Self Catering at Cambridge?

Hello! I'm considering going to Cambridge in 2017 but from what I've been able to find, they highly encourage eating in halls and it's virtually impossible/ pot luck if you get an oven, especially in first year. I really want to cook for myself, (and also bake!) is this actually possible at Cambridge? Do some colleges offer better facilities than others? Thank you!

Do some colleges offer better facilities than others? Thank you!

For first years, the standard kitchen facility you get in almost all colleges are hobs, microwave, kettle and (usually but not always) toaster plus a fridge to share with 3/4 people in the same corridor. So it's not too great if you want to cook seriously ( but many still manage).
But from the second year onward, you'll have an option of living in a college-owned house (to share with your friends), so you'll get fully equipped kitchen.
If you want to live in college accomm on main site, the kitchen facility varies from college to college and sometimes depends on which accomm even in the same college, but second year facility is usually a little better but not much, and third/fourth year facility is better, usually with a proper oven, too.

Yes. This is the sort of thing which does vary between Colleges. I still wouldn't worry about it too much - you'd be surprised how much you can cook with a microwave/combi-oven and a hotplate! My sister also studied at Magdalene and very rarely ate College food (apart from formal hall of course!). She also got quite adept at microwave cakes in a mug.

Another thing to watch out for is that some Colleges have a minimum meal charge or other similar requirements meaning you have to pay for a specified number of meals from the College.