Although electric cookers were first available in 1900, there was a reluctance by many to change over from the coal method which had been widely used up until this time. The main problems were that not all homes were wired for electricity, and people did not trust electricity because they could not see it. Over the next few years a number of models became available, all black and made of cast iron. There was a steady improvement in designs until the development in 1933 of automatic oven temperature control.
Today's typical electric cooker consists of an oven, hob and grill. The oven normally contains two elements, one on either side. Often with modern cookers the oven is fan assisted, which means that a fan at the back of the oven blows the hot air all around the oven, helping to cook the food evenly and reduce the cooking time.
The standard hob has four rings, which are radiant heating elements. Each element is thermostatically controlled by a knob on the front of the cooker. However, over the last ten years, two developments to electric hobs have proven very popular. The first was the ceramic hob. This still consists of a heating element, but encased in a ceramic top. The top is smooth and very easy to wipe clean. The second development was the halogen hob. This involves placing tungsten halogen lamps underneath, pointing upwards through the hob. The heat from the lamps then heats the food, in effect cooking by light. Again this provides a flush, wipe clean top surface.
Modern gas cookers now consist of three main parts, oven, hob and grill. The hob usually consists of four burners, which are rings of gas jets. These force gas under pressure into a circular shape. The gas is ignited in one of three ways. With older cookers a pilot flame was left burning in the centre of the hob. When the control knob for a particular gas ring was turned on, the gas would flow through the jets until it reached the pilot flame. The flame would then ignite the gas and establish the flame on the burner. For those with no pilot flame, the gas control knob would be turned on, and a lighted match applied to the relevant burner. With modern cookers however, the control knob is turned on, and a button on the front of the cooker is pressed, causing a spark to occur between two electrodes, thus igniting whichever burner is switched on.
The oven and grill are ignited in a similar way to the gas rings on the hob, but there is a failsafe device which cuts off the gas should the oven flame go out. This device is called a thermocouple. To light the oven or grill, a button is pressed to bypass the main gas jets, and the gas is lit. The button must be held down for a number of seconds whilst it heats the thermocouple. When the button is released the oven will stay lit. Then if the gas should blow out, the thermocouple will cool down, closing the gas valve.
The oven is very well insulated both to save energy and prevent the sides from becoming too hot. Gas cookers have an advantage over electric cookers in that they tend to respond quicker when turned up or down and are favoured by many for this reason.
