Buying Ovens for Solid Oak Kitchens: A Guide
When choosing the oven that will best suit solid oak kitchens, there are a number of key factors to consider; but essentially, all ovens serve the same purpose. In this guide we have covered the main areas that will affect your decision as to which oven will fit perfectly into your new kitchen.
Style and Space
There are fundamentally two different types of oven – built in and freestanding. Built-in ovens are often smaller, but can be integrated into your kitchen units in order to be more inconspicuous and easily viewable at eye-level. Of course, if you decide to go for a built-in oven, you will also have to allow separate surface area on which to mount a hob. People often choose a matching microwave or combination microwave to fit above or below built-in ovens in order to offer greater cooking flexibility and free up additional counter space.
The next alternative is a slim-line freestanding oven. These usually measure 50-60cm in width and are designed to sit between two runs of cabinet. They have become less popular in recent years as people look for a more ‘finished’ kitchen design, but they still offer the benefits of being easily serviceable, replaced or upgraded.
Larger freestanding ovens can measure 90 or even 120cm, and usually accommodate for matching plinths to be affixed to the bottom to seamlessly integrate them with your kitchen cabinets. Larger freestanding ovens will either be of the ‘range’ style, or alternatively a more traditional AGA design.
Oven Types
Electric Ovens.
Neff Series 1 60cm Gas Hob (Stainless Steel)
Neff Series 1 60cm Gas Hob (Stainless Steel)
Standard electric ovens were the cooker of choice before fan-assisted options became popular. They use a thermostat to control the heat in the middle of the oven, which means that the oven is often cooler at the bottom, and hotter at the very top. With care this can sometimes be beneficial for cooking multiple foods simultaneously, but does not offer the versatility of multifunction ovens. Because there is no fan to circulate the air, they also take longer than most other types of oven to pre-heat.
Fan-assisted Ovens.
This type of oven works differently in that the heating element is usually found in the rear of the oven, and uses a fan to blow air over the element, then circulate it around.
This means that the temperature remains even throughout different areas of the oven, and the oven heats up significantly faster than a conventional electric oven.
Double Ovens.
Neff U15M52N3GB Electric Built-in Double Oven – Stainless Steel
Neff U15M52N3GB Electric Built-in Double Oven – Stainless Steel
A cooker with two separate ovens offers great flexibility in a compact space. You can cook different meals in each ovens at different settings. Often the top oven will incorporate a grill as well as conventional electric heating elements, whilst the bottom oven may include all three different types of electric oven. Whilst in total a double oven offers greater capacity, you will usually sacrifice space in the main oven compared to a single oven.
Multifunction Ovens.
These ovens offer the best in terms of flexibility in an oven. They use a combination of different heating elements as well as a fan to heat the food. Most multifunction ovens also include a grill, which can either be used in conjunction with the fan to roast food quickly, or separately to grill in a fashion similar to a BBQ. Often multifunction ovens offer a variety of other cooking modes, which allows you to tailor the way the oven works to your exact requirements. Some even offer a defrosting feature which is ideal for speeding up the defrosting of meats.
Gas Ovens.
Gas ovens are heated by a flame which is commonly found at the bottom of the rear of the oven. The hot air circulates as it rises, but most gas ovens do not have any fan to assist in making the cooking temperature even throughout, meaning that like standard electric ovens, it is often hotter at the top of the oven.
Range Cookers.
Rangemaster Range Cooker Dual Fuel – NEX110DFFSL-C
A range cooker offers the greatest flexibility of all. There is a huge variety of range cookers on the market, in both electric and gas configurations – or even a combination of the two. They are commonly the largest domestic cooker available, offering a selection of cooking hobs, zones and ovens as well as cutting-edge technology and extra features. Most range cookers are at least 90cm, with the largest residential option usually being 110cm, though some 120cm models are available for home installation. Because of the size of a range cooker, they always offer at least 2 large ovens, but more commonly offer three or even four separate oven cavities. Some may include grills, others may be multifunction, or have features such as plate warming or slow-cooking.
AGAs.
3-oven AGA Total Control (Aqua)
3-oven AGA Total Control (Aqua)
This traditional style of oven is still extremely popular in British homes – particularly those that have a ‘country’ or ‘farmhouse’ kitchen design. Although features have greatly improved in recent years, the Shropshire design has stayed the same for much of the last century. An AGA commonly consists of two large hotplates on the top in replacement for a hob, with three separate ovens below. They tend to be pre-set at different temperatures to allow you to cook multiple dishes simultaneously, though modern AGAs do have digital controls to allow you to independently set the heat of each oven.
Newer models offer up to 6 separate ovens and additional heat plates for keeping food warm. Until recently, most AGAs were fuelled by oil, but whilst newer models are almost all electrically powered, there are still gas and oil-fuelled options available. In our showroom, we have a three oven ‘Total Control’ model on show, which is fully working and available for demonstration.
If you are looking for more information on ovens, then why not come along to our Gloucester showroom? We have nine different kitchen sets on display with a variety of different ovens, including built-in, range cookers and our working AGA Total Control oven with matching cooker hoods. Our professional, personable customer advisers can happily talk you through the range of ovens and other appliances on offer to match your kitchen.
For further information on suitable cooker hoods, read our guide on Buying Kitchen Hoods for Oak Kitchens.
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