GAS COOKERS .sx This is the first of two related reports on cookers .sx The second one , dealing with electric cookers , will be published shortly , together with a comparison of the two types .sx Whatever features or trimmings a cooker may have , the main requirements are few and simple .sx The oven and grill must cook evenly- the oven , over a wide range of temperatures .sx On the hob , food must be cooked fast or slowly , as required .sx The cooker must be easy to use and easy to clean .sx The finish must be able to stand up to hard wear .sx BRANDS .sx The 16 gas cookers chosen for testing are listed in Table =1 .sx They cost about +30 to +70 , the most popular price range , and had four boiling burners ( except for the NEW WORLD 33 and PEERESS , which had three ) , an oven and a grill .sx One , the LONDON , was only available in the North Thames Gas Board area , where it has a very wide sale .sx The NEW WORLD 173 RANGETTE , larger than most , was included because it was in the same price range , had unusual features and is widely sold .sx Table cookers and small models with only one or two boiling burners were excluded ; so were very large , expensive models and those designed to be built in as part of a series of kitchen fitments .sx Full names are given in Table =1 .sx Shortened forms are used in the text .sx DIMENSIONS .sx If the cooker is to fit into an existing kitchen layout , then the height- particularly of the hob- the distance the cooker stands out from the wall ( depth ) , and its width are important .sx These are listed in Table =1 .sx OVENS .sx Useful cooking space .sx There is considerable difference between the size of an oven and the useful cooking space in it .sx This is because some space is necessary round the food to allow the heat to circulate .sx The cooking space has been calculated in cubic inches from the area of the baking tray provided and the height from the lowest cooking level ( the bottom of the oven ) to the lowest projection at the top- usually the top of the door frame .sx This is the method of British Standard 1250 :sx 1955 ( Domestic Appliances burning town gas ) for calculating cooking space ( figures in Table =1) .sx The whole oven can be used when necessary , however- for a turkey , for instance .sx For the best results , no baking tray larger than the one provided with the cooker should be used , as it might make the cooking uneven .sx Shelves .sx Two shelves were provided with each cooker .sx A third , reversible one was provided with the ENVOY .sx There were 13 possible cooking levels , including the oven base , for the ENVOY , compared with only four for the LEISURE , and five to nine for the others ( see Table =1) .sx All shelves were designed to slide out without tilting appreciably and- to prevent the risk of accidentally pulling the shelf right out- most had to be lifted in order to remove them .sx Those without this safeguard were the CANNON , EQUERRY , ENVOY , LONDON , MONARCH and the NEW WORLD 33 and 42A .sx The LEISURE had an additional inner glass door- a possible advantage , as cooking progress could be inspected without allowing much heat to escape .sx The glass door became too hot to open without an oven cloth .sx Cleaning .sx How easy the ovens are to clean depends as much on how they are used as on their design .sx But the removable oven top and base of the CAVALIER , the removable oven top of the NEW WORLD 44 , and the hinged oven top of the EQUERRY were definitely helpful .sx Oven cleaning can be tiresome .sx It may be useful to remember that there will be less splashing when joints are cooked longer , at a lower temperature ; when the meat is covered with foil ; when a container is well filled ; and that the oven floor can be protected from spilt juice if a tray is put under pies or tarts .sx When the oven does get dirty , it should be wiped out while it is still warm before the dirt has time to stick .sx Thermostats .sx All the ovens had thermostats .sx This meant that they heated up to , and stayed at , a temperature that depended on the thermostat setting .sx All were marked 1/4 , 1/2 , and 1 to 9 .sx The RENOWN also had settings 10 , 11 , and 12 , but its cookery book gives no recipes for them .sx Eight cookers had extra 'low' settings- lower than the 1/4 settings- for dishwarming and for slow cooking .sx The British Standard implies that all cookers should cook the same dish at the same setting .sx For each cooker , the manufacturer's instructions indicate the best shelf position for different types of food ; this is important as the oven is , intentionally , much hotter at the top than at the bottom .sx We recorded , as a matter of interest , the temperature ( @F .sx ) at the top , middle and bottom of each oven , at settings 2 , 6 and 9 .sx It was not easy to set the oven to the same temperature each time , because of play in the thermostat knob .sx It is worth getting into the habit of always setting the thermostat from a higher figure .sx Cooking performance .sx CA carried out the cooking tests specified in the British Standard .sx They show whether the right amount of heat reaches the top and bottom of the food .sx Also , by the evenness of browning , they show how even the heat is at different levels in the oven , when both baking trays and circular cake tins are used , as these affect the circulation of heat differently .sx The oven is tested at cool and hot settings , and when it is filled with different size dishes , for a complete dinner .sx Each dish has to be ready within a specified time .sx There is nothing adventurous about the recipes , but they provide a good test for cookers .sx Details of the tests are given in Table =2 Some ovens cooked better than others , but all were satisfactory .sx The three best were the CAVALIER , ENVOY and PRINCE .sx The LEISURE , MONARCH and CABARET , at the other end of the scale , were fairly good .sx On the LEISURE , the food tended to overbrown on the underside .sx The MONARCH oven cooked slowly ; neither the rich fruit cake nor most of the dinner was well cooked in the time allowed .sx The CABARET oven was cooler than most , particularly at higher settings .sx Food cooked slowly and the top browned before the underside .sx Gradings of the cooking performance of each oven are given in Table =1 .sx HOBS .sx Cleaning .sx The tops of cookers get very messy .sx Even the most careful cook lets the milk boil over sometimes .sx So it is most important that the top should be easy to clean .sx In our tests , the hobs were dirtied by letting milk boil over on two burners of each cooker .sx All the milk was then cleaned from the cooker , and whatever parts were necessary to do this were moved .sx Both time and difficulty in cleaning were taken into account when assessing the results .sx The CANNON and NEW WORLD 42A came out best , then the PEERESS , CABARET and NEWHOME .sx Worst to clean was the MONARCH .sx The milk burned on the hob very readily and trickled down under the spillage tray .sx Cleaning was both slow and difficult .sx The LEISURE and NEW WORLD 44 were little better than the MONARCH .sx The NEW WORLD 33 , 44 and RANGETTE had similar hobs , completely different from all the other cookers .sx They consisted of removable stainless steel rods ( see photograph on p. 252) .sx The rods became discoloured by heat from the burners and had to be rubbed with abrasive to restore their original appearance .sx The time to do this was not included in our cleaning assessment .sx We have been told that some people prefer this new design , but in two series of tests carried out by CA , we found that they were more difficult and slower to clean than most of the others .sx Boiling speed .sx The speed with which water could be heated was considered to be particularly important .sx A pint could be boiled in a pan on at least one burner of all the cookers in under 3 1/2 minutes .sx The quickest was about 2 3/4 minutes .sx It was found that burners of the same make and gas rating took slightly different times to do the same job .sx Because of this , and the fairly small difference in time taken by the different models , we consider it impossible to pick out any as being markedly faster than others .sx Three pints could be boiled in 6 to 7 minutes .sx Simmering .sx All the boiling burners could be set low enough to keep one or three pints of water simmering at 180@F .sx with the lid off , but not with it on .sx When simmering food , you burn it if the heat is not evenly distributed at the bottom of the pan .sx To find out which cookers provided the most even heat , porridge was simmered at as near as possible to 180@F .sx in a light , 7-inch diameter , aluminium pan without a lid for 30 minutes .sx Only the size of burner producing the most even heat was rated as this would be the best one for simmering .sx The MONARCH simmered most evenly , leaving a negligible deposit on the bottom of the pan .sx Only one , the ENVOY , caused any burning , and this was only slight .sx Special burners .sx The MONARCH and RENOWN each had a thermostatically controlled boiling burner as well as three ordinary ones .sx They are designed to raise food to , and keep it at , a constant temperature .sx This is achieved by a device which adjusts the gas according to the temperature of the pan base , against which it is spring-loaded .sx Different types and quantities of food , and different pans , need different settings , mentioned in the manufacturers' cookery books .sx We found , however , that , when chips were put into a pan of hot fat , there was a delay before the burner responded to the change in temperature .sx The fat heated up again much more slowly than on an ordinary burner with the tap turned full on until the fat was hot again .sx The chips cooked on the two special burners were considered very soggy compared with those cooked on ordinary burners .sx But , in general , the special burners are useful when you want to leave the cooker unattended .sx When you have learnt the setting- for the pan , the food and the quantities- you can do this , knowing that nothing will boil over , or burn .sx GRILL .sx Design .sx A recent trend in cooker design has been to move the grills to eye level .sx The advantage of a grill above the hob is that it is easier to watch , as you don't have to bend , and allows the oven to be higher .sx Only one of the models tested , the ENVOY , had the grill in the old position , below the hob .sx One , the RANGETTE , had the grill just above the hob , on which the grill pan rested ( see photograph on p. 252) .sx All the others had the grill at eye level .sx With all but one of the cookers the grid of the grill pan could be at one of two possible distances from the heat .sx The exception was the CANNON , which had four available positions .sx THE CANNON and NEW WORLD 44 grill pans had two handles and were difficult to hold in one hand .sx This meant that the grill pan had to be put down before toast could be turned , for example .sx Five models- LEISURE , CANNON , RANGETTE , ENVOY , and MONARCH- had grill compartments which could be closed when not in use , but only on the ENVOY and MONARCH could they be closed with the grill pan under .sx The grill compartments are also useful for putting dishes to warm with heat from the oven or boiling burners .sx Other cookers had open shelves under the grill which could be used for the same purpose .sx There were no such facilities on the RENOWN whose grill pan was suspended between runners .sx As with ovens , the size of a grill or grill pan grid was not the same as its effective area ( see below) .sx