Selecting a Range cooker - My Journey
Article by Jonathan Inglewood, 22nd May 2008
Having previously only used built-in ovens and hob combinations, choosing a range cooker for the first time was a daunting experience. In my case I decided that I wanted one and it seemed a fantastic centre piece to my yet-to-be-designed kitchen. At first I thought that having the flexibility of designing the kitchen from scratch would be a bonus as I could almost design the kitchen around whatever size range cooker I wanted. This flexibility meant that I had the whole of the range cooker market to choose - which led to much confusion. I knew I had a lot to consider, starting with the following questions:
Where is the best location to have a range cooker?
When you are designing a kitchen from scratch you would think this question could be answered very easily, however you must first take into account all of the windows and doors. Then, think of an area that will allow enough work top space at each side - roughly enough to stand a large pan easily. What I hadn’t realised was how controversial it seems to all kitchen designers to place the range cooker anywhere other than against a wall. Can you have a range cooker as part of a centre island? Can you situate a range cooker with a breakfast bar behind it? “No”, replied almost every kitchen designer. And most of them offered no other reason other than “you just don’t!” Some tried to justify this by suggesting they splash more than a built in hob! My research proved that you can have a range in a centre island, even with a high breakfast bar behind (although due to the height this becomes technically a sushi bar). Eventually however, I had to concede that due to the sheer size of a range cooker, it almost always looks better against a wall.
Best location for a Range Cooker: Against a wall.
How many ovens do I want my range cooker to have?
I found range cookers with a single oven through to a maximum of four ovens, and in all shapes and sizes. Some ovens also have an integrated grill, meaning you can’t grill whilst the oven is in use. If you need to utilise two ovens separately whilst grilling you must opt for a separate grill. If your cooker has a high capacity oven in addition to a second oven and separate grill, you would need to be cooking a hell of a lot, all at once, to justify yet another oven! I decided that I would hardly ever need to use 2 ovens and a grill separately even with a young family, so I decided to get a 2-oven range cooker with one of the ovens having an integrated grill. I needed one with a relatively high capacity second oven, which ruled out all range cookers under 100cm in width. Some 90cm cookers have tall, high capacity ovens but they are all too narrow for my needs. In answering this question, I found that my search had narrowed greatly. I now knew my choice was limited to a range cooker over 100cm wide, with 2 ovens, one of which would need to be fairly high capacity.
How many ovens should my range cooker have? My choice: two ovens without a separate grill.
What size of range cooker is right for me?
Traditionally range cookers come in 90cm, 100cm, 110cm widths, although there are designs that are categorised as range cookers from 60cm through to 150cm. In my opinion most people can find exactly what they are looking for within the traditional range. The smaller ones lack features and space, both on the hob and oven, and the larger ones tend to look a little too commercial. By the time I had asked myself this question I had already ruled out anything less than 100cm due to my requirement to have 2 fairly large ovens and given the size and shape of my kitchen decided 110cm would be the largest I could justify.
What is the optimum size for a range cooker? I decided to have an open mind searching for all range cookers up to 110cm.
What size oven is advisable in a range cooker?
All of the major brands offer their cooker’s capacity in litres, although the height and width is equally as important as a narrow tall oven may have a large capacity in litres but you are a little limited in terms of what you can fit on a shelf i.e. a large pizza may not fit.
I found the most versatile option for me was to have two ovens of a similar size and shape, around 62 litres and 67 litres.
What size oven should a range cooker have? Think of your own personal cooking habits, if you have young children then your requirements will probably be different to those of a retiring couple. My choice: a minimum oven capacity of 62 litres.
How many burners do I want on the range cooker?
Most range cookers will have a mix of burners and have low power, rapid and a Wok burner. Not everyone will be interested in stir frying, so having a wok burner may be a waste. You could go for a 6 burner setup with conventional rapid burners or 3.0kw. The other points to consider at this point are griddles and hotplates. Some offer built on griddles and others offer sit-on models.
The best burner combination on a range cooker? This is down to personal taste and individual cooking habits. My choice: To have as much diversity as possible, 5 burners including a wok burner and cradle, sit-on griddle facility and a built in hot plate.
What fuel combination will be best on a range cooker?
Almost all duel fuel options have a gas hob and electric oven, although all-gas or indeed all-electric range cookers are available. I suppose this comes down to what you are used to. If you have always used a gas oven switching to fan assisted electric will take some getting used to, as would using a ceramic hob if you have always used gas.
The best fuel option for a range cooker? Possibly best to stick to what you are used to. My choice: Duel Fuel (Gas hob and electric oven) in my opinion this offers the best combination of functionality. And predictably it’s what I’m used to!
What colour range cooker should I buy?
This should be the easiest question to answer as I had a colour in mind right from the start of my search, although once I started to look into all of the options, I was surprised at the diverse range available (you can even get them with a floral design!). The colour choice is down to personal taste, cooker style (traditional, contemporary etc) and colour scheme chosen elsewhere in the kitchen. If you go down the contemporary route, stainless steel is the most common colour, which often this leads to the question - will a stainless steel range cooker tarnish? On spending an afternoon in showrooms I found most of the stainless steel range cookers covered in finger prints and looking a little too jaded. I decided that this looked very nice in the brochure pictures but I was not convinced on the practicality. My solution was to look at silver - this achieves the same affect without the high maintenance.
The best colour for a range cooker? This depends on taste, cooker style and surroundings. My choice: Silver or gun metal