a western oven

[saintone1]

The best purchase I made recently was a Panasonic combo microwave oven (About NT$14k).

It will allow you to do pretty much anything, depending on size of course, with great control of heat etc...
plus, you can plug into a normal power outlet.

p.s. My bread has never tasted so good!!!

[totallytika]

It took me over two years to find a western style full sized 4 burner stove/oven. I finally was able to buy one from a departing Forumosan last Fall. I did find one company who sells them by searching out Indesit on the internet. They have a Taipei branch and will sell them but the price range is NT40,000 - NT50,000.

If you do find one, keep in mind that it is extremely hard to find servicing for these things. Most repair folk, have no idea where to even start with this type of appliance! My suggestion would be to buy from the dealer, making sure that they do have qualified service people. The one out of Taipei did, but I just couldn't justify the cost.

Indesit, BTW, is an European make and very good quality.

I doubt that I still have the information on this company but will look.

[igorveni]

I know everyone uses electric ovens, but I don't want an electric oven. I would like to purchase a western style gas oven..... Sogo and B&Q are outragously expensive. Any other ideas????

For what you want, you won't find any cheaper. If you stick to this kind of oven and nothing else, you gotta pay....
This ain't Europe or the states, people don't use these kind of stoves here.

[Ma Ke]

IGORVENI,
You mean to say we're not in Kansas anymore, and grandmas not cooking blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies? After 15 years of this predisposition, I feel so stupid. Only on www.forumosa.com could I feel so enlightened!
What you mean to say is, because they don't bake cookies, there are no deals on conventional ovens in the whole of Taiwan?
God, I wish I was as smart as you!
You are fucking funny man.
Peace, Mark

[500CBFan]

I've seen small shops that do kitchen remodeling. Maybe the price is just as high there, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask.

[sandman]

What you mean to say is, because they don't bake cookies, there are no deals on conventional ovens in the whole of Taiwan?
God, I wish I was as smart as you!
You are fucking funny man.
Peace, Mark

What he means and what he said is that such cookers are not in high demand here, so they're not quite so easy to source and also quite expensive.
However, NT$20,000-NT$50,000 is not really expensive for the brands available -- they cost just as much in the UK, for example.
NT$50000 is just 800 pounds. My sister spent over 6000 pounds on her last cooker.

[Doctor Evil]

You can find US model systems in some of the shops up on C-h-u-n-g Shan N. Rd Sec 6.......in Tianmu. They usually cost about $30,000NT. The same models can be bought in Guam, USA or Bali, Indonesia for less than $400US.

[Hobart]

The amount of people that purchase these type of ovens is small so the guys that import them feel obligated to overcharge you because they can. They wouldn't even import the things if they only made a measly profit. One tip is to try kitchen stores, the ones that sell kitchen cabinets, the ones with domestic cabinets would be cheaper. They sell wall ovens that are Taiwan made and look just like their foreign counterparts, probably because a lot of gas ovens are made in Taiwan and that is why there is an import tax(import tax not that high) to protect their domestic manufacturers. The thing is no one buys these so they are not really protecting any kind of market. Anyway. the shop I went to had wall ovens for only NT$20,000 but they were small. They looked nice, stainless steel, but the inside was small. Maybe the same size as my Japanese/Taiwanese style high-end counter top oven, which also NT$20,000.

There is also a Kenmore dealer on the corner of DeXing Rd and Zhongcheng Rd in Tianmu, on the NW corner. They were fairly reasonable.

Buying from departing expats might work, if I see any on the board at the American Club I will let you know.

By the way, if you do buy an oven, you can make money with it, selling bread and cookies and cakes to Taiwanese, ahahaha...they just love baked goods, but they only have a WOK at hom eand wouldn't know how to bake bread or cookies anyway. Just look at the lines at the bakeries and scratch your head and wonder why more people don't bake their own stuff at home? Anyway, that is just a joke, please don't sell bread on the streets and lose your shirt, because if you can't make rousung, yumi or hongdou minabao, you won't make any money, unless your last name is Wendel, just stick to teaching English.

[Duke]

I bought one used from another foreigner for 5k. It's great in the winter, but I never use it in the summer - it's just too hot!

[maoman]

I know everyone uses electric ovens, but I don't want an electric oven. I would like to purchase a western style gas oven.

For what you want, you won't find any cheaper. If you stick to this kind of oven and nothing else, you gotta pay.
This ain't Europe or the states, people don't use these kind of stoves here.

Rich people do. I've been in more than a few Taiwanese homes in Tianmu that had them. Of course the only person I ever saw using them was the Filipina maid. We've got a gas oven with four burners on top, and like Duke, ours gets the most use in the winter. However V baked some fantastic cookies the other day, so even in the summer, it does get some use.