Oven capacity
It is the volume of the oven provided in the stove. It s the maximum volume of products that can be placed in it without compromising work efficiency. Accordingly, a
larger oven is useful for large volumes of cooking; on the other hand, such a capacity will significantly affect the price and dimensions of the stove.
If you buy a regular household stove with 4 burners and do not plan to cook a lot in the oven, you can not pay much attention to this parameter. The capacity of the oven is usually enough for most simple tasks like cooking a pie or baking chicken. But for more serious tasks, a larger oven may be required. Detailed recommendations on volumes can be found in special sources.
If there is an additional chamber (see below), this paragraph usually indicates only the volume of the main oven.
Power
Rated power of the oven installed in the stove. Specified only for electric ovens (see above). When determining this parameter, the power of all heaters and other devices installed in the oven (grill, convector, motorized spit, etc.) is taken into account; in other words, this item indicates the maximum power consumption.
This data is useful primarily for assessing electricity consumption, as well as the connected load during operation. But only ovens with similar functionality can be compared with each other in terms of power — for example, two models with convection. Otherwise, the comparison may be incorrect.
Guides
Type of tray guides provided in the oven.
— Frame. The simplest guides are made in the form of a fixed grid, and sometimes in the form of slots in the walls of the oven. They are quite practical and inexpensive, due to which they are used in the vast majority of ovens. The main disadvantage of the lattice guides can be called the fact that the baking sheet moves rather tightly in them, especially if the oven has not been cleaned for some time and the guides are dirty.
—
Telescopic. Guides in the form of retractable tray support based on telescopic rails. When removing the baking sheet, the mechanism moves apart, and the stand, rolling on a special roller, “leaves” the oven. The main advantage of the "telescopic rails over the classic frame guides is that you do not need to make much effort to install and remove the baking sheet — it will move very easily. On the other hand, such devices are more expensive and more complicated than classic frame guides; as they get dirty, their efficiency drops noticeably, and dirt can completely disable the mechanism. In light of all this, manufacturers most often use telescopic rails not as the main option but as an addition to the frame guides described above. If telescopic guides are initially indicated in the specs of the stove, this usually means that the oven with traditional frame guides is additionally equipped with removable telescopic guides. These advanced telescopic rails
...can be easily set at the desired level and removed for cleaning.
Many ovens, initially equipped only with frame guides, can be equipped with telescopic rails, purchased separately.Dual-circuit burner
Dual-circuit burners are burners with the possibility of increasing the diameter.
Dual-circuit burners are only electric burners of the Hi-Light type or induction. Such a burner looks like several circles of different diameters with a common centre; each circle corresponds to one of the options for the working diameter that can be selected for the burner. The number of these options is usually 2 or 3. And if there is more than one dual-circuit burner, they may differ in the number of diameters available.
This feature allows you to optimally select the working size of the burner for the diameter of the dishes. This feature should not be confused with the oval dual zone (see below): the oval dual zone gives the burner an elongated shape, and the dual circuit burner remains round regardless of the selected size.
Oval dual zone
The presence of an
oval dual zone on the hob. Such a heater is useful for working with appropriate elongated dishes (for example, oval roasting pots). In models with electric heaters (see "Burner type") the desired shape is provided by an additional segment installed close to the burner; the burner in normal mode works like a regular round one, and when the additional segment is connected, it turns into an oval. In gas models, a burner with an oval flame is installed, or two small burners located close to each other.
Burner power
Rated burner power. This parameter allows you to estimate how much electricity the burner will spend when operating at maximum heating intensity. At the same time, the heat transfer power of different burners can be different, and the actual heating efficiency will also greatly depend on the specs of the dishes. As a result, it hardly makes sense to evaluate the operating capabilities of the stove by the power of the burners. It is quite possible to proceed from the fact that the burner will be enough for a dish of the same diameter.
Burner diameter
The heating power, the performance of the device and the speed of cooking depend on the diameter of the burners. The larger the burner, the more heat dissipation it has. Also, the diameter of the burner allows you to determine what sizes of dishes are suitable for use on the hob. Indeed, for induction models, this value is critical for high-quality heating. Burners can have the following diameter:
- small — about 145 mm, power within 1200 W;
- medium — about 180 mm, power within 1700 W;
- large — about 220 mm and more, power within 2000 W.
Some hobs use dual-circuit burners that allow you to adjust the diameter of the heating zone. If it is indicated that the diameter of the burner is 180, 200, 220 mm, then the heating zone on a particular burner can be narrowed and/or expanded, depending on the size of the dishes used.
Child lock
A security measure that allows you to block the controls of the stove. It will be useful in families with small children: when the lock is on, a curious child will not be able to turn on the stove or change settings. To unlock, one needs to perform certain actions, which are easy for an adult and too complex for a child: for example, you need to press two specific buttons simultaneously.
Automatic switch-off
The type of automatic switch-off provided in the design of the stove.
Auto-off can be provided
for the hob(hob),
for the oven, or for both at once, regardless of whether the hob and oven are gas or electric. This function is implemented through a timer, after which the device turns off.
