New features to look out for when shopping for your next oven
By: Eugene Sabri
Submitted: 2009-05-20 03:16:18 | Word Count: 517
If you’re planning on buying a new gas cooker, here are some of the features you’ll need to look at before you go shopping:
Size
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Most cookers are the standard 30 inch design, but if you’re looking for something different you’ll find a whole host of different sizes available to choose from. As a guide, a 24” to 27” cooker will be perfectly suited to a smaller kitchen, consider carefully purchasing a cooker larger than the standard 30” unless you intend to cook for a lot of people.
Seperates or built-in?
Here you should take a look at the current layout of your kitchen and see what would fit best. If you’re getting a whole new kitchen fitted, then a built-in model can offer a sleeker look, otherwise you may want to look for a free-standing unit, or one that can simply slide in to an existing gap between cabinets.
British Thermal Units
British Thermal Units are, ironically, a measurement used mainly in the USA, and they measure the power of a cooker’s burners’ heat output. Some people think that the higher the BTU the better, but the truth is, if you’re looking for a normal family cooker, you’re not going to need the BTU levels required for a commercial kitchen, so why waste money?.
Double fuel
Dual fuel cookers basically use both electricity and gas to cook you food but is this really necessary?. Gas ovens tend to cook unevenly, with one or two particular hotspots closest to where the gas is burning. In electric ovens and fan-assisted ovens, this isn’t a problem, so if you have one of these oven options, dual fuel might not be necessary.
Double ovens
Nowadays you can choose to go for a double or split oven if you feel you’re going to need the extra cooking space. Ideal for family gatherings, you’ll be able to fit in everything you need, while opting to use just the smaller oven for everyday meals, which can actually save you money in the long run.
To seal or not to seal?
Sealed burners mean just that – the output is sealed. The main benefit of this type of system is that they’re easier to clean than open burners. For those who are fussy about temperature, there are those who criticise sealed burners for being slightly lower in burning temperature than an open burner. This may well be true, but by choosing a sealed burner with a slightly higher BTU than an open burner then you’ll have lost no heat temperature at all.
Do I need a fan oven?
Convection or fan ovens can provide a far more even cooking result. This is because the fan enclosed at the back of the oven helps to distribute heat more evenly throughout your oven, cooking your food more evenly as a result. Food cooks more quickly too, so remember to adjust your cooking temperature accordingly when following recipes or cooking instructions.
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