Ovens

Heat up your kitchen design

An often-overlooked appliance in a kitchen is the oven. In the past, ovens were separate entities of their own, but today, ovens often come with stovetops. However, separate ovens are making a comeback, so if you’re renovating your kitchen or updating your appliances, you might consider separating your oven and range.

Editorial Review

GE Ovens

General Electric is a major manufacturing name when it comes to kitchen appliances. GE ovens can be found in millions of homes across America.

Pros: GE has long been a leader in cooking technology. The company manufactures a number of different cooking products beyond conventional built-in ovens, including free-standing ranges, slide-in ranges, drop-in ranges, cooktops and even warming drawers. Many of these products are available in both electric and gas models. Among the most advanced oven models that GE currently sells are those that feature Trivection technology. These ovens feature something called Auto Recipe Conversion, which means they can automatically adjust cooking time and temperatures so that everything you cook will come out perfectly moist, tender or crisp.

If you are thinking of a purchasing an oven independently, you’ll need to know the difference between regular and convection ovens.

Regular Ovens vs. Convection Ovens

A regular oven uses heating elements to distribute heat, which creates hot or cool spots throughout the oven, depending on the distance from the elements. These ovens are the cheaper option, but they tend to cook food a bit unevenly.

A convection oven, on the other hand, uses a fan to circulate the hot air evenly around the oven box, thereby cooking things more evenly, sealing in juices and speeding up the baking or roasting practice. However, some people mention that food dries out faster in a convection oven, so you have to watch your cooking times.

The type of oven you choose will depend largely on how much and what type of cooking you do. If your goal is to rival the chef at your local five-star restaurant, a convection oven is probably worth the greater investment.

Oven Types

You can choose to have your oven either under your range or in your kitchen wall. A wall oven and a regular oven both come in gas and electric options. Mostly, people buy an electric oven, but a gas oven is known for its more precise heating.

Convection ovens also come in countertop models. Countertop convection ovens work in apartments or smaller kitchens where a range is all you can fit. Toaster ovens and microwave ovens are also options, though these cook food differently and may not be appropriate for all foods.

If space is not a concern, you might consider a double oven. A double oven allows you to cook several things at once, making it perfect for large families or people who do a lot of cooking. It also comes in wall oven or counter depth form.

All of these oven choices used to be quite high-end; however, more and more people are able to afford these appliances without being gourmet cooks. You can often even add a self-cleaning feature or other options, such as warming drawers and broilers, at little extra cost.

Like most other major appliances, ovens are designed to last a long, long time, so choosing the right oven for your needs is essential. Consider the amount of space you have, the size of your family and the style of your kitchen, and then pick the oven that makes you want to find your inner chef!

Read our Editorial Review on GE Ovens

Cons: GE ovens usually work very well, but they are a pain to repair when they break down. For example, some models have problems with blown-out circuitry. It’s unclear exactly what causes this problem, but it appears that using the self-cleaning feature on the oven causes the circuit to overheat. This would normally be a pretty simple fix, but many customers have reported that they have had a great deal of trouble trying to get GE to honor their warranties. It seems that GE uses third-party servicemen to perform service calls and that many repair technicians are reluctant to take on a GE repair job.

Overall: GE ovens are among the most technologically advanced on the market today, which is a major draw for many customers. Unfortunately, GE’s customer service (particularly with respect to warranties) is a bit lacking.