So our current oven is dying - time to replace it.
It's actually a hold-over from the previous tenants so it'll be the first time we've bought one.
The current one is a 'built-in' oven under the counter, 60cm wide, with a ceramic hob on the top of the counter. The hob is separate and fine so doesn't have to be replaced.
EDIT - Needs to be electric. No gas available.
Does anyone have any general advice or recommendations?
Cheers.
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We recently moved and have from a standard electric oven, to a fan assisted oven. Have to say the difference hasn't been that immense, I still get uneven colour if baking. Would have liked captive shelves, haven't tried a self cleaning one. Biggest thing I did to improve things was to use a digital thermometer that gets stuck in the food and stays there while cooking.
Galant (21-06-2016)
60cm ovens that must be electric - probably a lot of models but not a lot of actual choice.
Get something with a fan in it, they're more efficient. Otherwise, electric ovens are pretty dumb things. They have a heating coil and (hopefully) a fan that blows over the coil to move the heat around a bit. They all have that self-clean coating on the sides.
What more do you want?
Funnily enough, we're looking at a new oven too.
First issue, how big do you need? I don't mean the size of the hole it fits it but the capacity of the oven. Why this matters will be important in a sec.
Second, budget.
Third, any special needs/functions?
One feature we're looking at is pryolitic self-cleaning. Basically, this mode locks the door (for safety) and runs the oven up to about 500 degrees C for long enough to incinerate any food particles, grease, etc, leaving you with a sparkly clean oven and a thin layer of ash in the bottom, which you wipe up with a damp cloth. A good extractor helps.
I was sceptical, but friends tell me it works really well, and are far cheaper to run than you'd think, and more environmentally friendly too, because you have neither the cost nor environmental impact of nasty cleaning chemicals, and that heavy-duty insulation makes normal oven use more economical because they're so well insulated,
The catch?
Two, really. One is cost. It adds quite a bit to the oven's price, though that's coming down and it's no longer a top-end only feature. The cheapest single pyro at John Lewis is £300, but top-end Mieles hit £2.5k. Secondly, the ultra-high temperatures require very heavy wall and door insulation, which adds to thickness. Given that most ovens are standard size externally, the result is internal oven capacity is reduced.
Which is why I asked about capacity.
There's just two of us here these days and we don't need a huge capacity for a pterodactyl-sized turkey at Christmas, etc, or a casserole dish the size of the three witches cauldron. So it suits us. And I hate, detest, truly loathe cleaning ovens.
If, on the other hand, you aren't the family's designated oven-cleaner-in-chief, you may not care.
Next issue - max. cooking temp. I want, for preference, a max temp of at least 260C, preferably 280C for pizzas. Also, a very low temp, maybe 30-ish for dough-proving.
So you need to know what you do, and don't, need/want. Really good ovens aren't cheap, so it's worth thinking it through, researching it and getting what you need but not paying for features you don't want.
Other things might include telescopic shelf rails - I have some cast-iron cookware, like casserole dishes, and some big oven-rated pans, that are awkward and heavy, and sliding those rails out makes it far easier to get them in and out.
Or, how cramped is your kitchen? If space is tight, an over door that opens then slides in might be necessary. I've not seen any pyrolitic-lined ovend that do this.
Or, steaming function? Helps with some cakes, soft-crust rolls, etc, if you bake?
Finally, warranty. John Lewis seem to do 3-years on theirs, with £70 to take it to 5-years, at least on the £700 unit I was looking at. I'm usually cautious about warranties, but ovens are one product I'm inclined to take them on .... like washing machines.
Note - Prices etc are UK mainland. I've no idea of prices or availability on Gib.
Galant (21-06-2016)
Also, Galant, this may be better-placed in Kitchen and Cooking than Home, Garden, etc, though it's not wrong for here. Say so if you want it moved.
Loads of models around, with features to suit all budgets.
Are you actually out in Gib, or somewhere in the UK?
I've personally never found the 'self-cleaning' feature to work well, with some merely setting off the smoke alarm.
We don't get gas out here either, so all our ovens have been fan-assisted electric ovens... and all have taken notably less time than the specified cooking times on packets.
Beyond that, I mostly cook everything at 200-200ºC and am done with it. Perfect boboties every time and I even do pretty well with roasts!
Galant (21-06-2016)
I am out in Gib. We do tend to get a decent selection of British products as well as the Spanish and other European brands. I've only just started having a look around.
Our kitchen is small but we've not had any issues so far so space-saving would be a 'nice to have' feature rather than a necessity.
My wife uses the oven far more than I. I tend to be the house stir-fry/omelette/pancake man. Stick to what you know, right?
Self-cleaning would also be a 'nice to have' feature. I don't mind cleaning ovens. Wife does tons, so I don't mind pitching in on things like that.
No clue about max. temp, I think the current one gets up to around 250 but I'll check with the wife.
The size of the current one is 60cm height built-into the counter, but the counter is 90cm so I'm thinking of getting something bigger since the wife likes to bake and I like to eat what she bakes.But it'll be her preference again. The idea of a double compartment oven sounds clever to me, since she'll be able to control two environments. I think a 'large' compartment would be a pretty high priority, but maybe there are features she'd prefer over having size, if it's a trade off.
Budget wise we've got a little flexibility but I've been thinking around the £400-$450 range. Not knowing much about ovens though, I wasn't sure what was reasonable so I've tried to leave the options open. I'd say £600-£700 would be pretty top end though. There's some very desirable full range cookers around but just not realistic in size or cost for what we do.
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I don't particularly mind. If you think one or the other is better, go ahead. Cheers.Originally Posted by Saracen
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Get a smaller oven and deep fry your turkey. You'll thank me.
My father-in-law deep fries his turkeys. He used to use peanut oil and now moved onto.....something else. I forget. Was lovely. Need a large deep frier for it though.
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OK advice from me
A) Self cleaning is a set of liners that feel rough.. like dry lava. They only work when you deliberately set the oven to it's highest heat setting and leave it for one hour. Tat turns them into catalytic converters and it burns off the splattered food. Why is this important? Well.. it DOES WORK but you have to do that process. and it DOESNT do the glass door OR the floor of the oven. And you need to SEE how many sides of the oven HAVE the self clean. It also doesn't do the shelves. You still gotta wash them.
DO I have a self clean? Yup. Does it work... YUP
B) If you can afford to get a DOUBLE oven....do. Roasting a joint of meat in one oven and having a second oven/grill is WORTHY. Measure up and see
C) Rotisserie is an EFFECT and not a real rotiseri.. ie it doesnt' turn the meat on a spit BUT it works by heating up the TOP HEAT/GRILL and when the oven hits temp.. turns it OFF and turns on the fan... then... fan off.. top heat back on. Works WELL for some meats, and is a great extra. I use it a lot.
D) Bottom heat. Ideal for pizza and some pastry baking. But when NOT in use I have a spare shallow oven tray on the bottom of the over to keep it clean. Do NOT leave that or foil in the bottom if you use bottom heat
E) Fan ovens have a heater in the fan unit. It's not the same as the top heat/bottom heat.. BUT when you have them ALL you often also get a FAST OVEN HEAT UP otion that uses them all.
F) I have a Bosch double, with all that, and it's awesome and it's 10 year old and it's still awesome and it's still clean and I cant reccomend it highly enough.
We'll be looking for a new electric oven soon and this is on the feature list. Even with a fairly standard sized built in they can manage to squeeze in a second oven. The alternative would be to get yourself a large george foreman or equivalent, but in a small kitchen this can take up a lot of cuboard/worktop space.
Fan is a no-brainer on a new electric oven these days - don't know why they sell them without (I guess cost and cheap landlords buying rubbish stuff for tenants). Personally on my wish list is a light and a timer :-)
Moved, as it's probably more appropriate.
But I've left a 30-day redirect in the previous forum to pick up anyone that reads that, but not this forum.
Best of both forums.
If you want a bit more than 30 days let me know.
I think you have the same model that I do.
It's great.
One of the useful features is that both ovens also have electric grill, this is very useful for "finishing" a lot of dishes or even just helping to get that perfect pork crackling.
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Just bought an Elecrolux model and we're pretty happy with it. Integrated version.
Can you provide a model number or example?
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