LPG Cooker Queries

[SueP]

I need to buy a new cooker for our 'maison secondaire' as the one we inherited when we bought the house has just died. We are not on mains gas, and I do not want a duel fuel cooker as it will be in a temporary location until the barn is converted into a kitchen so I don't want to faff around putting in additional electrics in a temp location, so it must be just solely run on LPG.

My queries are -

1.   Is it better to buy the cooker in UK or France?

2.   What Gas bottle is best to run it on? There seems to be many different ones available but whats the difference between them, and whats the best one for a very occasional user?

Look forward to some advice and guidance!

Thanks

SueP  [:D]

[Pommier]

I'd buy the cooker in France as firstly you'll get the burners for mains and bottled gas, plus the guarantee is more use if the cooker is in the country where it was bought.

Gas comes in propane and butane - one can be stored indoors, the other outside (can't remember which way round it is!)

[Will]

Wherever you buy it, make sure it is suitable for either mains or bottled gas and comes with jets for bottled gas. You have a better chance of this with those bought in France. The jets are the same whether you use butane or propane.

Butane has to be kept indoors, propane should be stored outside. So butane is probably slightly easier to deal with because you can just attach the bottle to the cooker with a flexible hose, whereas propane needs holes in the wall and more permanent plumbing. Some French cookers come with a cupboard for storing the gas bottle, otherwise it normally goes in a kitchen cupbaord.

You need to get the bottle (you pay for a container and a fill of gas - when it runs out, which will be a long time, you take the empty bottle and exchange it for a full one, just pay for the fill of gas). Also a regulator (detendeur - it must be a French one, British ones will not fit) and a joining pipe, which if it is a rubber one has to be replaced periodically. Note that the thread on the butane bottle does up the 'wrong' way, i.e. anti-clockwise.

[Frederick]

The one we got was a BECO.... I think.... from Conforama ....they also sell the  detendeur .. big... black ...push and rotate and two jaws close and pull the thing into the gas outlet and makes a seal .....very easy to put on and take off.... no spanners needed .... about 30 E.. I think .

 The gas bottle we use ( as did the people who had the house when we bought it ) is  the Butagas big light blue dumpy  one ...you get them everywhere ... Our local hotel which also has a bar /tabac  even sells it .....but the Super U is the cheapest at about 24E a refill.....  You take out and sign a Butagas contract  when you buy the first bottle to the effect they retain ownership .

 We do have problems with the oven it cooks VERY hot   ......you really have to watch stuff ....burns pastry  very fast . It may pay to ask questions about the oven you choose and how well you can control the oven  ....unless you like the taste of charcole !  Good Luck ..

[Will]

If you are looking at saving money on gas, then Leclerc has its Clairgas which seems quite a bit cheaper than the normal gas refill prices. Perhaps some other supermarkets have own-brands too. You are, though, tied to one outlet, whereas you can swap your Butagas etc bottles just about everywhere.

[Dick Smith]

If you don't have a snap-on detendeur buy a plastic gas-bottle spanner and keep it handy. Makes a big difference, especially when you are cooking and the gas goes out (not that a cooker could do anything else, really). Buy an extra bottle and keep it as a spare, then you don't have to get a replacement until the next day.

We have about 5, as we use them for heating as well. We also have some Cubes, which are a bit naff in use.

[Jazzer]

Is it easy to replace the connecting tube? Mine now needs replacing and I this is the first time I have used gas of any kind.

 

Many thanks in anticipation

[Dick Smith]

Yes. Just be sure to get the right length (too long or too short is an embarassment - too short makes changing difficult and too long means tube everywhere you don't want it in use). I vaguely remember warming (very gently - in my hands!) the tube before fitting it onto the nipple, but others might have a trick for that.

[Meg]

Cookers are very limited over here. Double ovens or even one with a separate grill are difficult to find. Also it seems normal for the gas ones to burn food! I got mine from UK and use small butane bottle in the house, which lasts a couple of months.

Make sure you know what's available over here before deciding not to buy from the UK.

[Pierre ZFP]

For the gas, have a look at your local garages and larger supermarkets.  They often have deals where you don't pay for the initial bottle if you buy a gas recharge in advance.  I know Auchan and Champion in my region always seem to have offers.

I have a large Primagaz tank (or 'Bomb' as may neighbours call it) in my garden to supply gas for cooking and heating.  I have the usual 3 gas burners and an electric plate on the hob but I have no oven.  This thread has got me thinking - Are separate oven units available at a reasonable cost?  Never though to look before as we've always got by with a tiny electric table top oven but it is a bit naff and slow.

[Lizfjr]

Buying a gas cooker in France was about the easiest thing I've done all year. Went into the local town to buy one at 11 am on 23 December and they changed the jets, got us the piping and detendeur and bottle and sent us on our way. Cooker was in place in our kitchen by 2 that afternoon and next day cooked a lovely turkey.

I just know if I had gone to Currys or Comet in this country I would have had to have waited 3 weeks before some depot somewhere could process my order.

[SueP]

Many thanks to all of you who've replied.

Lizfjr, that sounds like fantastic service, where did you buy it?

 

 

[Frederick]

Sue ........A place such as Conforama permits you to visit the show room choose your appliance...talk to the sales staff ...compare whats on offer...then pay at the cash desk......You then go to the collection point ....sit and wait while the staff dig out what you have bought .no doubt plastic  shrink wrapped with  loads of polystyrene protection and wheel it on a sack barrow to your transport in their car park...Simple as that..... if you have an estate car or small van or have hired one .....there is no reason why you cannot buy anything in the way of white goods in any reasonable size French town and   just take in home with you .

[Will]

Or you can support the local small businessman who will have some in stock and will give good advice if needed - if you choose a stock item you can take it away or he will deliver it, fit it and make sure all is OK. Otherwise he will get it quickly (most such traders belong to a buying group so have access to large stocks) and offer the same delivery service. On top of that you get after sales service, which is a joke with the larger French suppliers. Not all small traders are good of course, but most are, and when you have found one you will want to keep him, regardless of the fact that you can sometimes save 5€ on a 300€ appliance by going to the grand surface.

[Lizfjr]

Yes, it was my local electro place in Toucy (89). Fantastic help and service and, as I mentioned in my post, unlike anything you ever get in the UK from the big places. I didn't even have  to take any packaging home. It went in the car as it was.