- Location
- Berkshire
On the subject of energy usage, it’s quite interesting — our ovens use a fair bit to get up to temperature, but virtually none to stay at temperature.
NWR Kitchen Thread
- Thread starter David Crossley
- Start date
-
- Tags
- kitchens
- Location
- London
I have a Gaggenau which can be used for a multitude of things. I can’t speak for other brands as their technologies are slightly different.
I use it most often as a steamer for every steaming option you would use a steamer for - but it’s massively larger. The benefit of this is that I can (for example) steam a plate of prawns with ginger and garlic and serve it straight from the oven, whilst steaming the broccoli for broccoli with oyster sauce at the same time.
The most interesting characteristic when using it as a steamer is the gentleness of the steaming. Ingredients take a little longer to cook when compared to a stovetop steamer, yet remain less damaged by the process. In general I find it more precise. I have begun to explore cooking at slightly higher and lower temperatures with some success.
I use the regeneration function quite regularly. If I cook a paella and have some left over fifteen minutes or so almost perfectly reproduces the previous night’s effort. Rice doesn't get soggy or dry out, seafood is not mutilated as it always was with a standard convection oven. I’ve been quite surprised at the quality of the results.
I use it for bread on a weekly basis. I usually work with a 30% steam setting at 230C with an additional manual injection of steam for the first ten or fifteen minutes, followed by a temperature reduction further into the bake. I‘m sure I could play around further, but it certainly works for now.
I also use it as a standard convection oven because sometimes I need a second oven operating at a different temperature.
I have tried cooking whole chicken, but wasn’t happy with the result. I suspect that I could probably make it work, but have so many alternative methods that I can’t be bothered to explore further at this time.
I’m yet to explore anything like the full range of possibilities, but I suppose that could be said about any cooking tool that I own. I love my pressure cooker, but I don’t use anything like it’s potential full range of uses. I think we all have our favourite methods of cooking and very few of us are limited to only one or two of those. That‘s probably just as important as a factor in any decision as the characteristics of any particular piece of equipment.
- Location
- UK
Gaggenau or Bora. My research led me to the latter. It is f’ing amazing.
- Location
- UK
PS - I am with Mark on the Gaggenau steam oven. Use it a lot. And very happy to have the steam options in my third oven rather than another convection oven. Meat can be sublime if you get it right. Sous vide very useful, as is defrosting.
- Location
- London
You should buy a microwave, Mark!
- Location
- London
I (well HRH) has one. Not the same result.
- Location
- London
Simon you make me suspect my research on the topic has been somewhat shallow. Fortunately Christmas gives me the opportunity for more rigorous study.
- Location
- Caversham, Berks
We will begin a project in April next year, all being well, and I have a rookie question (no room for 4 ovens Mr Marks!)... - I am disinclined to go with the single oven plus combi/warming drawer being proposed by the kitchen designer, in favour of 2 single ovens. Our configuration and other needs for space mean we need to stack one atop the other. Does anyone actually use their warming drawer (if you have one)? If going for 2 ovens, would you suggest 2 of the same, or different functionalities? We are relatively simple cooks (no sous vide-ing here etc etc) - roasting, cakes, and bread are our typical oven uses...
We will go with Neff for budget and overall historical experience reasons.
Any tips, pointers or recommendations?
thanks!
We will go with Neff for budget and overall historical experience reasons.
Any tips, pointers or recommendations?
thanks!
- Location
- South Hampshire, UK.
We did our kitchen last year. We went for two ovens (Neff with the sliding doors) the same, on top of each other. We use one (on the eco setting normally) as a warming drawer quite a lot. Also very useful if we make meringues (which need to be left in the oven so they don’t crack) we still have another useable oven. The slide in doors are much better than the opening ones.
Very happy with our Neff ovens and induction hob.
- Location
- London
We have two Neff double ovens side by side. My mother in law has four full size Neff ovens - in a pleasing two by two matrix. I am very jealous. The one downside of separate devices is they have separate clocks, which will absolutely go out of sync at some point.
i can’t see any purpose to warming drawers - they don’t do anything an oven doesn’t afaict.
i can’t see any purpose to warming drawers - they don’t do anything an oven doesn’t afaict.
- Location
- Berkshire
I’ll put in a word for the warming drawer. Good for confit anything in a large casserole, warming plates etc. Possibly more energy efficient than an oven on low temp (maybe not?) but has the advantage that you don’t use it for anything else so it’s always available for low and slow, and a cheaper option than another oven proper, or indeed extra carpentry had we put a normal drawer in that space.
- Location
- London
Given your two options I’d go 2 X single.
I’d also go with two identical ovens if they had wide functionality over two different ovens each with separate but narrow functionality. Do you use microwave? If you do, then a microwave combi plus another different oven would be the exception to my thinking.
I do have two separate but wide functionality ovens and a warming drawer btw, but my budget, space and intention sounds different. I do like the warming drawer and use it far more and for far more things than I thought I would, but wouldn’t change my advice.
I’d also go with two identical ovens if they had wide functionality over two different ovens each with separate but narrow functionality. Do you use microwave? If you do, then a microwave combi plus another different oven would be the exception to my thinking.
I do have two separate but wide functionality ovens and a warming drawer btw, but my budget, space and intention sounds different. I do like the warming drawer and use it far more and for far more things than I thought I would, but wouldn’t change my advice.
- Location
- Cheshire, uk
If you don’t mind Samsung then they do single ovens that you can turn into 2 separate ovens by slotting in a horizontal divider. We have one and it works well although haven’t fully tested it yet.
- Location
- London
My brother has one of these and like it. I have to say though it would feel like second best if you can do two proper ovens…
- Location
- Bexley, SE London/Kent
I'm hoping I can get some advice on a suitable induction hob based on peoples recent experiences.
My kitchen is being done in Jan and I'm making the switch from gas to leccy for the hob.
Seems Bora and Gaggenau have been reco'd on this thread but all Boras seem to have built in extractors which isn't an option with the design I've chosen due to space under the hob being used.
I'm guessing flex zones that are one large rectangular area are a better option than circular zones ?
Any other brands I should look at/avoid ? Bosch, Miele and Neff have been other main brands I've looked into because of the magnetic control dial option and flexizone
cheers
Mike
My kitchen is being done in Jan and I'm making the switch from gas to leccy for the hob.
Seems Bora and Gaggenau have been reco'd on this thread but all Boras seem to have built in extractors which isn't an option with the design I've chosen due to space under the hob being used.
I'm guessing flex zones that are one large rectangular area are a better option than circular zones ?
Any other brands I should look at/avoid ? Bosch, Miele and Neff have been other main brands I've looked into because of the magnetic control dial option and flexizone
cheers
Mike
- Location
- Surrey
We got a 90cm Neff one and I couldn’t fault it. Absolutely brilliant. It doesn’t have the magnetic twisty thing, just the regular touch pad, but it works fine for me. The flexizone is useful for cooking two really big pans / stock pots simultaneously.
- Location
- Cheshire, uk
I’m impressed with Bora and you only lose the top drawer underneath it for the inbuilt downward extractor.
Can you tweak your design slightly so the Bora would be an option?
Can you tweak your design slightly so the Bora would be an option?
- Location
- Berkshire
I’ve got a couple of Miele hobs next to each other. Eight individual rectangles, which will each take two or three small saucepans at the same temp if required. Two zones add together for larger pans etc as you mentioned. The larger single flex ome hob option could only take five or six individual zones when we looked at it, so we got more flexibility and active pan space by combining two smaller ones instead of a larger ‘flexible’ one. Works well.
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- Location
- London
Mike, yes the flex zones if you can do them.
Chris is correct in that the Bora doesn't need much space underneath, but the thing to be aware of if you don’t have the ability to take the exhaust straight out through the wall, is that you will need some further space at the rear of the cupboards to get the exhaust to the floor mounted filter boxes. We did this by simply increasing the depth of the countertops by the additional requirement and leaving the drawer depths the same.
- Location
- London
Clearly @Simon Grant has the best solution, however I've been very pleased with our five zone Neff one where the right hand side allows zones to be combined and the awesome spinny magnetic disc thing makes you feel like James Bond.
The only regret I have for our kitchen design is that I didn't get externally mounted fans for the extraction. Our builder really had no time for this nonsense, but I should have pushed it - would have allowed for much quieter extraction. I should say, though, that induction significantly reduces the *need* for extraction - you just basically never burn anything.
The only regret I have for our kitchen design is that I didn't get externally mounted fans for the extraction. Our builder really had no time for this nonsense, but I should have pushed it - would have allowed for much quieter extraction. I should say, though, that induction significantly reduces the *need* for extraction - you just basically never burn anything.
- Location
- London
I have also used the flexizone capability - maybe once? Turns out that most of your pans have round bottoms, so circular zones are fine. We had a non induction capable rectangular griddle which I replaced with this beauty.
Now - you might think this needs - or at least benefits from - some flexizone rectangular heating area action? I certainly did...but take a look at the underside...
Anyway - whatever you choose, sounds like you have an awesome kitchen in your future.
Now - you might think this needs - or at least benefits from - some flexizone rectangular heating area action? I certainly did...but take a look at the underside...
Anyway - whatever you choose, sounds like you have an awesome kitchen in your future.
- Location
- Bexley, SE London/Kent
unfortunately I've signed on finalized design and we have a cutlary drawer beneath the hob and also a wall mounted external extractor above it and I cant move it to an alternate location now. Shame
Cheers Leon, glad to hear you've had good experience with the Neff hob because their website is plastered with mainly bad reviews of their hobs fairing after a short period and being prone to chipping around the edges. That said, I appreciate most people only tend to post reviews when they are unhappy so I guess there are a lot more happy customers who havent had the need to comment on the Neff site
I often put my roasting pans over my hob when doing gravies and cooking roast potatoes which is why I was thinking of the flexizones
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- Location
- London
I read the weirdest negative reviews - one was from a family who claimed to have had to replace three of the magnetic knobs because they kept on getting soaked when the hob flooded itself due to pots boiling over in spite of not having been overheated. As far as I could tell every single part of the review was physically impossible. I had an unreasonable amount of fun imagining the delusional terrible cooks who blame all their problems on the new cooker, and what other things must be going on in their lives...
- Location
- London
It’s the same with golf clubs, tennis racquets……etc, etc ad infinitum…
- Location
- UK
A late, extra vote for the warming drawer. We don't use it loads but I'm glad we have it and it saves using up an oven for warming plates and keeping things warm. It's a godsend on Christmas day....and, as Simon suggested, we'd probably have spent half the cost on a normal drawer.
Don't use the flex-zone on the hob very much....I just turn both front and back zones on at the same time when we use our rectangular griddle. Oh...and downdraft extraction is the absolute dogs knackers. If I ever kit out another kitchen I would happily sell a kidney if that was the only way to put in a Bora Pro set up.
Don't use the flex-zone on the hob very much....I just turn both front and back zones on at the same time when we use our rectangular griddle. Oh...and downdraft extraction is the absolute dogs knackers. If I ever kit out another kitchen I would happily sell a kidney if that was the only way to put in a Bora Pro set up.