If you've fallen in love with that whimpy burgundy red picture above, you will swoon over the real lacanche burgundy red. It's rich and deep like a wonderful cabernet red. Really it's aptly named. I was going to purchase a black molteni stove, so I purchased vulcan gold granite (which is a huge black, white and gold swirl of color...fabulous, but the drama demands that it's the first thought in any color choice). When we nixed the molteni and moved to the lacanche, I was already committed to several thousand in stone, so I couldn't very well drop that and pick another at that point. The burgundy was just a bit too purple red to work with the golds and it really didn't flow well with the granite as a whole. Too much competition really in one small room. The yellow was my second choice, though I wavered on it being first or second (it was the choice for a brave decorator). I would say that with the yellow you'd limit yourself more than the red, but what a wonderful limiting piece :oP It would have to be the star of a kitchen (as most of these are, but the yellow really sings!). I was just at the granite yard today. With any of these colors you're not limited. I was suprised at the options available in pretty much any color. I could see that yellow mixed with a wonderful deep brown granite counter, or one of the wonderful speckled whites (more speckles of black and other colors like a little burgundy spot, etc). It would be easy to have fun with that one. And the burgundy, well that one would mix with so many of the granites I drooled over today. The problem with changing stoves mid design is that if you've spent any money, you have to consider that first. I had the granite, and half of the backsplash tile as well as the venetian plaster (no small expense in itself) and my mosaic for behind the stove. I really would have to take a design swing at that point, a very expensive one, to go with one of the other colors. In your shoes...I'd go with that red :) I can't be inspired by the tangerine, and I have a personal bias about having blue in a kitchen (though they're lovely too). The terracotta was nice, but when paired in a room with the burgundy and the provance yellow...you just won't be able to look it's way. It's kind of like seeing a brunette, blonde and redhead in a room together. The blonde is "pretty" which isn't bad, and the brunette is a classic beauty, but the redhead, well she's the sexy one that instantly catches the eye...that's what those two colors say to me..sexy red head! Ok I'm married to a lovely man and not looking for a blonde, redhead or brunette...so don't get any wild impressions LOL (but being a redhead, I might be biased about that as well) heh heh All I ask is that you don't disapoint me and get white or black :oP You have an open field to go with the sexy piece...go for it!!!! You only live once!

I have a Heartland stove 9200 that is about 26 yrs old. Bought it for the look. No problems for 19 yrs. Then the burner knobs started getting difficult to turn. Paid for appliance repair to come out but they were unable to repair. Situation worsened, called Aga Marvel and bought some repair parts. They never supported my efforts. Called Thompson Appliance in Tacoma, Wa. My experience with them leads me to to say never call them. The stove new was almost $5,00. delivered and installed. Thompson came out said I needed to have it taken into the shop, polished up and rehauled. They reportedly went to a recent seminar on the stove at Aga Marvel. I paid 2,500 with the parts and after a few months, same problem. They are a dishonorable team of father and son (son being the worst). I lived with one working burner for about 2 yrs. until I found an excellent repair person on Vashon Is, Wa. Issue with these burners: careful to not get water spilled down into the burners. Rust develops. I believe that was the only problem. Heartland was bought out by Aga Marvel and now have some stove parts but phasing out. Good luck.

It's great to read the messages from those of you who are using your Lacanches. My Cluny, in French Blue with the traditional top, is on its way to my kitchen. I can't wait to see it installed (along with the counters, cabinets, floor, etc.) I spent many hours debating the Traditional vs. Classique. We went for the Traditional for a variety of reasons. Four burners is more than enough for us. I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever had all four burners going at once, and the 15k burner will have plenty of power for us. Since we don't need five burners, we thought why not go with something that functions differently than a regular burner? My husband is excited to experiment with it and learn how to cook on it. The French Top throws off a good amount of heat, and since we are in Massachusetts that will come in handy. There are only two months a year when the heat doesn't come on in our house - July and August. Even June and September have some cool days. I can see where if you live in a warmer climate it would be a problem, but in chilly New England it will be great.

I found lots of stuff on the web about using ammonia to clean the oven -- put a bowl or pot of ammonia into a heated (though currently off) oven, leave it overnight, and in the morning simply wipe all the crud out. I did use this trick for the oven shelves -- put the shelves in a black trash bag with a cup of ammonia and leave overnight, then rinse them clean in the morning.The oven shelves looked like *new* when I took them out and washed them off. I have no doubt ammonia would have worked like a charm in the oven as well, except that after 15 minutes I was sure that we were all going to be asphyxiated in the night by the ammonia fumes, so I took the bowl out. What I ended up using was basically baking soda and vinegar and water, mixed together. Yes, you get a fizzy mess when the baking soda and vinegar mix. Once that cooled down, I coated the entire inside of the oven with the goop, as much as I possibly could. I let it stand over night. The next morning, using a sponge (frequently washed out), I wiped out the entire inside of the oven. That oven looked pretty damn good after that. Yes, elbow grease was involved, but it smelled okay (and it was immediately obvious where I hadn't wiped, because it still had white streaks). In the future: I'm going to try to get on top of spills/messes earlier (I bought a mat for the bottom of the oven now), and I'm going to use the baking soda/vinegar trick. If you want things to be really easy and you don't mind a strong smell, the ammonia is amazing. Here is a link that might be useful: Baking soda and vinegar