Cookers - Kitchen Equipment

... well as in the most modest ones, the burning fireplace offered warmth and comfort. At the same time, the hearth was used by our ancestors for cooking with a pot placed above the flames or a spit for roasting meat.

 

In the 17th century, a revolution appeared with the creation of the vegetable garden. Responding to the problems linked to an abundant need for wood and the difficulty of cooking several types of food at the same time, this type of masonry wood stove changed our relationship to cooking in a lasting way. Thanks to the use of the heat released by burning embers, this cooking appliance made it possible, on the one hand, to heat the room and, on the other hand, to prepare food or boil water.

 

Cast iron cooker :

At the end of the following century, it was gradually replaced by cast iron cookers, offering better heat diffusion and homogeneity. Fuelled with wood or coal, cast-iron cookers were equipped with a large cooking area at various temperatures and later fitted with an oven. The part dedicated to making the fire, called the hearth, usually heated to around 380 degrees. The further away from the centre, the more the temperature is dissipated, offering a wide range of temperatures. This operation gave rise to the name "cooking piano" or "kitchen piano", widely used by great chefs, in comparison to the different keys of a piano. It remained very popular until the 1940s when the gas cooker gradually replaced it.

 

Gas cooker :

The gas cooker appeared in the 19th century, like the patent registered by the Englishman James Sharp in the 1820s, but it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that it became commercially successful. Fuelled with butane, propane or town gas, it proved to be much more practical than wood or coal cookers. Offering a quickly adjustable flame, it made cooking easier, while offering the possibility of simmering dishes for several hours without much temperature variation.

 

Electric cooker :

The electric cooker was first introduced in 1885 by electrical engineer and electrician Thomas Ahearn and his partner Warren Young Soper. The electric cooker works by means of a resistance that heats the cast iron plate. It therefore requires a little patience before use and reveals a great need for energy to operate. It wasn't until the 1960s that the glass-ceramic cooker made its debut in our kitchens and 1979 for the induction cooker. Invented by the French company Eugène Scholtès, these electric cookers offered a faster and more efficient way of cooking than its cousins.

To do this, the vitroceramic cooker uses a heat source produced by resistors that emit infrared rays. The transmission of heat, which is done by radiation, offers a faster heating rate than that offered by the electric cooker, giving a reduction in your energy bill. The induction cooker uses less energy than a glass ceramic hob. It works thanks to a magnet placed under the glass which, by touching a metal container, will emit heat thanks to an electric current. This makes cooking faster than ever before and eliminates the risk of burns, since heat can only be emitted by contact between the hob and a compatible container containing magnetic metal and of sufficient diameter.

 

The different cookers :

Today's cooker has changed a lot. Thanks to skilled craftsmen and professionals, this household appliance has been able to renew itself while retaining some of its old-fashioned charm. Much more design, practical and efficient, the cooker remains the absolute piece of furniture in the preparation of your dishes.

For example, for the purchase of a wood-burning cooker, count on a price ranging from €900 to €6,500 excluding VAT, not including the cost of installation. The gas cooker also revolves around this budget, which varies according to the number of burners. However, it requires much less maintenance than its predecessor and the cost of gas is currently more profitable than electricity. The last category of cooker, which runs on electricity, is cheaper to buy, with a price ranging from €300 to €2,000 for induction, €150 to €1,500 for a glass ceramic hob and between €100 and €500 on average for cast iron hobs.

Today, households are generally equipped with an electric induction or vitroceramic cooker, thanks in particular to a lower purchase price, even though gas cookers are becoming increasingly popular among households. Whether you prefer it to wood for its charm and dual use (heating and cooking system), gas for its even flame or electric for its speed of cooking, a wide choice of models is available with a variety of colours and accessories.