Growing up, a cast-iron range cooker was simply part of the furniture – the warm, cosy heart of our home. I learned to bake with it, dried socks on it, and thawed frozen fingers against it after school. I didn’t realise how much I relied on that constant comfort until I left home. In student flats, early rentals and my first fixer-uppers, I missed it terribly. Unless the heating was blasting, those kitchens felt cold to the bone.
So, the minute I had the funds and the space, I made a beeline back to the thing I’d been pining for: a cast-iron range cooker. After years of writing about appliances, comparing specifications and working out how to design a kitchen that suits real life, finally taking the plunge felt momentous – and slightly reckless (our savings were scuppered). Five years on, though, I can say this with conviction: I’ve never looked back.
