Whether it’s baking, cooking, frying, grilling or just thawing a frozen pizza, you can do it all in no time with the right oven for your home’s four walls. A good built-in oven is now an indispensable part of the modern German household because of its versatile application possibilities. In recent years, the trend in the oven has been mainly to electric built-in ovens, while classic gas ovens fell a bit by the wayside.
However, both kiln types still have their clear advantages and disadvantages, which we will discuss in detail in our guide. But whether electric or classic operated: There are many more criteria that decide on a good, modern oven. In view of the many options on the stove market, you as a user can quickly lose track of things. Because which is the best oven model? In the large oven comparison on STERN.de, you will find an answer to these and many other urgent questions.
Top 10 Ovens
- Natural Convection Technology: The interior is designed to circulate hot air throughout the oven for fast, even results.
- Four Cooking Functions: Choose from convection bake, broil, toast, and keep warm.
- Compact Size: Easily fit a 9" pizza, four slices of bread, or a variety of other snacks and meals.
- ★ EVEN TOAST TECHNOLOGY - The toaster oven interior is specially designed for even toasting of up to 4 slices of bread at a time and the sleek...
- ★ SMALL PACKAGE WITH BIG OVEN HEAT - Wide temperature range of 150 to 450 degrees F lets you cook with the convenience of an oven and the natural...
- ★ FOUR FUNCTIONS - The toaster oven's cooking functions include: baking, broiling, toasting, and keeping food warm.
- FRY WITH AIR NOT OIL: Use the Air Fryer Mode to create healthy and delicious food, with deep fried crispiness. Enjoy your favorite fried food without...
- FOR ALL YOUR COOKING NEEDS: This versatile 7-in-1 appliance air fries, bakes, broils, and more. Temperature range of 200-450°F makes it easy to...
- LARGE FAMILY SIZE: Extra guests, or just extra hungry? Either way, this toaster oven air fryer was thoughtfully designed with the whole family in...
- Convection cooking for healthier meals - Uses electric heating element - no Halogen bulb
- 12 liter capacity, with waved tempered glass cooking bowl
- Dial controls for temperature and timer
What is an oven and what is it suitable for?
In a conventional oven, as you find in here in the oven comparison on STERN.de, it is either an electrically or fuel-powered device for baking, grilling or cooking. Almost every German household has its own oven, which is also referred to as the oven or oven, depending on the area. You can divide ovens according to their type of heating or the volume of the cooking chamber in different ways, which we all want to explain in the next big section. For example, there is a significant distinction between electric and fuel-fired ovens. In Germany, electrical models have dominated in recent years, and these are usually characterized by low energy consumption. It is also important to know that the terms stove and oven, which are often used as synonyms, denote two different things.
A stove includes an oven but also has a hotplate. A classic built-in oven, on the other hand, has no hotplate – the term exclusively describes the tube itself. The advantage of the built-in oven is of course that you can install it a bit higher, such as in a tall cabinet. A typical oven is a great help in the household. You can do several things at the same time with a high-quality model, which you can find in our large oven comparison on STERN.de. In addition to the classic types of heating such as top/bottom heat, circulating air and hot air, common functions often include a grill function and a defrost function. The best ovens on the market offer you a dozen or more features and go down as real “high-end” appliances.
The different oven types at a glance
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the different types of ovens currently on the market and introduce you to their features and benefits. In general, ovens can be distinguished by their mode of operation and by volume. While most ovens have a volume of 55-75 litres, there are also special mini ovens with volumes of 35-50 litres. But first of all, let’s talk about the different energy sources in ovens.
1. The electric oven
The most well-known and currently also the most popular type of oven is the electric oven. Due to its easy handling, the electric model has prevailed relatively quickly in the Federal Republic and displaces gas ovens increasingly from the market. An electrically operated oven usually consumes between 2000 and 3000-kilowatt hours, which is about 50 to 70 cents per hour. For operation, a minimum power of 10 kW is needed, which is available in virtually every apartment, so you can use the electric oven everywhere.
- Easy to control, as they have many setting options
- No additional connection fees (electricity available everywhere)
- Baking or grilling possible even at low temperatures
- Higher consumption costs in comparison
- They often need more time for preheating
2. The gas oven
As the name suggests, a gas oven is an oven that runs on gas. The dishes are baked or cooked by burning gas. A supply of gas can work in two ways: in this country, it is customary to plug the oven into a gas outlet, while in the more southerly countries often a gas cylinder is used as a source. With low gas prices and lower emissions, you can save a lot of energy costs with a gas oven compared to an electric oven.
- Cheap consumption
- No heating necessary, heat is immediately there
- Gas is more ecological than electricity
- Mostly only bottom heat exists
- Difficult temperature regulation: baking on low heat difficult
- More complicated cleaning
3. The induction oven
The induction oven is relatively new as a technology and exists in the current form only since 2014. The well-known induction technology was simply transferred from the hob to the oven, as done on many Bauknecht models. In most cases, “normal” ovens are equipped with an induction option, where you can use induction as needed or rely on classic types of heating.
- Time and energy savings (up to 50%)
- Fast heating up
- Even heat distribution leads to good baking results
- Not every cookware can be used on induction ovens
- Higher acquisition costs
4. The mini oven
A mini-oven can be of its kind an electric oven, a gas oven or an induction oven: It is in this type of oven not the type of energy source, but only the cooking space volume. A mini oven usually has a volume of 35 to 50 litres and is thus significantly smaller than “normal” ovens. They also do not usually have the same number of functions as their “big brothers”, but they are much cheaper. They are particularly suitable if you want to buy a cheap oven and have little space for installation available.
- Cheap alternative
- Easy to install and save space
- Sufficient functions
- Good cooking space volume for price and general size
- Less features than big models
- Smaller cooking space than with large models
Buying the right oven: The most important criteria
There are some important criteria to keep in mind when buying an oven. Because when you buy a bakery not only decides the design or the look of the oven, even if this certainly plays an important role. Instead, it depends on how many features an oven has, how much energy it consumes, and how easy or difficult it is to clean.
1. Number of heating functions
With a modern oven, functions such as top/bottom heat, circulating air and hot air are absolute standard. Even a standard grill function is almost always part of the repertoire of a good oven. Other features are usually a little lower in price, but they turn a “normal” oven into a real “high-end” device for your own home. The following features are present on many ovens in our large oven comparison:
- Large and small grill function
- Defrost function for frozen food
- Pizza level for Italian enjoyment
- Integrated steam cooking system
- rapid heating
Although the number of functions is not always a quality feature, but they give a good indication of whether the oven model is good for more or not.
2. Further equipment
Further features, which should be installed with a good oven, we would like to introduce you here:
- Accessories: These mainly include baking tray, baking rack and telescopic extensions. But a combination of rust or other sheets can be included in many stoves.
- Lighting: A modern and good built-in oven has an interior lighting that also works outside of the plant – eg when cleaning – works.
- View window like heat protection window
- Automatic programs for cooking
- Time switch control
3. Volume of the cooking chamber T
he interior volume often referred to as the cooking chamber volume, is given in litres and provides information about how much fits into the built-in oven. From a volume of 70 litres, one can speak of a large model, under 60 litres is more of a smaller oven. Mini ovens usually have volumes around the 45 litres.
4. Energy consumption
The energy consumption of a modern oven is indicated on the one hand with the energy efficiency class and on the other hand, is classified by the consumed kilowatt-hours.
- Energy efficiency class: Since 2002, ovens have to be labelled with such a class. The energy label ranges from A (low consumption) to G (high consumption). Almost all models on the market now have at least one class of A, if not A + or higher.
- Energy consumption: The energy consumption is usually given as “conventional energy consumption” and lies somewhere between 0.80 and 0.90 kWh in good models.
5. Self-cleaning system
Good, modern ovens also have their own self-cleaning system (pyrolysis or catalysis), which helps you to clean and maintain the oven. A pyrolysis oven is characterized by effective cleaning, while the catalysis already cleans during operation.
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