four burner hob

[Guest Mike Norsworthy]

I currently have a Vanette 4000/2 three burner hob fitted, I think as standard, to my 1999 Swift Royale 620 Ensign SE. My wife has asked me to explore the idea of having a four burner hob fitted as she does plenty of cooking for five people and four burners would make it a lot easier. The current hob is green and matches the STOVES oven. Does anyone know firstly if the change is viable and if so where I can obtain a suitable matching hob, I have seen Vanette 4000/2 four burner hobs fitted to longboats on the net but can't find one mentioned in a motorhome. Any ideas please (as i'm getting hungry!!!) Mike

[Guest Sylvia Burman-Hunt]

There is an advert in the Cash Mart section of this website, see bottom of page, for a cooker, Spinflo, with 4 ring hob and integrated sink/drainer. Might be worth investigating?

[Guest mike.T]

Re 4Burner hob -- Have you tried C.A.K. Tanks Ltd at Kenilworth they have a good few shown in there catalogue 4 burner hobs with or with out grills to full cookers but not spinfio theres are SMEV !! they also show installation drawings with sizes that could be helpfull phone 08707572324 and request a catalogue and price list or e-mail them www.sales@caktank.co.uk for a Regards Mike.T

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

"Vanette" is a STOVES brand-name and (as you are proposing) to maintain the existing colour co-ordination it would make sense to replace the current 3-burner hob with a Vanette 4-burner equivalent. A GOOGLE internet search suggests that STOVES products are readily available and I found Vanette 4000 4-burner hobs (in various colours including green) being offered for about £170. How easy it will be to exchange hobs will largely depend on the particular design of each. It's probable that the overall dimensions of the hobs' upper surfaces will be the same but what's underneath will differ. As you would be going from 3 to 4 burners, I would anticipate the possibility of having to increase the size of the hole in the worktop beneath the hob. (Has the Vanette hob got a grill? If so, the holes may be the same for both versions.) The connection to the motorhome's gas-piping may also be in a different position on the 4-burner variant. What I suggest you do, before going ahead, is to contact STOVES (or a distributor) to see if you can obtain installation instructions for 3- and 4-burner Vanette hobs. These should give the size of the worktop cut-out and may show the design variations. As your present hob was almost certainly standard on your 1999 Royale, beware of differences between it and the 2005 Vanette range. For a leisure vehicle, there are valid arguments for preferring a 3-burner hob to a 4-burner. The gas-burners on the former are normally well-spaced apart, allowing the cook to employ larger diameter pans and/or to move pans partially off the gas flame during cooking, while gas controls are usually more conveniently positioned on 3-burners. My experience of 4-burner 'camping' hobs is that the gas-burners are inevitably crowded together and there's often a potential for finger-scorching when operating the gas knobs. The only advantage of a 4-burner hob is the obvious one - that you can heat 4 (though smallish) pans on it simultaneously. Things to consider perhaps, but, if your wife is finding she would benefit from having a 4-burner hob, then obtaining and fitting one should be reasonably straightforward. Regarding price and safety, obviously you would have to factor in the costs of someone suitably qualified/competent carrying out the installation work.

[Guest Mike Bambridge]

I fitted a Smev combined 4 burner hob,grill and oven and am not sure if I would again. The area for pans is v.small and our kettle has to be offset to stay on the pan supports. Also the control knobs, being quite close to the burners get very,very hot,so much so that my wife actually burnt her fingers once. Think carefully before changing. Why not investigate some of the stacking pans that enable one to cook whilst sitting on top of another,or a pressure cooker?