In the words of celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, Stone Cookers founder Michael McGinley is “a mechanical genius”. He goes so far as to ask: “who else has created a better stove in Britain in the last 20 years?”

McGinley himself, however, is a lot more humble. In his own words, his Stone Cooker products are simply the result of his inquisitive nature, and the natural conclusion to 20 years of tinkering with “every brand of heat storage range cooker manufactured in the UK in the last century”.

“It’s been a bit of an obsessive journey,” he explains, “but I’ve always questioned why things are manufactured a certain way, and what materials are used, and things like specification and performance. At some point, I started thinking, ‘maybe I could do things better?’”.

All that product poking and prodding has produced Stone Cookers’ flagship stove products, which McGinley said have been designed to progress the entire product type for the first time since their inception. He says Stone cookers significantly improve on the “lack of controllability” seen in products by the other range giants.

“On a lot of heat storage range cookers, you’ve got set temperatures and you need to get on with them and that’s that. They can’t necessarily keep up, because the coefficient of heat loss on a heat storage range cooker is greater than the recharge rate. I didn’t think that should really be tolerated, so we’ve found ways you can overcome that.”

Looking like a cross between the control deck interface of a spaceship and the sleek look of an electric guitar amp, a door opens up on the front of the cooker, where users control the appliance’s hobs and ovens with a panel of dials.

Stone Cookers products are also 100% electric, said to use up to 50% less energy than competitor appliances, and include a host of alternate modes for grilling or cooking things like pizzas.

And according to Pierre White – so pleased with the brand himself that he has invested in the company – Stone Cookers products are able to deliver all of this at a significantly reduced price point to other brands. “I was shocked when I was told of the price,” he admits, “It’s a beast of a stove, and I was really impressed by the power of it.”

Although officially launched last year, 2025 will see the Stoves brand expand with a real focus on independent retailers. According to McGinley, 25 retailers from around the country have already signed up as partners, with Stone having visited their studios and spent time with them to ensure they’re on board with all the benefits it has to offer.

However, with the market seemingly in a perpetual state of flux, it’s interesting that McGinley has chosen this slightly challenging moment to launch the brand. “I think that makes it more exciting,” he answers, entirely unphased. “One of Marco’s recurring phrases is ‘we live in an age of refinement, not of invention’, and I think that really clearly explains what we’re trying to do.

“If you base this product category on the French stoves of the 1800s, every other product category has progressed significantly, except this one. These range cookers definitely need to be elevated, so why not be the ones to do it?”

“I certainly think Stone Cookers will do really well,” Pierre White forecasts. “I like the simplicity, it’s classic, it’s traditional, but then it’s got that bit of modernism too. And I think it’s brave what he’s done. To make something like this – a true British made product – with British talent, and deliver it at that price point, and to that quality, is absolutely genius.”