The oven is one of the most important appliances in the kitchen. If your kitchen doesn’t have an oven, you wouldn’t even call it a kitchen at all. So, for anyone looking to buy their first oven or new oven, we are going to give you several tips to consider when choosing the best oven. It is up to you what kind of oven you would like to have at home, but you could follow our tips to make buying a little bit easier.
Choose Whether You Want a Gas or Electric Oven
Most kitchens today would have gas ovens, as it is more traditional and has served many families over the years. However, thanks to the advancement in appliances brought by technology, most oven companies have produced electric ovens, which are said to be safer and quicker in cooking meals.
Both types of oven offer different benefits, so choosing one over another would still be a great choice. Gas ovens are more suitable for homes that already have a gas line installed on their home, while electric ovens are for new homeowners who may want to stay away from using gas or are scared of it.
In baking, gas ovens are said to produce much softer cakes, bread, or pastries, as it retains more moisture than the electric variant. Despite the advantages given by the gas oven to cooks or bakers, the most popular choice is still the electric oven, since it is cheaper and doesn’t require a gas line to be installed in the kitchen. An additional feature found in almost all electric ovens is that you can set pre-programmed heat settings so that you won’t have to manually set the heat on the oven. However, finding replacement parts for electric ovens can still be pretty difficult even today, which is why it is still relatively more expensive than gas ovens in the long run.
Pick a Capacity
If you would only serve food for two to four people, then a simple single oven would work for you. However, if you do have a big family of six to eight, then you might want to consider getting a double-range oven so that you can cook more dishes simultaneously.
A single oven only has one compartment or opening for baking, while the most common double oven would have two compartments, although they are different in size. The opening at the top is usually much small and is primarily utilized for small and thin dishes like pizza, while the compartment at the bottom is bigger and can be used for almost anything you can bake or cook. There are also double ovens that are the same size as single ovens, although the sizes for the two compartments are often compromised. Choosing the right oven for your home is fairly simple since you would have to base it on the size of your home, as well as the size of your family. Also consider in the future if you need to change out oven parts as well.
Think about the Space the Oven Occupies
The oven is a large appliance, and it is probably the second biggest next to the refrigerator. If you have a small home, then you might want to think where you would put it in the kitchen. If your home is not yet fully built, then you might want to get a wall oven, a type of oven that is flush-mounted on the wall. Basically, the wall oven looks like it is a part of the wall, so there aren’t any bulges sticking out of your kitchen if you pick this type. There is also the more conventional range oven, which is typically rectangular in shape and is quite bulky. Because of the range oven’s bulky, it takes up a lot of space on the kitchen floor. If your kitchen has small floor space, you can consider getting a wall oven instead of the common range variant.
But if you can’t get a wall oven for your small kitchen, there is also a compact oven that is typically as small as a microwave. The compact oven works like a regular electric oven, but the only difference is that it is smaller. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to cook or bake larger dishes in the compact oven, so it is really not suitable for large families.
By looking at the tips that we have given, you may already have the notion that choosing an oven is relatively simple and easy. All you have to do in buying an oven is to choose whether you want an electric or gas oven and gauge the size of your kitchen to see if your preferred oven will fit. However, before you buy the oven that catches your eye in the appliance store, be sure to watch or read reviews online about it so that you will be sure that it is a quality product.