If you’re in the market for a range cooker you’re just about to make a substantial financial investment. So it’s a very good idea to take the time and make the effort to carry out proper research first. But there are literally hundreds of range cookers available these days, from the gorgeous Rayburn 480k to masterpieces by Bosch and fabulous range eye candy by Britannia.

Most of us are far too busy to spend hours glued to our computers or driving to distributors and stockists to pick their brains in person. Luckily the consumers’ friend, Which, has done a lot of the hard work for us.

At the moment it only costs £1 to try Which via their website. Well worth the money when their reviews are trusted by millions, unbiased and sensible. No wild claims. Just solid, common sense information to help you make the best range decision.

What do Which test when reviewing range cookers? They focus on appliances’ cooking ability, safety and ease of use, testing each thoroughly and comprehensively.

Which looks at heating accuracy, using state-of-the-art temperature probes to measure of the actual temperature levels as compared to the temperature the oven is set to. Which might sound odd, but there’s nothing worse than a cooker that says it’s heated up to 180 degrees but is actually ten degrees hotter. Cake catastrophe!

They test how fast ovens reach 150, 180 and 200 degrees and also check the oven stays at that temperature without wandering up or down over time. They also make sure having the hob burners on doesn’t affect the way the oven works.

Heat distribution is also vital. When an oven heats up unevenly, with hot and cold areas, it can ruin your food! Which’s experts bake literally hundreds of small cakes to check performance at different temperatures. Then there’s the Which grill test, which involves toasting crust-free white bread to see how evenly it browns. They even have a special camera that detects colour changes and calculates the browning effect!

You don’t want to spend half your life cleaning your range, so Which also tests for ease of cleaning. Starting simply, they test hot soapy water first to see if that does the trick, only moving on to heavy duty cleaning fluids if necessary. And during the entire testing process, they keep an eye open for potential safety issues, including them in their final report. Which also provides a top 40 best buys list on-site, really useful for narrowing down your choice. Want to buy a new range cooker? Make the Which website your first port of call!