Edgar Iredale wrote:

You do seem to have been rather wiser than me. May I ask what make and type
the fridge and freezer are and if you had to go to any special efforts to
find them? Presumably they are class SN machines rather than the N than
mine is. It'll be useful information for when this one packs up, and for
our fridge and freezer in the kitchen which are on their last legs.

It was a number of years ago - late 1997/early 1998. They're Hotpoints, a
matched pair, undercounter height. I don't remember the model numbers, but
I doubt if they're still available. So far (touch wood) they've been
completely reliable, even with the frequent power outages we've had. One
was bought from Scottish HydroElectric, and I think the other was from
Curry's - not exactly specialty suppliers. But I did a LOT of research
before ordering them.

It seems to me the fridge-freezers are the real problem because of the way
they work. They seem to fail quite expensively if they run (or fail to run)
long in a too cold place. I've been hearing about such disasters this
afternoon and am now quite determined never to buy a fridge-freezer unless
it has separate mechanisms for the two parts.

That was one of the reasons I bought two separate units - the other was the
need for counter space.

I remember making bread in the late seventies when there was a bakers strike
or something of the kind. I had a Raeburn in those days and really enjoyed
taking the finished cottage loaves to my elderly neighbour who had been
worried that he'd miss his bread. I'd never made bread before, or since. I
was quite proud of myself.

I make bread several times a week - it still seems almost magical to me,
and I've been doing it for at least 30 years.

Sheila