For the past few years the freestanding white and brass 900mm Falcon Classic Deluxe Oven has been on my wish list. Finally in 2021 my husband and I decided to commit after we saw it was on sale for 20% off.
PURCHASING
After watching the sales for quite a few years I found the best time to purchase is within the Black Friday sales. It's usually a four day sale so you have to be quick with your decision. There is a blanket price across every retailer so shopping around really isn't necessary.
When placing the order there was a 3 month delay. As time went on this quickly turned into a 6 month delay and then a 9 month delay. Be prepared to wait!
The only way to order the oven is through a second party retailer. We ordered through E&S Trading as they offered free delivery when others wanted to charge us for this service.
A deposit was required however we were told that at anytime over the waiting period if we changed our minds the deposit would be returned to us no questions asked.
DELIVERY
Delivery was straight forward. Two men delivered the oven inside the house. The only issue I had was that they refused to take their shoes off when entering. We have a no shoe policy in our house and they basically said they wouldn't take it inside if they needed to remove their shoes.
INSTALL
Installation requires a professional plumber so keep in mind as this will be an additional cost on top of the oven price.
ISSUES ENDURED
Before I ordered the oven I visited the Falcon showroom to check that the brass handles on the model were a close gold colour to my kitchen tap and accessories. It was a very close match so I was happy to move forward with the order. Upon unwrapping our oven it was very obvious the handles were a rose gold/copper tone. A completely different gold tone on the showroom model.
I contacted E&S Trading who then contacted AndiCo the Falcon spare parts company. I was then required to send an email with photo proof and it was agreed by both AndiCo and E&S there was a drastic difference. *Luckily I had taken photos from when I visited the showroom to compare.
Little did I know this was the start of almost a 2 month tedious debates with both E&S and AndiCo. They sent me a new set of handles which were the exact same rose gold/copper colour as what was delivered on the model. It then took another month of discussions where a second set was delivered. On receiving this second set the longer rail was a match to the original showroom model, hooray! Unfortunately the smaller handles were again the rose gold/copper colour. This at least showed me that I wasn't wrong and there was in fact two colour tones.
It was obvious that the woman I was dealing within the AndiCo customer service was getting extremely frustrated with my complaints and stopped answering my emails. E&S also took the same approach and stopped calling me back when I was leaving messages.
Finally after my patience was worn very thin I was able to reach a sales rep who explained to me that after speaking with the UK Falcon head office there was in fact a difference in handle colour. She agreed to have the showroom model handles shipped to me so I would in fact have the handles that I originally viewed. Within two days they were on my oven.
DESIGN
I've been obsessed with the Falcon Classic Deluxe design and it was the main reason we made the purchase. We have a white kitchen with gold accessories so the white and brass model was exactly what we were looking for to showcase in our home.
I was originally concerned with the smaller oven compartments as our previous oven had one large oven door that could fit very large trays/pans within it. In saying this since owning the Falcon Classic Deluxe for 4 months now, there hasn't been a time where either my husband or I were concerned with the size. For our two person household it has been ample in size and I actually really like the fact we don't need to heat the whole entire oven at once.
PROS
On the left lower oven compartment there is a bracket which holds the tray to the door. When the door is opened the tray swings out and is easily accessible. There is never a need to touch or move the tray unless you want to remove it from cooking. It's a game changer that all oven should come with.
There is also no need to heat the entire oven at once as there are smaller compartments that can be utilised without running the entire oven.
When the oven is running, the food cooks evenly and there is little reason to rotate the trays or pans.
I really like the black top where the burners are. It's easy to clean and wipe down after cooking and nothing has stained or marked it so far.
I haven't owned an oven with a grill in over 15 years. The grill is not something we use often however it's a nice added extra to have.
It's quiet to run. When we would run the fan on our last oven it was quite loud however the Falcon Deluxe is very quiet.
There is a wok ring for the burner as well as a teppanyaki plate which have been nice extras to cook with.
CONS
Unfortunately the handles as previously stated above are not a gold or brass colour but instead a rose gold/copper tone and totally different to what is shown on the Falcon website. This seems to be a new change in 2022 which confuses me as gold and brass is a very popular colour in individuals homes while rose gold is less popular and likely not a colour of choice.
The decal stickers that read the temperature were already coming off the oven when it was delivered. I'm not sure whether they were applied poorly or whether the packing plastic rubbed against the decals and started to remove them. I have actually seen others reviewing the oven online complaining about the decals and that they need replacing after a very short period of time. The cost to replace them is hundreds of dollars through Falcon so if this happens to your oven, jump onto eBay as there are decals to purchase for a fraction of the price.
If your oven sticks out further than the wall or cabinetry beside it, there are little silver screws that are quite obvious. When I ordered a white and brass oven I would expect those screws to be white. I plan on painting them white so as they blend in and don't stand out.
When igniting the burners it requires holding in the button down for a few seconds past the moment it lights. If you release the button as soon as the flame appears it goes out instantly.
When opening the oven door a huge gust of steam flows out. It can be overwhelming if you are not prepared.
We have had the oven now for 3-4 months and still when it is in use there is a plastic scent that comes from the inside. I am hoping this fades over time however so far it's very much there each time we operate the oven.
Finally let me mention the customer service. When the oven costs the amount of a small car I would expect high end service. Unfortunately this is not the case. Prepare yourselves for a stressful journey if you have a problem with your oven once it arrives.
All in all we are very happy with our purchase even with the handle hiccups. I'll circle back in the future and update this blog if anything changes. In the meantime if you have any questions please send me a DM on Instagram.
*this blog post is not sponsored by any brands.