Best freestanding cookers 2024: expert picks for all budgets

Freestanding cookers that slot into a space in your kitchen can be a cost-effective cooking solution, as they wrap up an oven, grill and hob in one product. 

A good one will have plenty of space, cook quickly and evenly, and be easy to use and clean. Pick a dud and you could be left with badly cooked food and a hob that takes ages to heat up your food. 

Read on for our expert buying advice and Best Buy recommendations, which are based on our rigorous and independent tests. 

To browse all the freestanding cookers we've tested, see our freestanding cooker reviews.

Best freestanding cookers for 2024

The following freestanding cookers are some of the best we've tested.

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Best freestanding cookers under £350

Last updated August 2024

For more information on our rigorous, unbiased test programme and scoring criteria, check out our page on how we test freestanding cookers.

How much should I pay for a freestanding cooker?

All-gas cookers are typically the cheapest and most basic option (provided you already have access to gas), and start at around £200. Electric cookers with a ceramic hob and dual-fuel cookers will cost a little more, with cheaper models available from about £250.

If you're keen to have an induction hob on your freestanding cooker, you should expect to pay at least £500. Some can cost over £1,000. If you're looking in this price bracket, you may want to consider buying a double built-in oven and induction hob separately. Our top Best Buy cooker is an electric induction model.

The cheapest cookers usually have just one oven, plus a storage drawer. But if you're willing to pay a little more you will get more features and more stylish designs.

However, paying more doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a decent cooker. We've found pricey models that fail to impress as well as some cheap-and-cheerful options. 

Looking for the perfect cookware for your cooker? Read our expert guide on the best non-stick frying pans.

Video: how to buy the best freestanding cooker

Watch our video to get the lowdown on how to choose a new cooker that's right for you. 

To help you to narrow down your options, think about the following:

• How many ovens do you need? Freestanding cooker tend to have either one or two ovens - having two oven lets you easily cook two dishes simultaneously at different temperatures, though you'll have less space in each one for any big items like a turkey. 

• Do you want help cleaning the oven? If you'd like to do less manual cleaning, keen an eye out for catalytic liners, that absorb fat splashes and burn them off at high temperatures, leaving less to do by hand.

• Do you want a multifunction oven? If you want to cook lots of different dishes that require different styles of cooking, a cooker with a multi-function oven will be a great asset. 

Where to buy a freestanding cooker

It's common to find freestanding cookers from appliance shops, home goods stores, and larger hardware stores. Below, we've highlighted some online retailers that have a wide range of cookers available – each also comes as a Which? recommended provider following our survey on the best household appliance shops.

• AO stocks several freestanding electric, gas, and dual fuel cookers from AEG, Beko, Hotpoint, and more. You can find a freestanding electric cooker for as cheap as £239, but you'll typically be spending between £300 and £500. Gas and dual-fuel models will set you back slightly more. Shipping on these larger appliances isn't always free, so expect to pay at least £20 or more to have it delivered.
• Euronics offers cookers that will typically cost between £250 and £500. You'll find electric, gas, and dual-fuel freestanding cookers from brands like Zanussi, Hotpoint, and Indesit. It offers additional services like installation and recycling for additional costs. Shipping on cookers costs from £15, otherwise you can click and collect for free from your local store.
• John Lewis has got a wide variety of gas, electric, and dual-fuel freestanding cookers. The ones available are more costly than elsewhere, with prices ranging from £700 to well over £2,000 for a freestanding range cooker. You'll find models from brands like Zanussi, AEG, Belling, Smeg, and John Lewis' own-brand. Standard shipping is free on most cookers, and you can order installation services for additional costs.

Freestanding cooker fuel types explained

Unless you have a strong preference for gas or electric, it makes sense to stick with the fuel type you already have to avoid the extra expense that changing fuels usually entails. 

There are a couple of different combinations of fuel type and technology. You can have all-gas, all-electric or a dual-fuel cooker; the latter has an electric oven and gas hob. With all-electric models you also have the choice of either a ceramic or induction hob. 

Electric cookers

These have an electric oven and electric ceramic hob. Most have true fan or fan-assisted ovens, which should help to spread heat evenly around the oven cavity.

There are occasions when conventional heat – top and bottom heat without a fan – is an advantage, and if you get a cooker with a double oven, you'll usually get one conventional oven and one with a fan.

Electric induction cookers

These have an electric oven and electric induction hob. Induction hobs heat food quickly, and the hob zones themselves don’t get hot during cooking, which makes them more efficient. But you’ll need iron-based pans, such as stainless steel, which can be an extra expense. As a rule of thumb, if a fridge magnet sticks to your pan, the pan will work on an induction hob.

Gas cookers

All-gas cookers are the cheapest to cook with, and gas hobs are usually more responsive than electric ceramic hobs. However, oven cooking results are often less uniform than electric.

Dual-fuel cookers

These have a gas hob and an electric oven. This provides the best of both worlds for some people, with an easy-to-control gas hob, and an electric oven that heats evenly. 

Gas and dual-fuel cookers will need to be installed by a Gas Safe-registered engineer. 

If you aren't sure what you want yet, find out more about the differences with our guide to Gas cookers vs electric cookers.

Freestanding cooker reviews by fuel type

• Electric freestanding cooker reviews
• Electric induction freestanding cooker reviews
  
• Gas freestanding cooker reviews
• Dual fuel freestanding cooker reviews

Best freestanding cooker features to look for

If you're choosing a new freestanding cooker, some of the following features might be useful:

• Timer If you're looking at cheaper models, it's worth checking if you can trade up to a model with a timer, as this can be handy for keeping track of cooking times.
• Controls Touch controls offer a sleeker look and can be easier to clean. They may also have handy options such as a child lock.
• Automatic gas ignition These are more convenient to use than a separate ignition button as you don't need both hands.
• Catalytic self-cleaning Catalytic liners absorb fat spills and splashes, then break them down and burn them off during high-temperature cooking.
• Flame supervision devices (FSD) This is a safety feature that will shut off the supply of gas should a burner fail to ignite or get blown out. 
• Multi-function oven This allows you to cook with more than one heat source at time – such as the grill and fan together – which is great for cooking through thick cuts of meat or fish.
• Programmable ovens These turn the cooker on, time your cooking and will turn the cooker off when the food is done.
• Pyrolytic self-cleaning program The oven heats to around 500°C and incinerates oven spillages that may have solidified on the oven walls. All you need to do afterwards is sweep away the ash. 
• Thermostat indicator On electric cookers, there is usually a light that turns off when the oven reaches the desired temperature.

Find a freestanding cooker that lasts using our guide to the most reliable freestanding cooker brands.

Is a gas cooker or electric cooker cheaper to run?

Gas cookers are cheaper to run than electric cookers because gas costs less than electricity, rather than any superior efficiency credentials. Gas cookers also tend to be cheaper to buy.

Gas cookers can cost as little as £21 a year to run on average - and in fact, we've even found one model that costs just £11.50 for its annual running costs. Electric cookers have higher running costs – we came across one that ate up electricity and would work out at almost £72 a year – but generally you'd expect to pay around £18 less than this for standard family use.

In fact, electric cookers use energy more efficiently than gas cookers, especially if you go for one with an induction hob. An induction hob heats only the metal of the pans, so no heat is lost from the zone directly into the air.

Also, while electricity has the potential to come from renewable sources, this is not typically the case for gas.

Find a good cooker that is also cost effective to run by using our cooker reviews to compare models.

Are freestanding cookers a standard size?

Most freestanding cookers are 60cm wide, but if you're squeezed for space, you can also find 50cm and 55cm-wide models. 

All are roughly the same height (80cm) and depth (60-65cm) to fit a standard kitchen and line up with your worktops. 

Oven capacity

Manufacturers state capacity in litres, but this includes space you can't actually use for cooking, such as the area under the lowest shelf.

We only measure the space you can actually use to cook with. You'll find the figure for each cooker we've tested in the specifications tab in our reviews. 

Our tests show that the average usable oven capacity of a cooker's main oven is 43 litres, but there is quite a large range in volumes: the smallest main oven we've tested has a volume of just 38 litres, while the largest is a roomy 58 litres, giving you nearly a third more space to cook with.

It's worth checking inside the oven to see how many oven racks are supplied, and how many shelf positions you have to play with – as this affects how much you can fit in too.

Looking for something smaller just for grilling? See our electric grills reviews.

How much does it cost to install a cooker? 

If you opt for an electric cooker, prices start from around £90.

• John Lewis – offers a cooker installation service for £90. It charges you another £25 to dispose of your old one responsibly. 
• Currys – prices for installation are £100 for electric models, and £115 for gas. It costs £25 for removal and recycling. 
• AO – costs £100 to install a new electric cooker, or £115 to install a gas cooker. It costs £25 for removal and recycling of your old cooker.  

If you'd prefer to give your business to a local trader endorsed by us, then go to Which? Trusted Traders to find companies who may be able to offer you a cheaper deal.