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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

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Products: Which oven?

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    I'd welcome recommendations on a single electric oven. What I'm after is a basic model, that just does hot air and has a grill. I don't need rotisserie, pyrolitic cleaning, pizza setting, defrosting, dough rising, etc etc, nor do I even need a clock or timer. Energy efficiency is important though I'm not sure there is much between all ovens of the same size. I'm suspicious of the build quality and reliability of the cheapest brands. Do I go for the bottom-of-the-range Bosch or similar?

    Also, does anyone regularly use a freestanding microwave combi (the conventional oven part of it) as a replacement for their main, fitted oven? Are they any good? Would they save much energy?
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2014
     
    Any help: http://www.sust-it.net/energy-saving.php?id=175 ?

    How many people are you cooking for? Is a halogen oven large enough?
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      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2014
     
    Posted By: WeeBeastieAre they any good? Would they save much energy?
    I used to have a Sharp on till the house got burgled, was the only thing taken (so must have been good).
    I am after one now but find they are a bit small.

    Energy Efficiency is an odd one. All down to insulation and air changes really, just like a building.
    But any heat escaping does heat the house, not not all is lost, unless you have a large extractor fan.

    I find baking bread quite cost effective and I get a warm kitchen too.
  4.  
    gravelld,

    Thanks for the link; I hadn't come across that before. So not a great deal in energy use between top of range and bottom. So maybe reliability is the thing I need to find out more about.

    The oven is used maybe three times a week. There are only two of us, but most of the use is when we have a couple of extra visitors. Pizza, cake, and my son's favourite Linda McCartney sausage rolls are pretty much it!

    I quite like the idea of combi oven because I do need a microwave, and obviously having the two-in-one saves space in my tiny kitchen.
    • CommentAuthorringi
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2014
     
    I think the largest saving an oven could make for us was to have an alarm that sounded when it was up to temperature.

    Next saving would be to have a more powerful element so it heated up quicker along with better insulation.

    I wish our top oven was a “fan” as well as the bottom oven, as it would let us use the smaller top oven most of the time.
    • CommentAuthorGotanewlife
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2014 edited
     
    Yes I can recommend a Baumatic. I added extra insulation to mine (choose A or A+ models), but actually all ovens get hot then turn on a ruddy big fan and pile heat out of a vent on top. +vs - cheap because not loaded with bling extras, looks pretty cool, cleans OK, very large inside (a v important issue) choose 50 litres of 65 litres: -vs not the most even of cooking.

    Also, whilst to me, it seems to heat up quickly, I deliberately choose a 2.7kW oven because we only get 6kW and my in-laws have moved in downstairs and she had to have an electric oven as well.
    • CommentAuthorrhamdu
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2014
     
    Posted By: ringiI think the largest saving an oven could make for us was to have an alarm that sounded when it was up to temperature.


    Definitely an energy saver.

    But remember the over-riding reason for pre-heating ovens is to get reproducible results from recipes.

    A secondary reason is if you are in a hurry and want to heat the oven while you prepare the food.

    Thirdly, some foods actually need it. Bread including pizza, most cakes, meringues, soufflés, oven chips etc won't cook right unless they go straight into a hot oven.

    But roast veg and baked potatoes are perfectly happy cooking from cold. I don't know about meat or poultry.

    You can also save energy at the other end of the process by turning off the oven some time before cooking is complete. If you suspect your oven actively cools itself down when switched off, simply turn it down 20 degrees or so towards the end of cooking. Then it will cool naturally but won't think it has to do anything special.
    • CommentAuthorHollyBush
    • CommentTimeOct 8th 2014
     
    I have a Sharp combi microwave and think it's great - at a previous house we used it heavily when the kitchen was being rebuilt. Did all sorts in it, would cope happily with what you suggest Weebeastie.

    We have replaced it once, but so happy we bought the latest version. We tend to use it a little less now as it isn't big enough for a roast and yorkshire puds :-)

    The only down sides I can think of is having to swap out the shelf supports for the turntable and cleaning it all over, which is a bit harder when you are using the oven features.

    I remember another microwave a long time ago had a cardboard insert that you needed to keep clean - so I would look carefully how you keep it clean, before buying.
  9.  
    I bought the Zanussi ZOB35301XK nearly two years ago and have been very happy with it. It was the Which? Best Buy in their budget range. Not too many features, but cooks very well I find.
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeOct 8th 2014
     
    Posted By: WeeBeastiedoes anyone regularly use a freestanding microwave combi (the conventional oven part of it) as a replacement for their main, fitted oven? Are they any good?


    I hardly ever use our "real" oven. We have a Panasonic flat-bed microwave combi. It's great for baking just about anything. I like not not having the turntable in there. Only downside - I think it cost more than our actual oven.
  11.  
    Thanks for all the useful recommendations and comments. :bigsmile:

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