Ovens Direct

Want a way to cook without losing all the vitamins and nutrients from food? Or a quicker and healthier way to cook overall? Well look no further as a Steam Oven can do just that. Cooking with Steam Ovens has been a preferred method of cooking vegetables and certain meat selections for years. The Steam Oven can either be a countertop appliance or built in to your kitchen. At roughly the same size as a microwave it’s not going to take up much room. All steam ovens come with a reservoir which you fill with water to begin your cooking! I’m going to give you my top 5 steam ovens.

First in the firing line we have the CDA Built in Steam Oven – SV410SS. The Stainless Steel built in steam oven comes equipped with interior light, touch controls, electronic timer with LCD Display, 2 preset temperatures, removable 1 litre reservoir, door safety lock, 23 litre capacity and 1800W power.

CDA Steam Oven

Second in line is the Smeg 45cm High Compact Steam Oven – SC45V2. This Smeg Steam Oven comes fully equipped with 6 functions including, manual steam cooking, meat cooking, fish cooking, vegetable cooking, re-heating and sterilising function, defrost, digital programmer, electronic timer with end of cooking alarm, removable door for ease of cleaning, cooling fan and 24 hour delay timer.

Smeg Steam Oven

In at a comfortable position 3 is the Neff Series 3 compact built in Steam Oven – C47D22N0GB. The features of the Neff steam oven are child safety lock, easy clock, automatic on/off programmer, interior light, 4 shelf positions, de-scaling programme, water tank empty indicator, temperature display, temperature proposal and safety switch off device.

Neff Steam Oven

In at a respectable 4^th place is the Siemens iQ500 built in Steam Oven – HB24D652B. Fully featured with day/night glass and metal fascia, control dials, blue indicator lights, push buttons, electronic control and clock, timer, interior light, water tank empty indicator, safety lock and automatic safety switch off device.

Siemens Steam Oven

Bringing in the rear at position number 5 is the Baumatic Premium Compact Steam Oven – BGS460SS. Featuring steam cooking as well as a handy grill, interior light, full LED programmer, touch controls, stainless steel cavity, triple glazed removable door and full inner glass door.

Baumatic Steam Oven

If you’re looking to add some class to your kitchen then you need a Bosch Oven. Bosch Ovens combine the latest oven technologies with contemporary styling to deliver the perfect all-round culinary package. To make your choice of a Bosch Oven easier, we’re going to do a rundown of our Top 5 offerings, giving you an idea of the extensive range available – whatever your needs, there’s a Bosch Oven to suit you.

5. Our entry level offering is this Bosch Electric Built In Single Oven, which is ideal for people who want a great value cooking solution – it’s effective and it won’t break the bank. – HBN331E0B

Bosch Oven

4. Taking a step up from our first entry is this Bosch Classixx Electric Built in Single Oven, which, as the name suggests, comes in Bosch’s classixx styling and represents a more contemporary option. – HBA13B250B

Bosch Oven

3. Next on our list is another Bosch Exxcel Electric Built in Single Oven, but this one offers even more features than our last. With 8 cooking functions, you’ll have more control than ever before. – HBA53B550B

Bosch Oven

2. Our second best Bosch comes with two ovens for the price of one. It’s the Bosch Classixx Electric Built in Double Oven, and as the name suggests, it offers you twice the cooking of a single oven. – HBM13B251B

Bosch Oven

1. Our best Bosch offering is this Bosch Exxcel Electric Built in Double Oven. Comprising two top of the range oven compartments, it offers you complete freedom over your cooking. – HBM53B550B

Bosch Oven

When it comes to cooking your oven is vital, but it isn’t the be all and end all of your culinary adventure, because there are oven accessories to consider too. All the top manufacturers who focus on ovens have their own line of accessories, each designed to make your kitchen environment that little bit more hospitable, and your cooking experience more efficient and authentic. The term oven accessories may seem quite vague, and that’s because it is, which is why we’re now going to take a closer look at just a few of the different oven accessories out there for you to buy.

Oven Accessories

For those of you who value your Italian cuisine there’s the Baumatic Pizza Stone. Don’t try chomping into this mineral delight because you’ll smash your teeth to bits; it’s designed to give your home-made pizzas that stone-baked Mediterranean authenticity straight out of the oven. Gone are the days when your pizza falls to bits on a baking tray, or dribbles melting cheese all over the bottom of your oven; now you can enjoy your favourite dish like it should be enjoyed. Alongside the pizza stone, there’s the Smeg Pizza Shovel. Just name makes it sound heavy duty; it’s perfect for transferring your mozzarella marvel from the pizza stone to the plate with minimal mess.

Oven Accessories

For those not into pizza though, the humble baking tray will suffice. But why settle for second best, when you could be enjoying non-stick nirvana with the Neff Non-stick enamelled baking tray. You won’t have to worry about your favourite dishes cementing themselves to the tray in the oven, because the Neff non-stick enamelled baking tray is specially designed to make sure your food slides straight off without any hassle. You can even combine it with the Neff Small Grill Pan Set, which will bring BBQ style cooking from the outdoors inside, to the comfort of your kitchen. Whatever you need, there’ll be some oven accessories to suit you.

Is money a bit tight at the minute? Whether it is or it isn’t, you still need to eat – it’s a pretty vital part of most people’s lives. That’s why this week we’re going to take a look at Hotpoint Ovens. Hotpoint Ovens combine top drawer performance with bottom drawer price tags, to deliver great value kitchen solutions for those needing to cook on a budget. As long as you stick to the essentials on your weekly trip to Sainsbury’s you won’t have to worry about your oven breaking the bank; your Hotpoint Oven will come to the rescue. That’s not to say a Hotpoint Oven is the cheap option – their brilliant culinary performance means they’re ideal for absolutely anyone.

On top of performance, Hotpoint Ovens look stunning too; their stylish curves and simplistic designs belie the great value price tag. Hotpoint has been a staple appliance in British homes for decades, so you can be confident that when you lay your hands on a Hotpoint oven you’re going to be getting the reliability that comes from years of experience. As per usual, we have a favourite Hotpoint oven; one that stands out from the crowd and combines all the best features of Hotpoint. The oven in question is the Hotpoint 60cm Electric Built In Single Oven; one of Hotpoint’s cheapest and most stylish offerings.

In its classy black chassis, this Hotpoint Oven will look great in any kitchen, modern or traditional; you won’t have to worry about where to place it, it’ll look good anywhere. It’s got a large oven capacity too, so you can cater for all your prospective dinner guests with consummate ease. There’s no need to worry about the environment either – this Hotpoint oven comes with a B class energy rating, saving you both money and power in comparison with similarly priced units from other manufacturers. If you’re looking for quality cooking on a budget then a Hotpoint Oven is for you.

OK, so we’ve looked at ovens in general, but what about all the specific brands of oven out there on the market? Well now we’re going to take a closer look at the big players in the oven game, starting with Neff. Neff ovens are designed around the ethos that the oven is the heart of every kitchen. Neff ovens are developed to make your time in the kitchen simple and enjoyable, marrying innovation with style and versatility.

Neff ovens place a particular emphasis on performance. Neff have been responsible for a number of different breakthroughs in technology that have helped to revolutionise modern cooking – it could even be argued that Neff invented the whole concept of the modern fitted kitchen, so you know that when you buy a Neff oven you’re putting your food in good hands. If you’re an aspiring chef then a Neff oven is a must; Neff employ dedicated chefs to explore new ways of cooking and to help produce better results.

Neff Oven

Neff’s flagship product is their single oven, which as the name suggests is a Neff oven with one oven compartment. The series 1 Neff oven is a particularly popular model, offering Neff’s trademark quality at an affordable price. It’s got a fancy pop-out oval control knob that makes function and temperature selection quick and easy, and the inside of the oven itself is covered in something called Titan Enamel, which means you can wipe it clean with no hassle! Like all Neff ovens though, the 1 series won’t just do wonders for your food; it’ll do wonders for your entire kitchen! With its brushed metal fascia it has a sophisticated and classy appearance that will suit any modern kitchen.

Introduce some real quality into your kitchen with a Neff Oven.

We’ve looked at the timeline and the evolution of ovens already, but what’s to come in the future for our favourite versatile appliance? That’s what we’re going to focus on today.

It’s inevitable that as technology progresses, we’re going to move away from the traditional gas and electric ovens towards a new means of cooking. But what is that going to be? Well, Electrolux have thrown their hat onto the hob, with their concept design for an oven that cooks food using lasers. That’s right, lasers. As you can see from the picture (Fig. 1) the actual design looks nothing like an oven; it’s open for a start, with no door. The chef directs the three built in lasers onto the central grill, on which sits the food they want to cook. It might sound like terrifying, but there’s no chance of you lasering off your arms; the lasers are completely harmless!

Ovens

The Electrolux laser oven is quite a long way off yet (it’s only in the concept stage), but there are some new designs a little closer on the horizon, most notably the Intelligent Oven. It won’t be winning university challenge any time soon, but it’s a heck of a lot smarter than your current oven that’s for sure! These ovens can be controlled remotely, either using your computer or your mobile, so you can start making your tea before you even leave work. How will you get it out of the fridge and actually into the oven though? Well, you won’t have to. The intelligent oven can turn from a fridge into an oven in an instant. Oh and they’ve thrown a big LCD touch screen in there for good measure.

Aside from the lasers, there’s nothing much lined up except refinements to the current electric and gas ovens that we’re accustomed to. You can be sure though, that as soon as we hear something new, you’ll be the first to know!

Ask yourself, what’s the one thing you’d like to learn about? I’m going to assume the first thing that popped into your head was the history of the humble oven. So that’s what I’m going to give you. If you’re sitting comfortably, then we’ll begin.

The concept of the oven has been around for tens and maybe even hundreds of thousands of years, basically since those very first cavemen decided they liked their steak well done, as opposed to raw. The first ovens went hand in hand with the newly discovered and rather nifty control of fire, and shortly afterwards simple masonry constructions (holes, to you and me) started being used to hold the wood and the flames – the very first ovens.

Oven

Obviously different cultures had different oven designs, but their rudimentary nature means that few survive to this day. Disappointing, eh? Jumping forward in time a few thousand years though, to around 3200BC we begin to see evidence of the oven becoming more commonplace; the clever people of the Indus Valley had ovens in every single one of their mud brick houses. Obviously these weren’t fancy electric ovens; we’re not quite up to that stage yet, bear with me.

The Ancient Greeks took ovens to the next level through their love of bread (they invented over 70 different types apparently) and many different styles of oven came into use, each with its own special purpose or function. Jumping forward in time even further in our oven-shaped time machine, we reach the late middle-ages, around which time cast-iron ovens began to be produced en masse. Slightly closer to the oven we now call our own, but not quite there.

It wasn’t until 1826 that the gas oven reared its blue-flamed little head; patented by British inventor James Sharp, it became the first successful gas oven to appear on the market. By the end of the First World War gas ovens could be found in millions of homes across the globe! They were soon to be challenged though, by the increasing popularity of the electric oven. These sparky little beauties had been around for a while, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that they began compete on the same scale as gas. It was a heated battle. Quite literally.

During their tussle for domination, a futuristic (at the time, not really anymore) competitor crept up the inside; the Microwave Oven. This was discovered by accident, when a peckish scientist noticed that during some radar tests his chocolate bar had melted. After a bit more research, the Microwave oven was born. Fun Fact: It’s now estimated that over 90% of households in the US have a microwave. The fun’s over for now, we’re up to the present, but next time we’re going to look at what the future has in store for the humble oven.