All About Ovens
Here's what you need to know in order to choose an oven that suits your surroundings.
Photo: Phil Harvey
Warming Ovens
Teaming a conventional oven with a microwave or energy-saving convection oven is a popular choice. Double ovens can be installed one above the other or side by side below the countertop (some cooks find this a convenient use of space, while others find it frustrating). You can also purchase combination or multi-mode units that allow you to switch between functions, but they're pricey.
Your oven's interior may be "you-clean" (old-fashioned elbow grease required), continuous cleaning (a steady, slow process with a result that may never look clean), or self-cleaning (pyrolytic) -- the most effective method.
Radiant-heat ovens
Conven-tional radiant-heat ovens are available as single or double units. Built-in ovens are sized to fit standard, 24-inch-deep cabinet cavities; deeper units are also available. The most common width is 27 inches, though many space-efficient European imports are 24 inches; recently, the 30-inch-wide oven has caught on.
So-called "built-under" ovens provide a range effect without interrupting the countertop; add the low-clearance cooktop of your choice.
You can choose to include built-in warmer shelves, rotisseries, attached meat thermometers, variable-speed broilers, multiple-rack systems, pizza inserts, and digital timing devices.
Convection ovens
Both gas and electric convection ovens use a fan to circulate hot air around the oven cavity. More energy-efficient than radiant-heat ovens, they can cut cooking time by 30 percent and use reduced temperatures. So-called "true-convection" models have isolated heating elements and fans to provide more even results.
Convection is excellent for roast-ing and baking (it first caught on in commercial bakeries) but is lesseffective for foods cooked in deep or covered dishes (cakes, stews, casseroles). Some cooks complain that convection heat dries out certain foods.
