23 December 2008

Potential Fireball in my Kitchen

I'm pretty mad. When buying the appliances for my new kitchen, was was sort-of talked into, sort-of tricked by the salesman into buying the most expensive model, even though I wanted the mid-range model.

He managed this by asking me some dumb question about oven cleaning (it might have been the time he asked, "Do you enjoy cleaning your oven?" with such seriousness on his face, as if I might have said, "I do, actually, it's one of my guilty pleasures.") When I answered that I wasn't all that keen on cleaning my oven, he surreptitiously changed my choice of oven to the pyrolytic cleaning model. So that's what I ended up getting.

I was a bit shocked to see the price of the overall package jump up, but I thought, what the heck, I'll live here and use my oven for MANY more years to come, it might end up being worth it."

And of course, you know that a fortnight after the kitchen was finished, it appeared we were indeed moving, a fact I still haven't come to terms with.

Now, what does the "Pyrolytic" model do that other ovens don't?

Well, the salesman claimed that I would have have practically NO CLEANING to do in my new oven, as the pyrolytic feature heats the oven up to something ridiculous, like 500 decrees C (that's 932 degrees F, I kid you not) and it blitzes all grease to kindgom come. At worst, the only residue is some ash that can be wiped out.

That temperature is HOT. It's like having a controlled fireball in your kitchen. It's like the surface of the sun. It is so hot that the light doesn't work during cleaning and once a certain temperature is reached, THE OVEN LOCKS ITS OWN DOOR and will not unlock it until it cools down to a more reasonable temperature.

Would that be worth the extra money, you think?

Perhaps.

That is, it would be worth it IF the included oven trays could be put through the pyrolytic cleaning process.

IF the included wire racks could be put through the pyrolytic cleaning process.

IF the side-rails could be put through the pyrolytic cleaning process.

IF you didn't need to do the abovementioned items the old-fashioned way, with elbow grease and oven cleaner.

IF it did not say "After every use, wipe the oven with a solution of washing-up liquid and allow to dry."

IF it didn't say, "First, remove the worst of the residue manually."

IF it did not say, "Residue that is not removed may cause changes to the surface colour when Pyroluxe is used."

How glad am I that I spent the extra money on it?

Not at all.

Humbug.

13 comments:

Sassy Britches said...

Humbug is an understatement! March that sucker right back where it came from!

Beth said...

Erk! Scary sounding appliance, that one is. I's be wondering what to do with the children while said fireball is doing its thing. Doesn't it have some kind of warranty or something where you can exchange it for one a little less um, potentially dangerous?

Yikes....seriously, I think I'd contact the company and tell them you've changed your mind.

Jen said...

Um, yeah that is just not right. But I so wish that you would have told the am that cleaning the oven is your favorite pass time. I can just imagine his face.

Stephanie said...

Our oven is exactly like that. It's ridiculous. And, when you DO run the "self-clean" feature, it makes the whole house smell absolutely horrible. I agree - totally not worth it.

Joy said...

My oven has the self-cleaning mode to. I never use it. I did use it once on the oven at my former house. It does stink up the place and your right about the 500 degree thing.
Send it back and get what you want.
How many ovens has that guy ever cleaned.



Joy

Swift Jan said...

grrrr

GreenJello said...

The self-cleaning cycle of my oven makes the fire alarms go off in the house. Grumble.

I think this falls into the same category as "extended warranty".

John Ross Barnes said...

Yup, that would have been the time to lie and say the line about guilty pleasure, etc.

Big bad Bummer.....

Sounds pretty scarry too.

Appliance salesmen obviously rate right up there with used car salesmen for trust-ability.

May he live long in "INTERESTING TIMES...."

Long dark hair, blue eyes said...

what a scam! you should go to today tonight :)

Nauntie Lush said...

You know I really hope that the "self locking" feature only can be accessed by pushing a button to ignite that fireball, otherwise watch out when making (insert any major holiday meal here) because um, I have heard stories *cough* *cough* of them getting locked on self clean and dinner getting burned to bits!

Hippomanic Jen said...

That sounds dreadful. Mrs Tantrum is right, I hope you don't accidentally do it while cooking Christmas Dinner.

Allegro ma non troppo said...

I bet you've pictured locking HIM into the oven and hitting the self-clean.

Dee said...

What? You have to clean an oven???



Ok just kidding. Yeah, maybe if I cleaned my basic oven ERVERYTIME with a washing up solution, it would never need cleaning either. Sounds like way too much work and expense when you have to take everything out anyway. Maybe they could market them as a good home made crematarium