Cooking range owners - what's your idle temperature?

[Tom]

Hi everyone

Just wondering what temperature peoples' range cookers are running at when idling on the lowest setting. There's a big difference between Joce's and mine, although they're both Rayburns; Joce's is oil and mine is natural gas. I'm wondering if this big difference is across the board, before I conclude if mine needs looking at. So, I'll start the info....

1986 Rayburn Nouvelle - Natural Gas - Idle temperature 150c 300f

Thanks for any other input.

Jaqy

 

[JoceAndChris]

Bless you for thinking of my chilly Rayburn.

1986 ish Rayburn Nouvelle, oil, idle temp varies between 50 and 90 degrees C. According to the engineer, that's normal. Also, Jaqi's is on the ground floor, whereas mine is in a kind of cellar - would that make a difference?

And while we're on Agas/Rayburns - a plea for Yamin to share her Aga pic!

 

[yamin]

Ever eager to please!

 

[yamin]

Judging by the lack of mint sauce on the hot plate, I'm guessing the 'idle' ran fairly low on this one!

 

[JoceAndChris]

aw, sooo sweet, can I vote that the cutest pic ever on PPUK (I know we don't really do cute pics, but....)

I can't imagine that was even at 90, those lambs don't even look singed.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the info, Joce. I couldn't remember what your temp was, although I knew it was a good cooler than mine!!

I guess the ambient temperature may make a bit of a difference and, certainly, solid fuel ranges will vary enormously depending on the weather, type of fuel being burned etc. It's going to be interesting if we can get plenty of statistics to compare....even if the outcome is that I need another Thermostatic Gas Tap Kit at a cost of £350-ish :shock:

Jaqy

 

[Flyfisher]

aw, sooo sweet, can I vote that the cutest pic ever on PPUK

You can add my vote too. I also loved the filename; "all snot, dirt and plaits". Wonderful.

 

[worms]

1999 Rayburn 480k oil (pressure jet). We leave it between the 2 and 3 setting and it sits at 190C, when it is on. I'm sure if we turned it right down it would run at very low temps but I can't see why we would want it to?

I think our lower oven runs at half the temp of the top oven, but with the door open (as in the lamb example) I would guess it is down to a quarter or less. So given a good lamb-warming temperature of 37-40C, in Yamins pic, the top oven might actually be running at 160C or more.

 

[Cloudscape]

As DWB surmises, our 1978 solid-fuel Rayburn idles at all kinds of temperatures. Higher since I discovered that the blanked rear flue hole was wide open and fixed it. :roll: This is the first time I've looked the numbers on the thermometer on the oven door - I've turned temperature into time, and regard the thermometer as a 'heat clock'. :? The thermometer might be a little senile (sounds like I am, as well). It claims that we're idling at 4-500 degrees F. :? That's with the lower vent closed and the top vent open a little for gases to escape. I don't think this can be true. A kettle placed on the hotplate could be there all day and never boil. At 400, or sometimes just under, I can put my hand on the hotplate. Perhaps I should buy a freestanding thermometer?

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

You don't come across as someone pouring over the Delia cookbooks Cloudscape! But how poetic, it sounds much more fun to turn temperature into time than worry about getting it hot for nice roast potatoes!

A kettle placed on the hotplate could be there all day and never boil. At 400, or sometimes just under, I can put my hand on the hotplate. Perhaps I should buy a freestanding thermometer?

Same. Maybe we should just use these expensive devices for warming up chilly lambs.

 

[Tom]

1999 Rayburn 480k oil (pressure jet). We leave it between the 2 and 3 setting and it sits at 190C, when it is on. I'm sure if we turned it right down it would run at very low temps but I can't see why we would want it to?

Maybe to save money? 190C is classed as "fairly hot", see here http://www.circlecity.co.uk/kitchen/conversions/gasmark_temperatures.php

Would you say your oil consumption is high? My interest in this subject was kicked off as a result of receiving a very high gas bill after my Rayburn started to run at 150 for the last 3 months :? Previous to that, it ran at about 110 with quite reasonable gas bills.

Jaqy

 

[Cloudscape]

I just know that I can warm bread at "midnight", use the hotplate effectively at "5-10 past", but I need "quarter past" for roasting.

Simples. 8)

Occasionally, we overdo it, and the whole thing gets too hot. Then I'd say, "Heck, close it down. It's at twenty-five past!"

 

[Tom]

Perhaps I should buy a freestanding thermometer?

You can buy new door thermometers

Jaqy

 

[Flyfisher]

Would you say your oil consumption is high? My interest in this subject was kicked off as a result of receiving a very high gas bill after my Rayburn started to run at 150 for the last 3 months :? Previous to that, it ran at about 110 with quite reasonable gas bills.

Would you mind me asking what 'reasonable' equates to in financial terms?

My interest is genuine in that our house came with an old Rayburn Supreme that was originally solid fuel but was sometime converted to oil (pressure jet). It probably needed a good service but the oil burner never seemed to go off of its own accord and we would burn through 1000 litres in 5-6 weeks, which put us right off the thing so we sold it. We have since had gas laid on to the house so we're wondering if a new gas-fired one would be more economical. I guess it would have to be but the question is by how much?

 

[Tom]

Flyfisher, I'll get my bills out tomorrow and let you know exactly how much gas we've used and what that equates to in monetary value, too.

Jaqy

 

[skier-hughes]

Our 1970's rayburn, oil fired, runs at around 125 in the summer and 100 in the winter. With the two burners on in the winter for central heating then it runs at around 150.

 

[worms]

Maybe to save money?

Well, probably not actually. Since our model has it all on a timer, it only comes on when we want it to, so there is no reason for us to have it sit idling.

I also use it as an alarm clock - the cooker comes on ten minutes before I want to get up, the whistling kettle wakes me (and you can't ignore it!) and you come through to a warm kitchen and boiling water for the tea! You can do the same trick with a stove-top expresso maker and get a really instant caffeine hit the instant you get out of bed!

 

[Tom]

Flyfisher, I'll get my bills out tomorrow and let you know exactly how much gas we've used and what that equates to in monetary value, too.

Jaqy

Flyfisher, it might be a little longer for me to get my bills out. Just found one of our ducks has been attacked by.....something...not sure what. It had better not be my new German Shepherd, otherwise she will be in major trouble!!! Anyway, my duck has some rather large puncture wounds and is at the vets at 4pm. I'll get my bill details to you as soon as I can.

Jaqy

 

[Penners]

Yamin - that lamb looks underdone to me. Remember, 20 minutes per pound, plus 20 minutes.

The oil-fired Esse that we said our sad goodbyes to, a month or so ago, didn't have a temperature gauge marked in degrees - only "Cool, Warm, Hot and Very Hot". On idle, the needle was below the Cool segment.

That's no help at all, is it?

 

[Flyfisher]

No rush Jaqy; your duck sounds in much more need of attention than me. I hope it's OK.