Hot Kitchen Action

HarrowMarrow

We are choosing a new kitchen. The choice of Ovens is essentially a Single Fan-assisted one or a Double non-fan-assisted one.

We've never had a double oven - what are its advantages? Is it more economical for the "20-min-heat-it-up" jobs (pizzas etc) to just be using a top oven? We never grill (unhealthy I know) so simultaneous grilling and baking is not an attraction.

But does the lack of a fan in the double oven mean it will take much longer to reach temperature and so cancel out any savings?

Our state on this:

baby_fuzz

I always prefer fan-assisted, but double over really useful for things like large dinners/roasts and heating up plates.

I'd go fan-assisted - much faster to cook your food, and more even cooking (you don't get so much of a hot-spot at the top of the oven, and it heats up more quickly)

Doozergirl

I'm happy with a fan assisted single oven. A double oven is handy for cooking different things at different temperatures and possibly for christmas dinner but good planning with a single oven works just fine. I can cook Xmas dinner for 10 with a single oven with all sorts of oven cooked things.

Fan assisted should help the food cook more evenly as it moves the hot air around rather than having it much hotter at the top. You can set the oven about 10 degrees lower and it should cook a little quicker.

We'll be putting two single ovens in our barn, side by side. That will make me very happy

Nice thread title, btw

Atelier

If you are having a completely new kitchen with new appliances then it might we worth considering having an inbuilt combination fan oven / microwave.

Ours is almost as big as the main oven so gives us 2 ovens those few times you need 2 e.g. at Christmas. It also means the microwave doesn't clutter up the worksurface :-)

HarrowMarrow

Atelier wrote: »

If you are having a completely new kitchen with new appliances then it might we worth considering having an inbuilt combination fan oven / microwave.

Ours is almost as big as the main oven so gives us 2 ovens those few times you need 2 e.g. at Christmas. It also means the microwave doesn't clutter up the worksurface :-)

:TAh, now that is a brilliant idea as ours is a small London kitchen and space is an issue. Current microwave 15 years old and rather large, so we were getting rid of it of course, but wondered where to put new one with workspace being at a premium.

You are a true Hot Kitchen Action expert.:D

Atelier

I'll tell my wife that but not in front of the kids :-)

HarrowMarrow wrote: »

:TAh, now that is a brilliant idea as ours is a small London kitchen and space is an issue. Current microwave 15 years old and rather large, so we were getting rid of it of course, but wondered where to put new one with workspace being at a premium.

You are a true Hot Kitchen Action expert.:D

CKdesigner

HarrowMarrow wrote: »

We are choosing a new kitchen. The choice of Ovens is essentially a Single Fan-assisted one or a Double non-fan-assisted one.

We've never had a double oven - what are its advantages? Is it more economical for the "20-min-heat-it-up" jobs (pizzas etc) to just be using a top oven? We never grill (unhealthy I know) so simultaneous grilling and baking is not an attraction.

But does the lack of a fan in the double oven mean it will take much longer to reach temperature and so cancel out any savings?

Our state on this:

Hi HarrowMarrow,

There are more things to consider and inaccuracies in the information given by others (not completely wrong but still technically wrong).

Your choice - Single fan assisted, it would be really handy to know the make and model as fan assisted doesn't or shouldn't really exist anymore. There is conventional (no fan just static elements), Fan oven (often confussed with fan assisted) and multifunction ovens. Fan assisted is rubbish that's why they aren't really made anymore, its basically a conventional oven with side elements and a fan at the back to get a bit of air flow to make it heat up quicker, still get hot spots, cross contamination of flavours, etc. On the other hand ,true fan ovens have the element wrapped around the fan on the back wall of the oven, this gives a far better distribution of heat and should eliminate cross contamination of flavours.

Double oven - again make and model. I really wouldn't like to guess what oven it would be, as a double without a fan oven as the main cavity would amaze me!

Anyway from the rest of your comments and space restrictions my recommendation would be buy the best single oven you can afford, hopefully this would be a multifunction oven from the likes of Miele, Neff, Bosch or Siemens. Single ovens are at the cutting edge of oven technology, doubles are considered an after thought by manufacturers therefore not as good.

Hope this helps a bit.

HarrowMarrow

CKDesigner - thanks, here we go, it's a Howden's kitchen and we can only get electric to the oven section, so....

Single oven: http://www.howdens.com/product-range/appliance-collection/ovens/single-electric/

Double-oven (soz you're correct, one section does have a fan):-
http://www.howdens.com/product-range/appliance-collection/ovens/double-electric/

By the way, I'm your number one fan.

CKdesigner

HarrowMarrow wrote: »

CKDesigner - thanks, here we go, it's a Howden's kitchen and we can only get electric to the oven section, so....

Single oven: http://www.howdens.com/product-range/appliance-collection/ovens/single-electric/

Double-oven (soz you're correct, one section does have a fan):-
http://www.howdens.com/product-range/appliance-collection/ovens/double-electric/

By the way, I'm your number one fan.

Like the pun!

Ah right - Howdens.

I think others would agree you will get far better deals purchasing Bosch appliances else where on line and what ever you do don't touch their own brand Lamona products!

One of the problems is the lack of proper advice by meny retailers, they just want to take your money for the kitchen cabinetry and have no interest in the rest of the components of the kitchen. That's probably why you have ended up posting this thread.

All of the double ovens on the Howdens link are either multifunction or proper fan ovens (in the main cavity) and most of the single ovens on the page were fan or multifunction except 1 Lamona conventional oven (no fan) and 1 'New' fan assisted!

I would say again try and go for a basic Neff or Bosch oven then you won't really go wrong.

Good luck.

HarrowMarrow

thx, and if Bosch are as good at ovens as they are dishwashers, they've got my custom!

sheslookinhot

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1762041

There's always one