Cooking Buying Guide
Cooking Buying Guide - Cookers, Ovens & Range Cookers
The kitchen is the heart of any home and a cooker or oven is one of the most important part of your kitchen, which is why finding one that suits you best is vital. A good oven should last for years and be something you can rely on. Whatever your budget and lifestyle, there's a huge choice available and therefore can be difficult to decide, which is why our Cooking Buying Guide will help you choose.
Fuel Types
Gas
Gas cookers provide fast and responsive heat to the hob for instant cooking. They provide responsive and manageable heat usage throughout the cavities to ensure your food stays crisp on the outside but succulent in the middle. Gas cookers need to be installed by a registered Gas Safe Installers.
Electric
Electric cookers can be slower to heat up compared to gas cookers, however if you chose one with a fanned oven, temperatures are spread more evenly throughout the cavity and preheating times are lower.
Dual Fuel
Dual Fuel cookers are the best of both worlds - the heat and responsiveness of a gas cooker, with the speed and ease of an electric cooker.
Size
Choosing the correct size cooker for your kitchen is vital, especially if you choose to have a range cooker or gas cooker as these will be difficult to move. You must ensure that 5mm width is reserved in your allotted space for recess dimension will allow for ventilation and prevent overheating.
Single cookers are usually found in 50cm, 55cm and 60cm widths, with Range Cookers being found in 90cm, 100cm, 110cm width.
Grill
A grill will often be integrated into an oven/cooker that has 2 cavities. A grill allows you to concentrate the cooking to the outside of the food, to create crispy and healthy cooked food.
Oven Configuration
There are several ways ovens and cookers are organised:
Single oven with integrated grill
Medium/Large oven with a grill integrated within the cavity
Single oven with separate grill
Medium/Large oven with a grill situated in a separate cavity to allow for simultaneous roasting and grilling
Double oven
One medium/large cavity and a small/medium cavity, that has a grill integrated within to allow for flexibility when cooking larger meals.
Type
Cooker
A cooker contains 1 or 2 oven cavities, and possibly a grill. It also includes an integrated hob on the top.
Range Cookers
A range cooker is larger than an oven/cooker, often featuring up to 8 hob plates and 4 oven cavities. Single range cookers are available which offer the same as ovens and cookers.
Ovens
An oven is a heated compartment used for cooking, baking or roasting of food. They come in different forms, in gas and electric:
- Conventional - A central thermostat controls the temperature of in the middle of the oven. This creates ‘heat zones’ which means the oven will be cooler at the bottom and hotter at the top. Heat zones can be used to control the cooking of many dishes at one time. However, conventional electric ovens require pre-heating before beginning cooking.
- Fan - A fan mounted at the rear of the oven cavity allows heat to be circulated throughout the cavity for a fast preheating and even cooking throughout all shelves.
- Fan-assisted - A mixture of both Conventional and Fan ovens, the fan circulates air around the cavity however the top is slightly hotter than the bottom to allow you to have browner tops and a completely cooked middle.
- Multi-function - A multi-functional electric oven combines a host of settings along with both fan-assist and grill to give you the most adaptable oven. Common cooking modes include: Conventional; Fan-Assisted; Grill; Grill & Fan; heating from the bottom; heating from the top; Defrost.
Fit Type
Integrated
Integrated ovens are especially useful if you are conscious of your kitchen’s appearance as they are able to be hidden within cupboards for a tidier looking kitchen. They also allow for extra cooking room if you already have an oven/cooker and require more oven space.
Freestanding
Freestanding ovens and cookers give you the freedom to put your appliance wherever you want within your kitchen (subject to fuel supply source)
Energy Rating
Under EU legislation, every new oven, cooker and range cooker must have an energy label showing its energy rating. All our ovens, cookers and range cookers are rated in line with the regulations, ranging from C (low efficiency) to A+++ (high efficiency).
You can work out an appliance's annual running costs by multiplying kWh used by 0.1427 (the average national cost of electricity + VAT), however this figure may vary according to how much you pay for your local electricity supply.
For further help and advice, don't hesitate to contact us.
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