We did in the beginning, now, eh, not so much. Okay, not even once a year. We keep the ss top shiny on cleaning day & then it gets scrubbed & polished with Pledge, but other than cleaning our griddle when the grot builds up, we don't do much else. (I really should clean my ovens tho)

Answering my own question in case someone else wonders what size wok is ideal on their range. I got a 16" and it's pretty perfect- the burners on either side of the traditional plate are still usable while it's in place.

HI All,

No one has written for such a long time! I did a catering job for Christmas and the hosts (Super model Paulina Porzikova and husband from the rock band "The Cars" Ric Ocasek) had a beautiful French Blue Sully. It felt great to cook on one since my Lacanche is 4500 miles away in Italy! They have a great townhouse here in NYC and the tree was almost 15 feet tall!

How's everyone?

Marty

Chef Marty,

What a cool experience! It seems that more and more I'm seeing Lacanche is design magazines. Still loving my Cluny. Hope to see more activity here and new pictuers if anyone has them.

Hello fellow lacanche lovers. I am a newbie here who has been reading your posts for weeks now and am almost ready to make a decision.

I was leaning towards the sauvigny, but wasn't too wild about the vertical oven being convection only. Does anyone have the convection ovens and what do you think? I am not a huge baker, using my current oven mostly to broil meat and roast vegetables.

I spoke with AC today, and they suggested the cluny based on my usage which I was thinking initially before I saw the sauvigny.

Is it true that the new ranges do have the gas shut-off when the flame goes out? And do the oven doors get really hot? Concerns about 18-month old daughter.

How low can you turn the heat down on the ovens? 200-250?

Do you have to turn cookies that you are baking half-way through? And how is the broiler on the electric oven in the cluny?

Sorry, so many questions! I am currently waiting for AC to send me some paint chips and hopefully get me an appointment with an ambassador in my area.

Finally, colors... We are strongly considering the matte black, but I do love the provence yellow and portugese blue. just nervouse I would get tired of it after so many years.

Thanks for keeping this great thread alive over the years for new people to discover the lacanche's.

texass,

My ovens go down to about 150. I do turn my cookies half way, but I've always done that even before my cluny showed up. As you mention you are not a huge baker, this shouldn't matter too much anyway. We have a burgundy cluny and have yet to get tired of the color.

Joe

Hi Texass,

How exciting to be in the market for a Lacanche. I remember those days. After using the Cluny for a few years now, I think the new Saulieu and Savigny ranges are an exciting choice to the Lacanche line. More expensive, but I would be very tempted to go that direction. Here's why. Although I can cook everything, including a 20 lb. turkey in the Cluny, the larger oven of the Savigny is attractive. I would do the the larger oven in gas, and would be happy with the vertical electric convection w/ broiler. As it is, with my Cluny I find I use the gas oven the most, and that's probably because I grew up using gas ovens so it is my preference.

Regarding cookies, sometimes I turn and sometimes I don't. Turning probably is a good idea.

About the oven doors, mine are not too hot at all.

Now the fun part, the colors! I have the matte black. It's beautiful. It's fine. It's great! But if I had to do it again I would go with a color. Really, how many ranges out there can you get in so many beautiful colors. At the time I was ordering my Cluny they had this beautiful limited color called Aubergine which was a beautiful purle/maroon color. But I too was afraid I would tire of it. I still think about that color to this day. If I ever move and get a new Lacanche, because, of course, now I would never get anything but a Lacanche, I would get a fabulous color.

Good luck!

New here too! I went ahead and ordered a range, but customer service leaves something to be desired. Very sloppy attention to detail and information requests for things the buyer has ALREADY given AC.

They must be selling a boatload of these ranges in this poor economy (sarcasm)to be so casual with actually getting the range ordered AND communicating with the buyer!

Every day they dawdle means a contingent of people on MY end must wait. Guess they don't get that. What's up with that!!??

Sorry to hear that, Riding. I had an absolute wonderful experience when I ordered mine. Hope it all works out and can't wait to see pics when it's been installed.

Wascolette, I'm thrilled to hear how pleased you are with your Cluny! I've been trying to decide between the Cluny 1400 and the Chagny 1400 (with the two Cluny-sized ovens plus the small broiler oven). But now I see the new Citeaux which looks like a Savigny plus warming oven! Argh! I think I'm falling prey to Lacanche creep. Just a little bigger ... just a little more expensive!

Do you think the vertical convection oven would be as useable as a Cluny oven? I'm having some difficulty imagining loading pans in the vertical oven.

Oh, and although I've been trying to talk myself into black - which is beautiful, it is the burgundy red that calls my name!

Hi Wascolette,

Thank-you for your post. Very informative which I really need at this point. Now you've got me reconsidering the sauvigny! Have you ever realjy ha an issue with the size of the cluny ovens? That is one of my biggest concerns. And the colors. Such a tough decision and to do all of this and spend the money sight unseen.

AC has yet to find an ambassador in my area. Anybody in the Kansas City area that has a lacanche, I would love to come view.

Ridingtohounds, I hope everhthin works out. In dealing with these type of products, you just need a certain level of service.

And Nutherokie, I feel your pain on the creep! First just the cluny, then the sauvigny, now possibly a color, it just keeps adding up.

**Oh, and although I've been trying to talk myself into black - which is beautiful, it is the burgundy red that calls my name!**

Oh, Nutherokie, if you're spending that much on a range, you should get what you love. Not what you're trying to talk yourself into.

If it's resale value that makes you think black is more "practical," IMHO if I ever had a Lacanche, it would move with me from house to house, making its color irrelevant to resale value.

texass: I wrote a summary of my experience with my cluny, including oven size.

Here is a link that might be useful: lacanche part 37

**Oh, and although I've been trying to talk myself into black - which is beautiful, it is the burgundy red that calls my name!**

Nutherokie, that statement just pulled me out of my chronic lurker status and caused me to join just so I could respond to you! I feel what you are saying -- I was agonizing over ordering a Cluny for over a year. My head kept telling me to order the matte black but my heart kept demanding french blue. I requested color samples from Art Culinare, and seeing the colors with my own eyes rather than on my laptop pushed me over the edge. So, despite the crazy looks I got from my mother-in-law :) I ended up ordering the French Blue... and now its arrived, I have no regrets. If a range can be called breathtaking, this is it. My vote is for you to follow your heart on this one!

Hi Shermhugh! So glad you de-lurked! You know, when I first discovered these ranges, I couldn't imagine why anyone would go with black with all those gorgeous colors to choose from. Then I saw photos of everybody's black stoves and they were so beautiful that I started to second-guess myself. Your encouragement, along with that of Wascolette, Ideagirl2, and Joeboldt is stiffening my resolve on the color question!

I know your French Blue Cluny must be a thing of beauty ... and I think "breathtaking" sounds like a fair description.

Ahh, Shermhugh. Thanks for posting. I have been trying to love the matte black, but after receiving the color samples, I think I will be purchasing the French blue as well.

And very excited that AC found an ambassador in my area with a lacanche so hopefully I will be able to view this week and order my range next week!

Just out of curiosity, I went to the Lacanche website and looked at their current colors: I own the Cluny in Portuguese Blue, and want to report that the pop-up color on the website labeled French Blue is is closer to Portuguese Blue in reality. The Port Blue sample is much brighter than it is in reality.

I think I might have been disappointed in the French Blue--it probably is less vibrant in reality than the on-line paint chip.

I make the point, as I have made it before, that when you see the range in color on the website, you are looking at it face-on. When you install it, you see the top, and are looking down at the doors and this mitigates the brightness. Still love mine.

Do they send color samples? The same online paint chip will look different on your screen than on mine, because screens are different and even with the same screen, our settings might be different. There's no way you can be sure of a color that you've only seen online.

If I recall they sent us a sample of the burgundy.

Ideagirl, yes, they'll send you samples of the colors you're interested in. They are about 4-inch by 4-inch squares of enamel on steel. I had the bright idea of having paint mixed to the color of the chip so that I could paint a stove-sized board to see how the red would look in my kitchen. It's so hard to tell from a little sample, especially the way color changes with light conditions. Well, four separate paint stores told me there was no way they could match the color. It was too "deep." My husband suggested automotive paint, but I haven't tried that...yet.

As I'm debating on what to do when we move (a whole 'nother post), I received the color chips in the mail on Friday...that French Blue is breathtaking! Everyone in my family voted for that one over the Terracotta, Vert Sologne, or the Red...although, all were gorgeous, except the green came in last place....just a little too subdued for our taste, I think. But that blue...oh, my gosh! A Lacanche deserves to be the showpiece of the kitchen...I'm traumatized over having to leave my Sully! Waaahhhh!

I have read most of the old threads that I could. I am still trying to absorb all of the wonderful information. All of the pictures of your new kitchens are so amazing. We are barely getting starting on planning for our remodel; so, I have a long time to contemplate and absorb all of your knowledge!

I discovered Lacanche by googling for more information on the Aga that I thought that I wanted. I was sold except about I had gotten my heart set on Aga's beautiful aubergine. Well, I had emailed Victoria and have in my possession one of the few LC aubergine samples. It is absolutely gorgeous and I have no doubts that it is the color for my future LC! But, what will it be...at first, we were contemplating the Cluny or the Chagny, but experienced the creep and are now decided on a Citeaux (for the time being).

I think that we will do the classical with a FT over the warming cupboard...or maybe not.

I feel a bit like a stalker after having followed the Lacanche threads for almost a year. We are in the final planning stages of the project (finally!). Thank you all - your detailed and thoughful posts have provided priceless information!!!

After debating between the Cluny 1400, the Chagny 1400 and the Sully, I THINK we settled on Sully and a warming drawer elsewhere in the kitchen. Our budget and space constraints did not allow for the Sully 1800, and our choice was mainly based on oven size. We have 4 grade school kids and a large extended family and regularly cook for groups that are 25+ in size. These will be our only 2 ovens, save a microwave that can also function as a convection oven if we need an extra oven.

Now, here comes the wrench - while parusing the recent ELLE Decor magazine, I was prompted to revisit the Ilve. Is that traitorous to mention on this thread? It has some features that have given me pause - like larger ovens, a slighly larger cooking surface, glass on the doors to see inside the oven without having to open the doors, and ovens that claim to be easy to clean. (As one who has never cleaned an oven, I find the last one compelling, if true. Recall the part about 4 kids...). Did anyone consider the Ilve (Italian) in their search and go with the Lacanche? Any thoughts?

I have more questions should we go with the Lacanche but will save those for another post.

Which Ilve, the 60" I assume? Perhaps you should start a separate thread on that to avoid a TOTAL BETRAYAL OF ALL THAT THIS THREAD STANDS FOR, haha, but in the meantime... I seriously considered an Ilve 36" or 40" but ultimately went with the much less expensive 36" Fratelli Onofri. I scoured the Web looking for reviews of both models and found a lot more variability in the reviews of the Ilves--it seemed like a "love it or hate it" kind of range. So in your shoes, that's what I'd do--look everywhere for reviews of both brands' ranges. And of course, see if you can find any to look at in person.

Thanks, ideagirl, I did just that today. I looked at a 60" Ilve Majestic today and decided that my heart just wasn't in it it! It still lies with that yet to be ordered Sully that will hopefully grace my kitchen someday.

Victoria at AC is still searching for a Lacanche Ambassador in our area, so I hope we can see one in person before we order it. Now we just have to pick the color....

So my order has been placed for the cluny range in French Blue!! Now waiting for Victoria from AC to give me a delivery date. Very excited and thanks to all the posters on this forum.

Will post pics when it arrives!

How exciting, texass!

Texass! Your Cluny will be drop dead fabulous! Can't wait to see pictures.

Meanwhile I've just added to my own confusion. My husband is once again lobbying for the restored antique range I originally settled on. It's so beautiful, but probably not a very practical choice.

You'll be very happy with your French Blue. We are. It's beautiful

Pirula!!!! Hello!!! I haven't popped in here in a long, long time (head hangs in shame!)!!

Hi All!

Workingondreamhouse...I have the Sully 2200, along with the 4 kids (no longer all grade school, but they were when I bought mine!). I love, love my range...STILL. 2004. That's when I got mine.

And Working...let me just add a "burden" to your thoughts! I came from a previous home that had double ovens and a warming drawer. I loved my WD, was an avid user of it, and planned TWO in this current kitchen. When I discovered the Lacanche and the warming cupboards, I loved the warming cupboards SO MUCH, that I opted for two of them. I cannot recommend them enough. The vertical "cabinet-style" vs the drawer makes a world of difference in how you use them. You can get so much more in them. You can put big pots in them. I could go on for days.

I could easily do with one cupboard, though two is great for me. If you plan to use the WD a lot, I encourage you to look at your space again and see if there is any shifting you can do for the cupboard. It is soooo worth it!! :)

Thanks, momto4kids, there aren't many out there that can speak directly to this kind of lunacy! Trying to cook for everyone on the 40 year old electric stove that was here when we moved in is wearing thin! I'm dreaming of the day when my Sully arrives. There IS room for the 1800, just reduces the counter space around it. Thank God my kitchen designer is my sister-in-law, anyone else would have thrown me under the bus by now! You've given me quite a bit to think about, thanks for popping in again.

Working...I have an answer for that! Have the warming cupboard (WC) on the side you tend to work from most. Then...don't get burners on top of the WC. Get the stainless steel work surface. That way your ss work surface will butt against your counter top giving you an extra 18" of work surface...so you haven't lost anything! My left WC has a burner hob above it. My right WC has the ss work surface. I love having it. It is very, very practical. Hope that helps!

Hi workingondreamhouse,

My house is in italy so I considered all Italian ranges before going Lacanche. De Manicor is another professional company that builds ranges in Italy.

So why did I go the extra mile to get a French range for my Italian house? To me the Lacanche was more elegant in looks and more funcional with the vertical warming cabinet.

Since I am a professional, I have a trepidation of all those electronics and fancy controls. To me it is just more things to break. My range here in NYC has a window and it always looks dirty even after cleaning. I always open the door to look anyway.

Yes, it was those cool colors (I took marron glace)and that warming cabinet that I cannot live without. To me all that other stuff is fluff. I have a second 9 function oven with rotisserie but I never use it and I don't know where to store all of those parts! That convection oven on the Lacnache cooks sooooooooooooooooooo well.

Marty

chef-marty,

The cool colors are a definite attraction! When I was first looking at Agas that was part of the draw. I am also looking at paying double to get my beautiful aubergine. So, I am obviously insane. lol

It is pleasing to note that it isn't just looks and that the Lacanche is a workhorse! I wasn't sure about the warming cabinet, but the more that I read, the more it is attracting me!

It has been a pleasure reading about your journey regarding your building. Any pictures of the final result? I would love to see them!

Twinklestars

Hi, I'm new to this forum and like all of you I have been mezmerized by these beautiful ranges. My husband has been working on the house he bought 6 years ago. We were married 2 years ago and I moved in. It was the joke at our wedding that the house would finally get finished now that I was on the scene. I love to cook! I am not a professional by any means but cooking brings me joy and I love the feeling of bringing friends and family together with food and friendship. My husband is 1 of 9 children, each with their own families. Every Christmas Eve we host the family Christmas party at our house which is getting to be 80 people and 4 generations by now. Our new kitchen aims to be the center of our home as well as a great place to eat.

I have read all the postings that people have made and they have been a great help. One of the questions that I have would be about service. Hopefully I won't need service once it is installed but is it a good idea to have it professionally installed? My DH is very adept (mechanical engineer) but not specifically knowledgable about gas (propane) hook up and necessary range hookup. Are the specs that are available at AC good enough for a DIYer? Anyone live in MA and want to give a refferal for their service person? I have looked up all the service providers that are on the AC website for MA and surrounds but I did not know how current they were.

Thank you all - from a LC newbie.
CorgiMom

Hi CorgiMom,

I installed our cluny, it was pretty straight forward. Basically screwing it to the wall and going to home depot for a flexible gas line. I did get a couple of movers to drag it to where it would live in the kitchen. It's heavy!

Regarding service, it's a pretty uncomplicated stove and I suspect any reputable company could make repairs.

Joe

Hey CorgiMom. We found a service person in our area on the French Ranges website and he's great. I would recommend that you hook the gas and electric up to your range and turn it on before you set it in place. Our oven was off by 50 degrees and it was a chore to pull the range out to adjust the thermostat. Once adjusted, though, it's been fine. Our range was initially installed by the same guy who installed our other appliances.

I'm joining the Lacanche party! We just moved to a new house and were sad to leave behind a 4-oven Aga cooker. But much to my delight I was able to find a very affordable and perfectly-sized second-hand Cormatin to take pride of place in my new kitchen! It is mandarine, which I love. It will be installed this week, and I'm thrilled.

I took it to AC for a checkup before bringing it home, and had a great time visiting with the guys there. There were a bunch of ranges in various stages of disassembly, and I learned how to calibrate the oven temp and other useful info. The staff there at AC couldn't have been nicer!

Just in case anyone is wondering how moveable these are, I carried the range in the back of my minivan. If you remove doors, drawers and all the racks and such, it's actually not that heavy. Granted, this is the smallest Lacanche, but one of the service people said he and his wife moved their Cluny without a problem. I borrowed the AC suction cup set, which should help when we carry it up the steps tomorrow.

kmcg, you must live in or near WA. I would love to see the showroom, but it is unlikely I can make a trip across the country for that. Did you by any chance meet Victoria Lane? I have been working with her to set up a home visit with an ambassador here in MA. I can't wait to envision my new kitchen addition. It's good to know that the adjustments are not that hard to do.

No, I didn't meet Victoria; there was a meeting going on in the showroom so I just quickly took a peek at the ranges on display - all gorgeous, of course! But my behind the scenes look at the service area was really interesting. They were doing a checkup on a beautiful baby blue range with all brass handles, and the brass had quite a nice patina. Mine has chrome, which I like, but the brass might actually go better in my old Edwardian home. I hope you get to visit a Lacanche soon. What color are you leaning toward?

I have requested samples for the Provence yellow, Burgundy Red and French Blue. I am leaning towards the yellow or red. I will be putting in warm quarter sawn oak cabinets so I am not sure if I want it to complement the colors or be an eye catcher. I love bright colors so the yellow would be fun. But the burgundy is so rich and welcoming. I will have to see what works the best. I am hoping that when I get the chance to see someone else's LC it may be a bight color so I can see if it is overpowering. Is the Mandarine very brite?

Hi Twinklestars,

Love the name!

For anyone who is interested in the house in Italy, go to www.italytrullo.com.

I had an easy time of it. The renovation went well although slowly and i did not get ripped off but I wonder if I would do it all again. It is hard having to be here knowing that the house is there and I have to work!

Marty

Here is a link that might be useful: Trullo San Raffaele

Ailsa - The mandarine is a very basic orange - not as citrusy as it can look in pictures. My Aga was claret red, like the burgundy, and I loved the color - very versatile. Everyone is wowed by it. I used red glass mosaic tile as a backsplash accent, against white tile and white cabinets. It was a nice mix. The blue would be stunning, of course. My taste would lean toward yellow now, but I'd be a little cautious with the tone on tone effect with oak cabinets. You'll know more when you get samples.

chef-marty,

I perused the website for your gorgeous home. Everything is absolutely amazing! Thanking for sharing the site. Just breathtaking!!!

kmcg,

You will have to tell about how the two ranges compare! I was all set on an Aga 6-4 until I found the Lacanche ranges. My dh is far more excited about the Lacanche, but ultimately the decision is up to me on this one!

.................

We had dark cherry cabinets picked out for the bottom and a glazed cream on top. I still can't decide if the range would blend in too much and may choose some of the cream cabinets for on the bottom tier around the range.

Twinklestars

Ailisa -
I have the Provence Yellow and no, it is not overwhelming. In my kitchen it is considered a 'neutral' actually. I have wine-stained cherry cabinets on the bottom & a 'green' stone countertop, and a super-heated copper backsplash. The color in the kitchen is 'deep', so there's no one element which 'pops'.

I think you'd find that with any color you chose. 'Pop' or 'brightness' is a function of contrast. Even the lemon yellow could, under the right circumstances, be considered a neutral. And any color can seem scary when placed against a white background and white can be "popless" if there's no other color to contrast with it. That's what makes black 'dramatic,' as opposed to "dark". It's all about context.

So, the question you need to ask yourself - if you've made some color choices already - is do you want contrast, or complimentary? If you want contrast, going 'lighter' in color saturation (think new white tennis shoes and new jeans) or 'darker' (think black in the middle of a 4th of July party) than the surrounding environment should perform a function. If you want complimentary, you can pair orange and fuchsia together - if you've got a chocolate brown base & the colors are 'relaxing' instead of 'clownish'.

I started with my 'cabernet' stained bottom cabinets with lighter stained uppers & that drove the rest of the choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: I'm still happy with the color choices after 6 years

Those pictures are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. It really shows all the colors in your kitchen really well. I was looking at soapstone counter tops today and the colors were so warm and I was thinking about the different colors of the LC ranges. I have ordered about 5 color samples and they should arrive this week. Once I get the sample from my cabinet maker I think I should be able to get a better idea of what overall feeling am looking for. I have requested a sample of slate as well because that may be another counter choice. I was everything to work together but I don't want anything to hide (except maybe the floor). I love to look at all the pictures to see all the wonderful ideas that I would not have thought of. Thank you all for your suggestions. It is so helpful
Ailsa

Thanks for all the advice, we have decided on the Sully 1800. One electric non convection oven, one gas. Matte black (sorry, its my favorite!) Now. Just have to decide on the configuration of the burners. Has anyone purchased the new electric plancha? I have 4 kids and a large extended family, so we do cook for the masses. I understand that there is a griddle pan that I could place of the burners instead of the plancha, but it seems like that would be heavy and awkward? How difficult is the plancha to clean and for what do you use it? Thanks!

The flat black with brass accents are very beautiful and lends a great amount of tradition and old world feeling. Great choice but then again...they are all kinda cool,no?

Marty

I haven't been by in a while, but now our kitchen is done! And our beautiful Portuguese Blue Cluny 1400 has been installed. After a couple of weeks of using it, I LOVE this stove. I like the French top (had a couple of sauces going on it one night), I love the warming cupboard, I love the ovens (I got one gas and one standard electric).

I have had a small adjustment period getting used to European-sized ovens rather than the much larger American-sized ones, but I find I'm much preferring the European ones! Hilariously, I found I did use my gigantic roasting pan (that I bought one year for a prime rib dinner I made -- this time around, it was for holding custards in a water bath) and it fit in the oven just fine.

Here's what she looks like:

A couple of our friends who are remodeling and buying new appliances have said they're getting Lacanches now too.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous dianepatterson! I understand there's a bit of a learning curve with the French top. Did you have any trouble keeping the heat low enough for your sauces? Was it difficult to get your gigantic roasting pan in and out of the oven?