Best range cookers: our top 10 for family feasting

The best range cookers offer the versatility and power to bake, roast, sear and even steam to perfection, featuring models from Rangemaster, Belling, Britannia and more.

Choosing the best range cooker for your kitchen is a big decision for one of the largest, most desirable appliances, but we’ve narrowed down the search to bring you the finest design available, whether you’re looking for catering size capacity, professional power, hi-tech features of traditional farmhouse charm.

There are now dozens of brands offering range style cookers from the classic always-on AGA, to the latest in induction powered, all-electric designs that wouldn't look out of place in a Michelin starred kitchen. You can choose from a wide range of sizes to suit even the smallest kitchen, and in an ever-increasing collection of on-trend colourways, and while a range cooker will never be a budget option, we’ve found some great value designs that still perform.

Despite built-in ovens often boasting more advanced features, the range cooker - even the modern designs - remains a timeless choice that’s undeniably appealing. They’re big and cumbersome, but something draws us into their charm. We’ve not often heard of people taking built-in ovens with them when they move house, but range cookers...they just seem to become part of the family.

The Belling Farmhouse 90 DFT Dual Fuel Range Cooker is a superb value design available in classic farmhouse cream, silver and black, with two generous ovens, a separate grill, and your choice of fuel type and hob. If you love to sear steaks and stir fry, the dual-fuel DFT option shown, with a five-burner gas hob and powerful 4kW centre ring, will be a treat to use, but induction and electric options are also available if you don’t have or want gas.

The main oven has 58 litres (two telescopic shelves with five positions), while the side oven has a narrow but generous 86 litre capacity over three shelves, making it ideal for batch baking with the fan distributing heat evenly throughout the cavity. It also features Defrost and Slow Cook settings, while the separate grill means you can still enjoy cheese on toast while the main ovens get on preparing dinner.

A hard-working yet flexible range cooker is a must for busy households, and this three-cavity Richmond model is more versatile than most thanks to the innovative Proflex Cavity Splitter. This heat proof shelf slots into the tall oven to create two separate cavities, transforming it into a range with three ovens and a separate grill, all of which can be controlled independently.

We also love the expansive five-burner gas hob, with its durable cast iron supports, multifunctional fan oven, A-energy rating and clever Bluetooth timer that connects seamlessly to your smartphone for greater control. It might look traditional, but is every inch the modern, multi-functional range cooker.

And we’ve not even mentioned the fact the range is also available in 100cm or 110cm widths, with multiple extra features and 10 colours including the Dulux 2022 ‘Colour of the Year’ shade, Bright Skies.

A high-quality design loaded with features aimed at the keen home chef, the Nexus is the only range cooker in the UK to boast a dedicated steam oven cavity (seen on the right). It uses pure steam injection to rapidly heat the cavity, helping to retain moisture, flavour and nutritional value in your recipes. The temperature can even be controlled to the nearest degree for precision results enabling everything from defrosting at 40°C to sous vide cooking around 57-64°C to full steam at 100°C.

The main 97-litre oven has 11 cooking functions including Duo, which eliminates the need to blind bake pastry, and Delicate, which uses the bottom heating element and fan for gently cooked dishes such as meringues or Crème Brulé, while the bottom drawer reaches 40°C, ideal for proving dough.

And to finish, the five-ring induction hob is supremely versatile, allowing for multiple zones to be linked to create one large cooking area, giving you the chance to cook like a pro with an inset griddle (included) and multiple sized pans.

Shown here in fabulous racing green, but also available in 20 other colours, this 60cm wide, cast-iron Everhot is ideal if you’ve always wanted the look and performance of a classic range cooker, but simply don’t have the space.

Unlike similar cookers, it doesn’t require a flue and is plug-and-play – simply power it with a 13amp socket. Even better, it’ll still fit into a standard 60cm cooker cavity. It has a two-zone hot plate with a max temperature of 400°C, while the main oven with grill (250°C) and bottom oven (180°C) offer space and versatility.

Handmade in a carbon-negative factory in the Cotswolds, the Everhot, as the name suggests, is always on providing year-round, controllable warmth and comfort just like a classic oil-fired range, just more energy-efficient and easier to install.

Buy now: £5,930, everhot.co.uk

With its simple, chunky handles, clean lines and sleek induction cooktop, this range is the perfect fit for a chic contemporary kitchen. It’s not just a pretty face, either. The main 69litre nine-function oven has a unique quick-start feature, so you can throw a meal together in a hurry without worrying about waiting for the oven to preheat.

The smaller 38litre second oven is also multifunctional, with four settings, the standout being an electric rotisserie, which we warn you, could become addictive!

On top, powerful induction coils offer five separate heat zones, with a huge dual wok burner zone, with enough space around it to be able to fit multiple pans without jostling for the centre of the hob.

When you’ve got a sauce to simmer, a steak to sear, pasta to boil and all sorts of food to fry you need this Smeg dual fuel design which has six separate gas burners instead of the usual five. Each offers precision control with serious power when you need it most.

The generous 70-litre multifunction oven has seven cooking functions including Circulaire, which is Smeg’s advanced fan system that prevents flavours from passing from one dish to another, while the easy-clean enamel interior is made all the easier to keep clean thanks to a steam-generating mode than helps loosen any burnt-on residue.

The 35-litre secondary oven features static cooking and grill, with four cooking levels, plus there’s a useful storage drawer underneath the compartment for housing racks and trays when not in use.

Borrowing technology typically found on their superb built-in ovens, Fisher & Paykel has created an ultra-modern, super-sized range with all the latest features including a precision-controlled five-burner gas hob with power ranging from gentle simmer (1.8kW) to serious searing (4kW).

The vast 140litre single cavity oven has multiple shelves for maximising the space, the door is quadruple glazed for added safety and efficiency, and there’s also pyrolytic cleaning, which burns off any food spills leaving just a pile of ash to wipe away.

The nine-function oven has the best quality accessories, with a soft close door and robust telescopic runners, and by utilising something called AeroTech, air is circulated throughout the oven guaranteeing the same temperature at the top, bottom or sides.

You might not think it to look at it, but the classic AGA has changed a lot in recent years. The traditional always-on, radiant heat style range still has a devoted following, and for many buyers, an AGA really is for life, but the brand had evolved and now offers a host of designs with the same iconic look and radiant oven heat as always, but with more efficient control for the modern world.

The 100cm wide, three oven eR7 - shown here in Olivine green, but also available in a wide range of colours - runs on electricity, with the top plates able to be turned on and off as you need them, while each of the cast iron ovens can be independently controlled. It’s worth remembering though, the radiant heat oven - that produces such consistent temperatures and delicious results - does still take an hour to heat up. You can however set a timer so it’s ready when you need it.

Cooking with an AGA takes practice, but the results can be exceptional and a warm AGA in a traditional farmhouse style kitchen is simply wonderful on a cold winter’s night, and while it’s an investment it could be the last cooking appliance you ever buy.

Buy now: £13,205, agaliving.com

Bertazzoni has been building professional-quality ovens in Italy for more than 135 years, and this depth of heritage has been distilled down into a collection of gorgeous, classic style range cookers made using only the most premium materials. Everything from the control knobs to the pan racks is made to last generations.

This, the widest range cooker they offer, requires a large kitchen and big budget, but the twin 69-litre electric ovens - each with 11 functions - can cater for a huge party with ease, with no compromises.

The cooktop boasts six burners, including a very gentle (1.2kW) and seriously powerful (5kW) ring plus a separate flat stainless-steel griddle for searing, or simply flipping delicious pancakes.

Buy now: £5,699, uk.bertazzoni.com 

If your budget is tight, but you need maximum oven capacity, this chunky modern design - choose from five colourways - could be ideal as it has a separate grill, large storage compartment for pans and two huge 60+ litre fan ovens.

The two ovens also have telescopic runners and excellent quality accessories, plus easy clean liners to make your life easier, and while they don’t offer the same number of heat features as some multifunctional ovens, it does use a powerful fan for even, consistent results.

Being 100cm wide gives you a super large hob, with seven gas burners to choose from - between 1-4kW - including a powerful over-sized wok burner, and small simmer burners for sauces and gentle cooking.

A buyer's guide to range cookers

If you’re in the market for a range cooker (you lucky thing), read on and get clued up on what to look for.

What is a range cooker and what is a range-style cooker?

It happens less and less nowadays, but you may notice manufacturers labelling what you know as a range cooker to be ‘range style’.

That’s to distinguish their modern versions – one or more electric or gas ovens topped by a gas, ceramic or induction hob – from the traditional cast-iron models that have their roots in solid fuel and always on kitchen ranges you’d typically find in a farmhouse kitchen.

In the 1920s, a Swede, Dr Gustaf Dalén, invented the AGA – a closed cast-iron range with ovens that stored the heat rather than losing most of it up the chimney – and traditional range cookers from AGA, Rayburn and Esse still work on this principle.

Powered by gas, oil or wood, they’re always on, warming up the kitchen and sometimes providing hot water, too.

How wide are range cookers?

They say size isn’t everything – but we’d beg to differ, particularly when it comes to range cookers. You could be replacing an old model or fitting one for the first time – either way the model you buy will be dictated by whether you have a tight gap or gaping chasm to fill.

Don’t worry though, as range cookers come in so many configurations that you’re sure to find one that’s the perfect match for your cooking style.

The most common widths of range cookers are 900mm, 1000mm and 1100mm, but you can get cookers as wide as 150cm, and there are a growing number of 60cm-wide ‘mini ranges’ out there, which offer the aesthetics of a range in a standard freestanding oven width.

What fuel is best for a range cooker?

Modern range cookers typically come in two guises – all electric or dual fuel (a combo of gas burners and electric ovens). All-gas versions are a rarity these days, but are the cheapest to run, and their ovens give off water vapour as they burn, resulting in succulent meat and fluffy cakes.

Most modern ranges have electric ovens ­– the majority will be static or fan ovens, but if you up your budget you can expect at least one of the cavities to be a multifunction oven. This uses combinations of top, bottom and fan heat to achieve different results. A specialist pizza setting, for example, will crisp the base and melt the topping perfectly using bottom heat and the grill. Some also have steam cooking functions and advanced pyrolytic cleaning cycles for easy maintenance.

Your big decision will be whether to go for a gas or electric cooktop, and this may be influenced by your budget, since induction hobs are generally more expensive.

Induction hobs are hugely efficient and speedy, can be wiped clean in seconds and is supremely safe – the hob only gets hot if the pan is in place, and you’ll be warned about any residual heat with lights. They also boast timers and modes that can bring water to the boil, simmer and switch off, for effortless pasta and rice cooking. Remember though, your pans need to be induction ready; to check, see if a magnet sticks to the base.

Gas burners are more affordable, and although they’re fiddlier to clean, they give instant heat that’s easy to control. Look out for extras, such as powerful wok rings and separate hotplates and griddles for searing meat – they’re a boon if you like a bit of kitchen theatre.

Electric ceramic hobs are another option, but they’re slow to heat, inefficient and not especially controllable. We’re not recommending any electric stove tops as a result.

What layout is best for a range cooker?

There are so many variations, but the question to ask here is ‘what sort of cook am I?’

Do you live for your Sunday roast with the extended family? Then pick a cooker with just a single large cavity for your joint of choice, or a side-by-side model with a second oven for roasties and Yorkshires.

An L-shape layout, with a grill, a main oven and a tall oven, is made for batch bakers. Tall ovens have lots of shelving, so they’re ideal for cupcakes or sausage rolls. A separate grill can be practical if you often have multiple dishes cooking.

For dinner-party enthusiasts, a Farmhouse-style cooker is a popular choice. These have two ovens, a separate grill, and either a slow-cook oven or a storage compartment that can also be used to prove dough and warm plates.

Are range cookers easy to clean?

The only real issue with range cookers over a smaller oven is that there’s more of it to clean. You can save yourself a lot of time and elbow grease, however, with easy- or self-cleaning ovens.

Enamel liners can be wiped down with a mild detergent and a cloth ­ but look for ‘easy-clean’ enamel to save on scrubbing.

Rough catalytic liners absorb spills so they can be burnt off during the cooking process, ready for you to wipe away afterwards.

Pyrolytic ovens heats to 500°C, and essentially burn the grease and food residue off, leaving just a small pile of ash to wipe away. Typically these are found on modern built-in ovens, but these features are slowly making their way over to range cookers.

What extras should I expect?

Before you buy, check what extras your oven comes with, or can be bought separately. Most come with simple baking trays and shelves, but also look out for these!

If you can, treat yourself to a range with a rotisserie, which cooks poultry (and also delicious pork) to perfection. It works via a motor hidden in the walls of the oven, which gently turns the spike. This makes for a really succulent bird with a crispy skin, and there’s minimal spitting, so your oven cavity will stay cleaner for longer.

An electronic meat probe is another accessory that will take the pressure off. Push it into your joint of meat and you’ll be able to monitor the precise temperature inside so there’s no risk of over or under-cooking.

Telescopic runners support shelves as you pull them out, so you won’t need to perform a careful balancing act to check or remove hot dishes.
Finally, a storage drawer is handy for stowing bakeware and included accessories, for example, that rotisserie kit.