Finding the right range cooker.

Choosing the correct, and most suitable, range cooker can be something of a daunting task. What size? Which fuel type works best? Which brand? It's worth spending some time selecting what will become the centrepiece of your kitchen. This article will hopefully give you an idea of where to start looking and what to start looking at .

First things first - the budget.
Range cookers vary in cost dramatically, from entry level models by manufacturers like Indesit and New World costing around £600 to £700, up to monolithic cooking machines from high end French manufacturer Lacanche weighing in at around £12000. Range cookers can generally be grouped into entry level, mid level and high end, with brands sitting at various stages along the way.

Brands such as Indesit and New World offer entry level models - cookers that are perfectly serviceable and well built, offering the usual standard cooking features such as fanned ovens, dual circuit grills etc. These models won't be built to quite the same standard as more expensive offerings nor will they offer quite the same features; they will however offer excellent value for money to the casual home chef.

A step up in the range cooker spectrum brings you to mid level brands such as Rangemaster and Stoves. Typically costing between £1500 and £2500 these brands offer excellent quality UK built cookers, manufactured to high standards using quality materials. There will be an increase in cooking features in line with the increase in cost, and multifunction ovens, timer functions and telescopic shelves start to appear as standard on various models. The excellent Rangemaster Classic and the Stoves Sterling are both cookers worth noting at this price point.

A further increase in budget brings you into the realms of the Falcon and Britannia collections. These brands offer cookers that span the gap between home and commercial cooking, evident in features such as chef top griddles and rotisseries. Standard of build steps up a notch too - material quality and finish being of paramount importance - noticeable in heavy metal control knobs and cast iron pan supports in particular.

At the upper end of the spectrum you'll find range cookers such as those offered by Lacanche. Using the finest quality materials (heavy gauge steel, solid brass and robust cast iron) these models are built, often by hand, to extremely high standards and offer the same cooking power as commercial models - indeed, they can often be found in the home kitchens of many famous names in the culinary world. These manufacturers have a raft of cooking heritage and this is self evident in their products, which can often be created to the customers specifications. As you would expect, with an increase in quality comes an increase in price - entry level Lacanche cookers start at £3000 and their top end Vezelay range cooker costs over £12000.

Now it's just a question of taste.
Range cookers typically fall into one of two categories - either contemporary or traditional. Contemporary range cookers offer sleek architectural lines combined with high gloss enamel or deep stainless finishes, and brushed aluminium trim. Full glass oven doors feature heavily, as do electric induction and ceramic hobs. Examples of modern utilitarian cookers include the Ethos by Rangecookers Appliances, the Rangemaster Professional Plus and any of the Mercury collection.

Traditional cookers exude warmth and cosiness - thick, lustrous enamel, heavy oven doors and arched bakers windows all play their part in creating the farmhouse look. Popular traditionally styled cookers include the Rangemaster Classic and Redfyre models.

Is size important?
If you're replacing an existing cooker, size might be a key factor in choosing your new cooker - a 100cm wide cooker obviously won't fit in the same space as a 90cm wide model! Standard nominal sizes are 90cm, 100cm, 110cm and 150cm, with a limited number of models available in narrower and wider sizes. It's worth remembering that a nominal width refers to the space that a cooker is designed to fit into - the actual cooker itself will usually measure slightly narrower than its nominal width.

It's also worth noting that some wider models won't offer any more useable width than their narrower counterparts - manufacturers will often take the chassis of a 90cm wide model, add two slab side panels and release it as a 100cm wide option. The oven capacities and hob area will obviously be the same on both cookers so there will be no functional gain.

Gas? Electric? Dual fuel?
In addition to sizes and styles, range cookers are also available in a variety of fuel types - dual fuel, all gas or all electric. Dual fuel cookers combine a gas hob area with single or double electric ovens - all gas utilise a gas hob alongside one or two gas ovens, depending on the width of the cooker. All electric cookers offer electric ovens with either ceramic hobs or, increasingly, powerful and efficient induction hobs.

One of the factors influencing the choice of fuel type is cooking style - gas cooking is usually the choice of traditionally skilled cooks who are able to juggle the gradient heat zones in a gas oven, whereas electric induction offers more in the way of ease and efficiency. Another factor is availability of mains power, particularly in the case of rural properties without a mains gas supply therefore making all electric a necessary choice. Conversely there are occasions whereby lack of a large enough electrical supply makes gas cooking the only option.

Cooking features
As mentioned earlier, range cookers offer a variety of features depending on the brand, model and pricepoint. Multifunction ovens allow the user to select the way in which the oven cooks the food depending on the dish - typical functions are fanned, conventional, top and bottom heat etc. Multifunction ovens offer great versatility and are found on an increasing number of mid to higher end range cookers. A pyrolytic oven cleaning function, although hard to find, really will take the work out of oven maintenance, as will catalytic or easy clean oven liners albeit to a lesser degree. Telescopic shelves are useful but not essential, and Rangemaster's Handyrack is worth mentioning - an shelf fitted on to the oven door in such a way that when the door is opened, the food is brought out with it. Again very useful, but not essential.

It is worth considering if you will really use all of the features on a cooker before committing to that model - generally, more features equals more cost, so there is little point in paying for cooking features that may never be used!

Anything else?
A number of websites display range cookers online but as with all of these types of purchases there is no substitute for getting hands on with various models. Try various brands out for size feel, open and close a few doors and turn a few knobs! It's always worth visiting a range cooker display centre to gain first hand experience for committing to a brand or model in particular. An useful website to visit is Rangecookerreviews.co.uk to check if the model you are interested in has been reviewed.

You can view a collection of range cookers online at Rangecookers.co.uk - their online showroom features comprehesive imagery, specifications and even video content of available range cookers.