The way you cook is also key to deciding which type of range cooker to choose. No-frills heat storage ranges such as Agas retain heat they have gradually built up and generally have two ovens without temperature controls - the hot oven is for roasting and baking, the cool one for slow cooking/keeping warm.

Consider which accessories might be beneficial. Many models can be supplied with a draining basket, chopping board and strainer bowls. A drainer extension can be useful for sinks without a drainer where worktop space is limited in a small kitchen.

Granite is an igneous rock. It is formed as a result of the slow crystallisation of molten magma at depth in the earth's crust. Uplift and erosion has over millions of years resulted in this material outcropping at the surface. The minerals which make up granite are generally quartz, felspars and various mafic minerals (amphiboles, pyroxenes, micas and secondary materials). It is the size, distribution and precise chemistry of these minerals which give the granite it's colour. The silica content of granite should be at least 70%. In the stone industry "granite" has been a term applied to almost all igneous rocks and schists.