Ovens are useful for cooking. At its simplest an oven provide a container to hold heat and food, so that the heat can cook, toast or warm the food.
The most common oven style for awhile has been an oven with a door on the front that opens out and down, and with 4 stove burners on top. Now many manufacturers are making variations -- 6 or 8 burners, double ovens, warming ovens, grilling capabilities.
Types of ovens[]
Ovens are generally classified by the way they heat the food. Some types of oven are electric, gas, solar, convection and microwave. In the case of electric, gas and solar ovens, the type refers to the power source. So, a gas oven, burns gas to heat the air which in turn heats the food. For convection and microwave ovens, the type refers to how the power is used to heat the food. A convection oven uses fans to move the heated air to the food faster, and a microwave uses microwaves to excite the molecules in the food, heating it.
Considerations[]
When selecting an oven, there are many different considerations including efficiency, cooking speed, evenness of heating, size (capacity and space).
Energy efficiency[]
some ovens are much more efficient than others; insulation makes a difference, capacity can too
Cooking speed[]
some ovens can make a smaller space hot, very fast; microwave ovens are quick; sometimes a slow cooker is better for a particular dish
Evenness of heating[]
microwaves are probably the worst at even cooking
Size[]
Oven size can refer to both the interior capacity and the amount of kitchen space taken.
Heating fuel and elements[]
gas or electric; gas flame, radiating electric coils, halogen burners, or magnetic-induction elements
Oven temperatures[]
Oven temperatures are usually given in Fahrenheit in the US, but in gas mark, also called Regulo, measurements for gas ovens in the UK. How is the temperature set for ovens where you live?
Temperature Description | Fahrenheit | Regulo | Centigrade |
---|---|---|---|
cool, very low or very slow | 225° | ¼ | 107° |
cool, very low or very slow | 250° | ½ | 121° |
low, slow or very slow | 275° | 1 | 135° |
low, slow or very moderate | 300° | 2 | 149° |
warm, moderately slow, or very moderate | 325° | 3 | 163° |
medium or moderate | 350° | 4 | 177° |
moderately hot or moderate | 375° | 5 | 191° |
moderately hot, hot | 400° | 6 | 204° |
hot | 425° | 7 | 218° |
hot or very hot | 450° | 8 | 232° |
very hot | 475° | 9 | 246° |
Related[]
External links[]
- WikiHow on How to Use an Oven
- eHow on How to Clean an Oven
- HowStuffWorks on How to Choose an Oven, part of a larger set of articles on How to Choose Kitchen Appliances by Mary Wynn Ryan
- Wikipedia's article on Gas Mark
- Conversion Charts for cooking and recipes on hub-uk.com
- Wikipedia's article on convection oven