How to choose a desktop electric oven
In the conditions of a small city apartment or dormitory, or with country seasonal accommodation there is no need to buy bulky appliances. An excellent solution can be a desktop oven, which, if necessary, will completely replace the usual stove with a built-in oven.
Externally, the table oven looks like a microwave oven, but functionally they are completely different.
Advantages of a desktop electric oven
- Compact size. There is a mini oven in the volume 6 liters. This unit is especially convenient in small spaces, where you need to save space. But there are also large table ovens, are not inferior in size to built-in appliances - up to 50 liters (for comparison, the oven of a standard kitchen stove has volume from 40 to 50 liters).
- Mobility. This mini-oven is easy to take with you on a trip to the country, put in the closet or refrigerator, store on the balcony or in the pantry.
- Combination with hob. There are models with one, two or three burners of different size and power, located on the top cover of the electric oven. This combined oven significantly saves kitchen space.
- Environmental friendliness. Unlike the gas analogue, the electric table oven does not leave combustion products, capable of spoiling the taste of the finished dish.
- Easy to clean. The enameled non-stick surface of the mini-oven is resistant to burning and is easy to clean with any detergent. Most models are additionally equipped with pyrolytic or hydrolytic cleaning function, there are ovens with a fat-absorbing filter.
Criteria for choosing a mini-oven
Choosing a mini-oven, first of all it is necessary to pay attention to its power and the size. It is necessary to consider, that fast and a lot of food can be cooked only in an electric oven of large or medium size. It is possible to bake bakery products and pizza, baking products, extinguishing and catching, cooking grilled chicken.
The power of the oven also directly depends on the size - the larger the size, the more powerful the oven (from 600 to 3200 W). But a large and powerful unit becomes less mobile - moving and transporting a large furnace will be much more difficult, and it will also take up more space in the kitchen. There are also models with a microwave function.
Modern models of desktop mini-cabinets are equipped with more than 10 heating modes, such as upper or lower heat, uniform heating on all sides, intensive heating, thawing and other modes.
exept this, it is worth paying attention to the set of necessary functions. The more functions the unit has, the better, but the price in a fully equipped electric oven will be significantly higher.
The main functions of a mini-oven
- Timer - signals the end of cooking, in more complex models it turns off the mini-oven.
- Convection - forced circulation of air flows inside the oven, allowing dishes to be baked evenly.
- The grill is a heating element (ten), due to which a ruddy crust is formed.
- Rozhen is a rotating pin, which ensures even roasting of large pieces of meat on all sides.
- Defrost function - allows you to cook frozen foods without thawing, namely due to the gradual increase in heating temperature in the mini-furnace.
- Barbecue - used on some models with removable lid, turning an electric grill oven.
- Boiling control - maintains the set temperature at the selected level and, if necessary, automatically reduces it, not allowing dishes to boil.
- Self-cleaning function - it can be hydrolytic or pyrolytic. However, no yes, no other will replace, but will only facilitate manual cleaning of the oven.
Depending on the feature set and the manufacturer, the price of an electric tabletop oven varies from 1200 rubles to 35000 rubles.
Additional features
In addition to the usual set of functions, the electric mini-oven can be equipped with additional features, which are not interesting to everyone, but can provide additional comfort and safety.
Example, such a function as a residual heat indicator will protect the housewife from burns, showing, that the oven is still hot. The indicator turns off, when the oven cools to 60 degrees.
Built-in metal detector recognizes metal utensils inside the cabinet - in its absence, turn on the oven becomes impossible. If you have such a feature, you should ask the seller about the possibility of disabling it, as otherwise it will not be possible to prepare dishes on heat-resistant glass or a deck in ceramic pots.
The built-in devices and feature of a design of an oven mini-cabinet play an important role for comfort and safety.. Tightly fitting oven doors and the presence of several insulating glass prevent heat leakage to the outside, so, allow you to cook much faster.
Many electric ovens are heated not only inside, but also heat the space around you - this should be taken into account and find out from the seller before buying, how heat-insulated this model is. Presence of sliding telescopic guides is desirable, allowing you to safely remove the hot pan from the oven.
Cooking memory function allows you to simply select the program stored in the oven memory once, without setting new parameters each time. This feature is especially convenient for those dishes, which are prepared daily.
