In My Dreams! Williams Sonoma La Cornue CornuFé Stove

I saw this chic beauty the Williams Sonoma La Cornue CornuFé Stove recently, and have been thinking about it ever since! Like when you get a song stuck in your head that won’t go away. I believe a piece like this is a work of art. It is a testament to how far we have evolved from the cave men who rubbed sticks together to create fire. Yes it is decadent over the top, but isn't it delicious!

La Cornue CornuFé is a 100 year old French company that produces high quality, stylish range cookers. This model has a professional style cooktop with five gas burners. The burner in the center has a 17,500 British thermal unit (BTU). On the sides are three 12,000 BTU burners. The fifth is a simmer burner, which is adjustable from 600 to 6,000 BTU. It has two electric, convection ovens with French side swing doors. It was designed to fit into standard 24” deep base cabinets and the height is adjustable.

My Client graciously has written a review of this stove since I received so many inquires since I originally wrote this post.

Review of La Cornufe
I am a satisfied, even a proud owner of a black enameled La Cornufe trimmed in stainless and brass, and have been for almost two years.
The La Cornufe, a 5-burner sister of the famous La Cornue by Purcell Williams, is the dual fuel range of many cooks' dreams. The design of this range is a direct result of the brains behind the company (La Cornue) that has hand crafted beautiful cookers for no less than the finest kitchens in France and around the world.
In an effort to bring this fabulous stove to the masses, Purcell Williams, a California company, is marketing this factory-made version to the public. Options include a variety of enameled colors and trims in stainless, copper, brass, etc., and even stainless steel.
Forget the royal price tag a la the La Cornue, because the La Cornufe is for the same consumer that will be eyeing the Viking, or the Wolf. For approximately $9,000, which includes delivery, this stove can rule the kitchen of any urban loft or country estate. This price is fairly remarkable because there is no other stove on the market that combines this kind of iconic French style, elegance, and high function anywhere within $10,000-$20,000 of this price range.
The question is, how does this stove function? If you see one and fall in love at first sight, what are you missing? What should you know?
First of all, you should be aware that there are two ovens. Both are windowless because this makes the cooking in the oven more efficient. They are also not self cleaning. In the case of the La Cornufe, a self cleaning element is not only unnecessary but dangerous to the elements within the ovens as they provide multiple functions that could be harmed by the high temperatures necessary to self clean.
Happily, both ovens have walls that come out completely and easily, and may be washed in the sink or dishwasher with very little effort, and replaced without fuss. No toxic chemicals, no absurdly high heat, and voila! Spotless interiors.
Both ovens offer different functions. The left oven is a traditional oven, while the right one provides options that include traditional, or moist roasting for turkeys or cuts of meat, or convection, or broiling, etc. Some minor study of the instruction manual will educate any cook to the oven's personality, such as the fact that the upper elements heat more strongly than the lower, so this must be taken into consideration when cooking.
And while the ovens are not large (for instance, the largest size cookie sheet won't fit--a mid-size cookie sheet does the trick) several oven racks can be used at one time with perfect results, because of the convection element. At Thanksgiving, a 25 lb. turkey is the largest I would put into one of these ovens. In my experience, the ovens are pretty much perfect.
As for the stove top, the simmer burner is gentle and strong for making the perfect basmati rice without peeking to see if it's done. The large middle burner offers powerful 17,500 btu's for super easy stir fry or searing of any meat.
Downsides include: no continuous grate (you might be able to slide a pot from one burner to the other but you have to be careful, and sometimes you have to lift it) and a stainless steel cook top underneath the grates. It's absolutely beautiful when it's clean. But after cooking a greasy messy meal, there is no enamel to wipe off because it's a stainless steel surface. So you have to lift the iron grates off, and carefully (so you don't scratch the surface) clean the top.
In regards to the cast iron grates, they are nicely hefty but to keep them from scratching the stainless steel surface, they have tiny 1/2 inch pads underneath the corners. They will disappear randomly, like socks in the dryer, but the company replaces them at no charge since this is a warranteed item, and I recommend getting a few extras just for the hassle factor.
Speaking of service, it's excellent. Purcell Murray has contracted well respected service companies to service these stoves if and whenever they may need it and the warrantee is quite good. When I first got the stove I thought one of the burners would not light, and a service person was over the next day to fix it and give me an extra part.
What I have learned over time is that I don't need to call for service, because essentially this stove is so simple, it's easy to troubleshoot your own problems.
Now if a burner won't light but merely clicks, I'm pretty sure I left soap in the gas release holes while cleaning it, or I replaced it in the wrong position. I simply remove the middle element (which just lifts off), blow into the holes until they are clear, and replace it the correct way. This method has not failed yet.
I love the personality of this stove. It functions very well in my busy kitchen and always looks beautiful, even when neglected, but it's never neglected for long. Because it's just too pretty to be ignored.