Is SMEG really that good?

AJW · Nov 20, 2010 5:42 am

The last place we rented had a smeg oven. Thought it was crap, in particular after you turned it off the bit above the door handle used to get really really hot, to the point it was easy to burn yourself hanging the tea towel on the handle. Also I found the heat to be really uneaven and the temp had to be about 30' lower than recomended in recepies.

The cooktop was a little better, except in 2 years the ignition broke down twice.

After that would never ever have one in my house.

TheOvenGuy · Jul 23, 2013 1:55 pm

Hi All,

Old post, but many people use these resources as they still come up in the search engines.
I fix ovens in little Adelaide, so my answers are basically related to that location. One of the contributors listed a bunch of things that might offer a means to define good from bad. Such as rack layout and corrosion of metals and door removal etc. All good stuff. And certainly correct in stating that many oven manufactures use common suppliers. That list is a good list and worth considering when making a buying decision.

Smeg Advantages
1. They keep a style for many years (means you don't have to change ovens to keep up with the Jones)
2. They supply units that are both analogue or digital. (analogue is cheaper to fix)
3. They are in the market place in large volume. (means spares and repairers are many)
4. They are a legitimate Original Manufacturer of ovens. They spend time demonstrating cooking in their ovens. (they know how to cook in their ovens)
5. They have been around for a long time and have a significant presence in South Australia.

Smeg Disadvantage
1. They are expensive for what they are.
2. Because they are expensive, customers naturally think that means better. Wrong!!
3. They oversell the benefits of self cleaning functions. No oven self cleans. They help with the cleaning process.
4. The Thermoseal notion is a oxymoron, for want of a better expression. Where does the moisture go if the oven is fully sealed?? On the floor, after it leaks out the front of the door. Ovens need to breath in order to crisp things.

Smeg are like the Toyota's of the car world. They are large, committed oven manufacturers. Not the best and not the worst, but well backed up and able to be kept serviceable for many many years.

If you have the money they're a safe bet, but that doesn't mean they wont have faults or will cook perfectly. All oven are a box with elements in them. No rock science going on. Just complicated smoke and mirrors with many of the expensive brands.

Regards and good luck for future readers/buyers of ovens.

Stewie D · Jul 29, 2013 4:33 pm

Fair assessment TOG.
Worth thinking about and certainly on the short list of ovens that we are looking at.

Stewie

JB1 · Jul 29, 2013 8:57 pm

I would say Toyota is not a good analogy.

Toyota's aren't stylish nor attempt to project themselves as premium. They are cheap, honest and reliable.

I would say Westinghouse ovens are Toyota's.

Smeg are like Audi, not as good as Merc or BMW, but like to think they are.
End of the day, an overpriced VW.

Sorry Audi owners.

AJW · Jul 29, 2013 10:25 pm

Based on my experience with SMEG products and using this analogy I would have said that SMEG were the Lexus of the kitchen world. A Toyota masquerading as something that it isn't Ie the poor mans luxury car. Like I said that's what I reckon of SMEG products, something that is a little more pricey, something that thinks it is something more than it is, but when really it isn't.

PS having lived in the UK, the BMW 3 series were the family run arounds (Camry's/Commodores/Falcons) of the UK. Same too with European kitchen appliances, we go ohh European must be good so pay extra, but really the brands we think are luxury are often just normal run of the mill over there.

This coming from a man who owns a Camry and Bosch kitchen appliances and is happy with both.

BradS · Jul 30, 2013 2:46 pm

haha, AJW is right. At the end of the day a Lexus is just a Toyota

Smeg is crap sorry to say

We have a Smeg rangehood and its broken more often than its working. The first one worked for 6 months tops and it died so our kitchen place replaced it.

The second one lasted 3 months and the switch died on it so they replaced the switch and it seems ok so far but its only been a month since

Performance wise, its average. Its a conceled range hood and i am already wanting to reaplce it as it doesnt have enough suction to do the job properly. Apparently its meant to be the best of their range as well so i would hate to see the worst

My father in law has a 12 month old oven and all the knobs are broken off it already.

I put Smeg in the same basket as LG and l have had many of their products fail as well lol

rightsaidfred · Nov 10, 2013 12:43 pm

Smeg in my experience is junk.

Bought a house about 7 years ago which was infected by smeg.

I found the receipts and the dishwasher was $1699 and very basic

In my previous house the dishwasher was over 20 years old and finally died and I replaced it with an electolux for $850 (a far better dishwasher then this smeg junk is), so in context even back then $1699 is way over the top price

This dishwasher died after only 7 years, it was never good at cleaning.... often I found dishes and cutlery not clean.. A few years back the main element went in the oven, cost me $450 ..... could have bought a whole oven for that price. The microwave seems ok but but I am smeg'd out. From reading other forums Smeg dishwashers are a must avoid product.

I have a beer fridge over 20 years old, I have a washing machine over 12 years old and I have a dryer over 10 years old..... none of them Smeg or Italian.

In my opinion you either buy high quality brands (if you can afford them) or really cheap brands which cost you less to replace.

Don't buy smeg, they are not cheap nor are they high quality, from reading other forums its an in between over priced brand.
I replaced the smeg dishwasher with an electrolux for $550

In general brands mean very little these days. I bought a Soniq 50" Plasma about 3 years ago for 799 (they are cheaper now) and its has yet to fail...... great TV.

AJW · Nov 10, 2013 12:58 pm

Well said.

JB1 · Nov 10, 2013 3:36 pm

I agree with everything you said Rightsaidfred except for your last paragraph.

Soniq is cheap because the picture quality and R&D is inferior compared to say Panasonic. That doesn't mean it shouldn't last 15 years.

rightsaidfred · Nov 10, 2013 4:08 pm

JB1

I agree with everything you said Rightsaidfred except for your last paragraph.

Soniq is cheap because the picture quality and R&D is inferior compared to say Panasonic. That doesn't mean it shouldn't last 15 years.

I have 2 TV's one a high end Samsung given to me for free at 42" and yes it has a superior picture to the Soniq but would have cost 3 times as much ...... is it 3 times better ?

My answer no!

That said the prices these days for cheap TV's v Better brands is a lot closer.

2-cupcakes-pls · Dec 21, 2013 11:34 am

There is better!
It's all about your budget.
We are for V-Zug ovens

subdivide hopeful · May 19, 2016 11:31 pm

I have just had a house built with a Smeg oven and dishwasher. I was looking forward to having beautiful new high end products. The dishwasher is badly designed and I can't fit my dinner plates in as the rotating arm hits them, so now I have to buy new crockery. My husband cooked a roast dinner in the oven and I didn't realise he hadn't wiped the back of the oven. I have tried to clean it using the self cleaning vapour setting, soapy water and Jif and elbow grease with not one iota of difference. I googled an oven cleaning website and a professional oven cleaning company said that smeg ovens were the most difficult ovens to clean. Also on top of that it doesn't bake evenly. If I could afford it I would rip both appliances out and replace them. I know this information is too late for you but it may help someone else.