What Features do I Need in a New Oven?
CookinG, Cleaning & Connecting
The cooking capabilities of a modern, high-end oven are quite incredible, from specific cooking modes for different dishes to steam injection, heat probes and smartphone apps. But is this what everyone wants?
To find the right oven for you and your needs, we recommend you first assess exactly what they are. As part of our design process, we ask a client, you, to describe what they like to cook and do they have ambitions to extend their repertoire with their new kitchen.
Once we gain a basic understanding, we can explore the limits of what is required and home in on the correct appliance. For some, the ability to remotely start heating up the oven as they leave work is a must, for others, it’s too technical. To help you understand some of the possibilities, we put this article together that explores oven cooking functionality in 2022 and why you might, or might not, consider the function a benefit or a distraction.
What Oven Manufacturers Would you Recommend?
Gaggenau Vario 400
Miele Gen 7860
Siemens iQ700
Wolf E-Series Transitional
At Hobson’s Choice, we recommend ovens from Gaggenau, Miele, Siemens and Wolf. Bora’s new XBO oven is expected to launch in 2022 but, as it is not available to purchase at the time of writing this article, we will not include it for now.
Please note, that alternative models from each of the manufacturers will offer different features, such as control knobs, handles and cooking functions. The selection in this article was chosen to show the different approaches to style, control, budget and functionality.
In this feature, we will explore the following standard size, 60cm wide, models.
Gaggenau Vario 400 oven £4336
Miele Gen 7860 oven £4239
Siemens iQ700 oven £1529
What type of Oven controls do you prefer, touchscreen, physical or both?
Touch screens have infiltrated many of our day-to-day input systems in the home and car, replacing buttons, dials and knobs with digital representations. Some people like the simplicity of it, a sleek piece of glass that comes alive when touched. Others may think the lack of physical sensory feedback reduces accuracy and requires the user to look rather than operate by feeling alone.
Neither opinion is wrong, there have been many debates about what the right input device should be for a given task. For example, programming an oven by touch screen is less of a challenge and risk than trying to operate a car climate control whilst in motion - although some may argue any frustrating user experience is not a good one.
Gaggenau and Siemens have chosen to adopt both systems, providing physical controls and large digital touchscreen buttons. Being able to turn the dial to scroll through cooking options may be considered more intuitive than scrolling with the push of a finger.
Both Miele and Wolf rely on the touchscreen interface, providing ‘digital buttons’ for you to tap to navigate, adjust and select the various cooking options.
The extension of control comes with the addition of a Wi-Fi-enabled oven that connects to a smartphone app. We’ll cover this functionality in a separate section.
Note. Alternative models from each of the manufacturers will offer physical control knobs. The selection in this article was chosen to show the different approaches to control.
DO you want an oven with specific cooking programmes for different dishes?
Each of our top-end ovens feature a variety of cooking modes that aim to help you reach culinary perfection. Using a combination of pre-set timings and, where possible, internal temperature monitoring and moisture, the systems adjust the cavity cooking elements to deliver your desired outcome. For example, a shortcrust pie may initially receive greater heat from beneath to crisp up the pastry without drying out the contents - all controlled automatically.
In addition to the pre-set programmes, it isn’t uncommon for you, the user, to be able to adapt and save your own personalised variations. Thus, creating an oven that, time after time, cooks your food exactly how you would like it, at the touch of a button.
Beyond specific meal pre-sets, the ovens offer a selection of functions that would be part of a cooking process – dough proofing, dehydrating, and defrosting. It could be argued that these more generic cooking functions could be of greater value to the user that a specific dish programme.
Would you prefer a door handle to open the oven?
Opening your oven whilst holding a large casserole dish or tray needs to be easy, your fingers might be mucky, and you don’t really want to put down the dish again. So which method is best for you?
Of our selection, Siemens, Miele and Wolf include a visible handle, whilst Gaggenau opts for a sleeker appearance. Technically, the Gaggenau oven offers both options, an auto-opening touchscreen button, and a recessed grip handle on the side of the door.
An automatically opening door does make access slightly easier than holding a handle, but both actions require the use of a free hand. Alternative models in the Miele and Wolf ranges provide handleless doors with touch-to-open functionality.
Would you like to monitor the internal temperature of food as it cooks?
Monitoring the internal temperature of a dish whilst it is cooking enables the oven to act intelligently, lowering or switching off the heat once the desired internal temp has been achieved. Many of the different cooking modes rely on the probe link, ensuring the food is prepared to your liking and not overcooked.
Do you Like to bake bread?
Injecting a degree of moisture into an oven cavity during a cooking phase can positively affect the outcome. For example, providing steam at the right time whilst baking bread can help the crust on a loaf to crisp.
Similar to the temperature probe, the success of the functionality relies on the auto cooking programme to deliver the moisture at the correct moment in the process.
Have you wished you could keep a dish warm without spoiling it?
Sometimes life gets in the way of a planned dinner time, an unexpected phone call you can’t delay, or a spillage that needs clearing up. Whatever the reason, the warming function available in these ovens will keep your food ready to go without continuing to cook and dry out the contents.
In a busy household, this could be the difference between enjoying your lovingly prepared meal or enduring the result of the unwanted delay.
Alternatively, the warming function could be used to gently heat plates in preparation for plating up.
Would you like a Self-Cleaning Oven?
Oven cleaning, two words that can strike dread into the hearts of any kitchen user. An unwanted fight with food that escaped dishes, melted over the side of wire racks or congealed on the cavity walls.
Pyrolytic cleaning has been available on standard ovens for many years and is available on all of our selected models. When activated, the oven heats up the cavity to a temperature capable of rendering any baked-on food residue to dust. Once the process is complete and the cavity has cooled, you simply wipe around the oven with a damp cloth to remove all of the unwanted grime.
If your oven could talk to your smartphone, would you find it useful?
We are all busy people and have become used to on-demand services at the touch of a button. This is also true of our kitchen appliances. Whilst the oven can’t chop, season and place the dish in the cavity, it can let you start and monitor your food from a smart device such as a phone or tablet.
The ‘Connected Home’ evolution has been largely driven by Apple, Google and Amazon. With faster internet speeds and stronger wi-fi routers more and more ‘smart’ devices can be online. In the kitchen, this has created appliances capable of being activated remotely by smartphone or verbal instruction from a member of the household.
The perceived, and marketed, improvement is the user experience, your associated smartphone app can help you plan your dinner and then tell the oven how to cook it. In addition, appliances from a ‘connected’ family may talk to one another, for example, an extractor could switch itself on as a hob is activated.
Remote control is also possible, for example, instructing the oven to begin warming the food you left inside as you return home from work.
The value people place on having a ‘Connected Home’ is certainly increasing, the popularity of a Ring video doorbell is a perfect example.
By having an oven that is connected to the internet, the operating system can be updated, adding to, or refining, the cooking functionality. What you can’t do is upgrade an existing oven to be connected, so in choosing an oven that has Wi-Fi connectivity you are future-proofing your purchase.
Would you like an oven that can do more?
When making your oven selection, a read of the available accessories might sway your decision. From our group of appliances, only the Gaggenau oven includes a rotisserie spit and baking stone in the box.
Some of the other models do offer the associated cooking functionality but require you purchase the appropriate accessory separately.
What features do I need in an oven?
Your kitchen should work for you, and this includes the appliances. You shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the myriad of options or be confused by the buttons you need to press.
Our recommendation is to understand your needs by thinking about what you currently cook, and what you aspire to cook in your new kitchen. Then, with the support of your designer, explore the appliances, play with them, press buttons, swipe menus, and turn knobs.
Only with hands-on experience can you start to make informed decisions about what is right for you. Can you read the text, or do you need your glasses every time you turn on the oven? Does the touchscreen swipe very easily or do you need to keep trying to make it work? Does the cooking programme include dishes you like to cook?
All of these little things matter when you are going to be using the appliance for the next 10 to 20 years. We want you to be 100% happy when it is time to cook your first meal in your new kitchen and if you have any questions, you can always give us a call and we will help you.