Range cookers have developed into being an integral central part of any home. The primary function of this key piece of equipment was to provide various forms of cooking, from baking to roasting, grilling and simmering; it also provided a vital means of heating, for tasks such as boiling water and drying clothes. The Japanese and Chinese both claim to have been the first to use clay stoves as a means of baking bread. Before this, meat and fish was either eaten raw or cooked over an open fire. Prior to the invention of electric and gas range cookers, the principal fuels that were used were coal, wood and kerosene. The first two did have the problem of causing soot, whilst kerosene was seen as a cleaner source.

As modern technology developed and specific appliances for heating evolved, the range cooker was considered to be mainly applicable to cooking uses. Gas ovens that began to appear in the 1830’s were seen to be the most efficient and cleanest way of preparing food; when the first electric range cookers started to appear in the 1890’s, there was keen competition between the two and the monopoly of the gas version came to an end. Even today, people have their own preferences as to which they prefer.

The famous Aga range cookers are considered one of the most fashionable of accessories in the domestic kitchen. Both can be supplied with either gas or electric models and some combine both sources of power. The larger models can have up to 4 ovens with different uses. One is for grilling and baking which can accommodate a turkey weighing up to 28lbs. The second is usually used for simmering such things as casseroles, meringues etc, and the slower dishes that can be cooked overnight. The baking oven makes up the third category, and fan ovens come as a further option to distribute heat more evenly and efficiently.

In the early days, your choice of range colour was black: full stop. Nowadays there are many models that have up to 14 different colour ways so that they can compliment almost any decorative scheme in the kitchen. What’s more, you do not have to be a fanatical gourmet with the user-friendly controls and settings, something the earliest models did not have. It does come in handy to be able to switch off when you require, something that was nigh on impossible in the days of fuel-burning versions!