I thought I'd tell you how we manage to get the tight difficult bulb covers off. For example on the Smeg A1 Range we would use either one of our microcloths which are pretty effective or else we also use some material that we got from Ikea that is supposed to be 'anti mat slip' material but it's great for getting a firm grip on the covers. If the bulb cover happens to be broken then we would use pliers to remove the glass bits.
Sometimes the bulb itself is difficut to remove and again we would use the microcloth or the anti slip material. If the bulb is broken we would switch the power off to the cooker and then remove the bulb with pliers.
