I can speak about an old 1950's O'Keefe and Merritt. We had one for 6 years and loved it so much that we moved it with us when we moved 2 years ago. They are very solid, so fun-looking, and really great to cook on. I honestly considered keeping it for our new construction house, but the things that held me back were the one tiny oven and it only had 4 burners. Tiny oven-- fine for everything I needed size-wise, but I needed more than one pretty often. Burner-wise, I wanted some more BTUs and at least one more burner. Still, the O & M is what sent me on my quest for a different than standard range. I so loved my O & M that I couldn't imagine not having an interesting looking stove, again. Mine also had a cover that you could flip down over the entire stove surface. It was so practical for keeping little fingers away, hiding less-than-perfectly clean burners, etc. It really is a great range.

I did a lot of research before purchasing my CornueFe 110 for my new home four years ago. I considered the Lacanche Cluny, but ultimately chose the CornueFe. As far às for performance goes, it is a dream to cook with, and a tool that I use almost daily. The styling is beautiful and the overall construction can best be described as "solid" - especially compared to some of the other ranges mentioned in this discussion. I've had a couple of service issues, but all were handled quickly by PM. All of the ignition switches were not functional when it was installed. They had new switches flown in from France and reinstalled within two days. After about a year, the switches went out again. They sent a service repairman right away to replace them. He reinstalled the switches, only to have them fail upon testing. He took off the back panel and discovered a wire that wàs improperly routed over a rough metal piece, causing it to fray and arc. He was able to change the wire and run it through a protective sleeve. While I was disappointed that this was not caught by Quality Control at the factory, I can't say enough positive things about the service techs employed by PM. All in all, I can heartily recommend this as a quality range. The ovens are more than adequate and I love the side-swing configuration. The simmer burner is still a little too hot on the lowest setting, but that is easily overcome with a simmer plate or diffuser. I had 18 family members for Thanksgiving dinner and cooked the entire meal on it without a problem. The 20# Turkey came out perfectly browned and very moist in exactly 2 hours - no turning or basting! Good luck with your choice!

Yes, it's an Aga. Look it up and you'll learn that it's an always on furnace that was originally created to make it easier for blind people to cook. The heat just runs, and there are different densities and conductivities that give different temperatures to each oven. There are two heating plates with circular covers (center and right), one of which is for boiling and the other for simmering. I believe they're hottest in the middle the way a French top is. If you search through the forum archives you'll find some threads about cooking on an Aga. Aga also makes some similar designs with standard burners.

@CY CY, Most of the uneven heating issues mentioned about Lacanche (and other brands really) come down to pre-heating the oven properly. Our gas ovens will reach 180 C / 350F in about 10 minutes, the electric ovens take a little longer. I always recommend letting the oven cycle through at least once or twice more, as this allows the entire cavity to heat up to temperature (oven walls and doors). This ensures that the temperature is uniform across the entire oven, and allows for quicker temperature recovery when opening the door. In practice, I notice this every time we bake our local pastries here (~24 pieces per sheet). If we put them in right after the preheat light goes off the first time, those at the back and back corners will brown much faster than the rest. If we wait 10-15 minutes more for the oven to preheat properly, they all come out perfect! Patrick