a helper heheh). Since then, my own oven has become a white elephant in the house.

Recently, I wanted to use the oven again to bake some honey cornflakes bites (inspired by my cousins who made a scrumptious batch during CNY) but it kept tripping in less than 5mins. Initially, I thought the electrician didn't connect it properly so I contacted my ID. (We renovated our house end of last year - will blog about this if I have the time.) Before even checking on the oven, he told me my oven was spoiled. I didn't believe him at first cos it looked so new and shiny even though it was already coming to 8yrs. He tested the connection and found nothing wrong. I was shocked cos I never expected it to break down. So I was faced with 2 options - to service it which will cost $200-$300 or to purchase a new one.

After mulling over for about 2wks, I decided to get a new one because there is no guarantee that the oven won't break down again after servicing - the warranty period after servicing is only 3mths. I felt the pinch purchasing a new one even though husband agreed to pay for it albeit reluctantly :p - he didn't see a need to get a new oven because he felt having an oven or not doesn't make much of a difference in our lives. He's quite right to a certain extent....I mean, after all, I am only a casual baker, baking only once a blue moon. So why spend so much right? But since I would still like to bake so maybe I would just keep to a reasonable budget of around $800 for a new oven.

As it turned out, there were only 2 models in the showroom that have the same dimensions as my previous oven. I wanted to go for the cheaper model (about $800+) but it does not have an auto temperature cut-off function, which I thought was dangerous. Not only that, it didn't have the auto-cleaning function like my old one. The other higher-end model OS 89 C IX OpenSpace (shown below) was more impressive with a digital panel - the saleslady who served me strongly recommended it because she has a similar model herself and found it very easy to use plus it gives a more precise temperature. It was a tough decision because I hadn't plan on spending so much. I thought for a long time at the showroom and ended up choosing the digital model which cost about $1300 (ouch!) after trading in the old one. Well, we buy about 9 birthday cakes a year. Assuming each cake cost $30-$40 outside, I reckon I have to bake about 40-50 birthday cakes to offset the cost of the oven. *faint* The new oven arrived just 2 days ago. There was some hiccups because it couldn't fit all the way in due to a difference in design - about 1 inch of the oven was protruding out. The delivery person said my carpenter should have given slightly more allowance for oven to go in instead of using the exact measurement. For a while, I was contemplating if I should reject the new oven. Then the delivery chap cleverly suggested asking my carpenter to trim some parts of the cabinet which I thought was quite workable. I called my ID and she said she would contact the carpenter to take a look. (Update 24/03/11: The problem has been resolved! ^_^)

So far, I have baked a pizza (frozen ready-to-cook type lah) and some muffins. The saleslady was right - the model is indeed impressive. In fact, I should say the BEST I have ever used. It takes only a mere 10mins or so to preheat and the result was good because the digital panel allows you to control the baking timing precisely. I am DEFINITELY not going to let this be an white elephant again!!!