Kitchen Deals -> Cookware

Check the capacity. 'Standard' 60cm wide dishwashers can take 12, 14 or 16 place settings, whilst slimline 45cm models may cater for 7, 8 or 9 place settings. Compact dishwashers tend to be 45 cm wide and can be placed on the worktop or built in, depending on the model. They may take 4, 5 or 6 place settings.

Ease of cleaning is well worth considering at the outset. Stay clean liners resist dirt build-up but pyrolitic cleaning is the ultimate. It burns off all baked-on debris at 500°C so that all you have to do is sweep out the resulting ash. Look out for ovens with a steam cleaning facility, too, and remember that some ovens have removable inner doors that are easy to clean.

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.