Comparison Gorenje K 5241 XF stainless steel vs Gorenje GI 5322 XF stainless steel

The type of oven installed in the cooker. Gas and electric ovens have almost all the same features as burners of the same type (see "Burner type"). For example, gas ovens heat up faster, and are cheaper to operate but are difficult to connect. Electric ovens are safer and more versatile but require high-quality wiring and can be more expensive in terms of energy costs.

— Gas. Gas ovens are superior to electric ovens in terms of heating speed, but this heating is not as uniform. It is especially noticeable in inexpensive models. As a result, ovens of this type are poorly suited for cooking delicate dishes sensitive to precise temperature control. In addition, some specific features (such as convection) are not compatible with a gas heater.

— Electric. An electric oven takes longer to warm up than a gas oven, but it has better heating uniformity. In addition, such an oven can have convection, grill and other features that expand its capabilities and make life easier. As a result, this option is recommended to sophisticated cooks and enthusiasts dealing with complex recipes.

Note that gas burners are often combined with an electric oven. This option is considered optimal in terms of convenience and practicality, so it is very popular. But the opposite situation — an electric hob with a gas oven — does not occur at all.

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.

The highest temperature that the oven can reach during normal operation. The minimum value in modern models is 230 °C. However, even this low temperature is considered sufficient for most simple dishes. The average indicator can be called 240 – 250 °C. Such heating is provided by most modern ovens. And the most advanced models can heat up to 300 °C or more. Such capabilities will be useful for some specific recipes that require high temperatures.

— Thermostat — a device for adjusting and maintaining the required temperature in the oven. The presence of a thermostat relieves the user of the need to look after the cooking process. Instead, it is enough to set the thermostat to the desired temperature, and the stove will automatically maintain it.

— Timer. Countdown device: the user sets a certain time, after which an audible signal sounds. The specific functionality of the timer can be different — from the simplest rotary knob with an adjustment accuracy of +/-3 minutes to an electronic unit with a display that can count the time to the second and even turn off the stove at the end of the countdown (see "Auto switch-off"). However, this feature greatly simplifies the life of the user. It is more convenient to set the timer and wait for the signal than to keep track of time by the clock.

— Convection. The convection function provides additional hot air circulation and evenly distributes heat throughout the entire volume of the oven. It is useful for baking.

— Rotisserie fork. It is used for cooking several dishes, particularly shish kebab: products are strung on a rotisserie fork and rotated on it. It ensures consistent heating and baking. Often, the rotisserie fork is combined with a grill (see below), although this is not necessary. Also, this device can be...equipped with a drive from an electric motor for automatic rotation.

— Grill(electric or gas). In this case, the grill is an open heater installed in the oven chamber and designed to cook food due to thermal radiation; it can be used alone or in combination with other oven modes. The grill allows you to fry various foods effectively: for example, you can use it cooking meat with a characteristic crust, brown croutons, fry vegetables, etc. It is healthier than traditional frying.
As for the types of grills, electric grills are the most popular nowadays — they are simple in design, provide even heating, allow you to accurately adjust the mode and use many additional functions (up to automatic cooking programs). Such grills can be found even in gas ovens. But gas devices are used much less frequently: they are considered more economical but more complex in design and less convenient to adjust than electric ones.

— Steam cooking. The ability to use the oven for steam cooking. Cooking is carried out in the main chamber of the oven, and the steam comes from a special reservoir into which water is poured in advance. This method is considered more healthy than traditional cooking or, moreover, frying; often, it turns out to be optimal for people with dietary restrictions.

— Oven lighting. It is a lamp for lighting the interior of the oven. By turning on such a lamp, you can see the oven insides without opening it and without releasing heat. Yes, even with the lid open, the oven lighting can come in handy — for example, when removing products from a baking sheet (patties, pieces of cookies, etc.) or when cleaning the oven. Note that for the lighting to work, a mains connection is required, even if we are talking about a gas stove.

It is the method of cleaning the inner surface provided in the design of the oven. In addition to traditional and more advanced steam cleaning, there are catalytic and pyrolytic cleaning. More about them:

— Traditional. This option assumes the absence of any devices that facilitate cleaning: you have to wash the oven manually, using ordinary detergents and cleaning products. Such a procedure can be quite troublesome and time-consuming, but such ovens are much cheaper than similar models with more advanced types of cleaning.

— Pyrolytic. Cleaning with high temperature. Dirt on the interior surfaces of the oven is burned to ash, which can then be easily removed without using detergents. At the same time, pyrolytic cleaning equally effectively handles all types of dirt, both new and old. The disadvantages of such a system are the duration of cleaning (sometimes up to several hours), high cost, and significant consumption of resources (electricity or gas, depending on the type of oven). In addition, during the operation of the cleaning system, unpleasant odours often arise, generated by the combustion of contaminants in the oven.

— Catalytic. Ovens with this type of cleaning have a special coating on the inner surface that breaks down grease on the oven walls. Fat disintegration is accelerated at high temperatures; the oven is thus self-cleaning t...o a certain extent. However, the efficiency of catalytic cleaning is lower than that of pyrolytic cleaning. It is unable to cope with the entire amount of fat on the walls. Therefore, such an oven should be washed from time to time. On the other hand, ovens with catalytic cleaning are cheaper than ones with pyrolytic cleaning. And the cleaning itself does not require additional electricity/gas costs, nor is time-consuming (except for washing/wiping).

— Steam cleaning. Cleaning the oven with heated steam. A certain volume of water is poured into a baking sheet or another container, the container is placed in the oven and the cleaning mode is turned on. Due to heating, the water evaporates, and the heated steam softens the dirt on the walls and partially disintegrates the fat. After the end of the programme, it is enough to wipe the oven with a damp cloth. Such a cleaning requires less time and resources than pyrolysis and often turns out to be more effective than catalytic — steam can soften even old dried-up contaminants. At the same time, these ovens are relatively inexpensive. At the same time, this mode does not guarantee to cope with any contamination. It is possible that after the end of the steam cleaning, the oven will have to be washed traditionally.

— Enamel. Enamel coating is inexpensive and relatively easy to clean. In addition, enamel can have different colours, which allows you to give the stoves an original appearance (although the most popular is still the classic white colour). On the other hand, cracks, chips and scratches may appear on such a surface. As a result, such a coating is typical for relatively inexpensive boards.

— Stainless steel. Steel hobs are highly durable and attractive. But, it will take a lot of effort to keep such a stove clean: even slight dirt is noticeable on a steel surface (especially polished). And it is more difficult to clean them than enamel. In addition, such surfaces are somewhat more expensive than enamelled ones, and there are, in fact, two design options for them - matte and polished.

- Glass-ceramic. A material is found predominantly in electric stoves; rarely used in gas models, mainly for aesthetic reasons. The main advantages of glass ceramic are resistance to heat and high permeability to heat and electromagnetic radiation. Schott Ceram and EuroKera, manufacturers of this very glass-ceramic, which manufacturers of household appliances install in their models, were especially successful in this. It allows electric burners (regardless of type) to be placed directly under such a surface. The re...sult is a flat top with no protrusions, making cleaning easier and providing a neat appearance. The main disadvantages of this material are high cost and sensitivity to impacts.

- Tempered glass. A material similar to the glass-ceramics described above: the glass surfaces have an attractive appearance, usually with a glossy finish. Another common feature is the ease of cleaning: most of the contaminants are easily removed. However, this material is not as strong as glass-ceramic: it is much more sensitive to impacts and tolerates heat much worse, which makes it poorly suited for installation above burners. As a result, tempered glass is used mainly in gas stoves, where the burners are located above the work surface and tempered glass heats up relatively weakly. Another category of stoves with such a surface is electric models with induction hobs, where the dishes and not the surface are mainly heated (see below for more details).

— Plastic. Working surface made of special heat-resistant plastic. A rather specific option is found mainly among portable single-burner electric stoves with induction heaters (see below). There are several reasons for this. One of them is that, despite the heat resistance, even fairly advanced plastic does not tolerate heating on gas or a classic electric burner. But with an induction burner, this material works without problems, especially since it is well permeable to electromagnetic radiation. Plastic is cheaper than tempered glass or glass-ceramic, and it also weighs less - the latter is important for a stove that is planned to be moved frequently from place to place. At the same time, all these advantages cannot be called critical. As a result, this option, even in its niche, has not received much popularity.

The type of gas control provided in a stove with a gas hob and/or oven.

Gas control is a safety system for gas stoves that turns off the gas supply when the flame goes out. Such a system can be used only in the stove, only in the oven, or both. The latter option, from a safety point of view, is considered perfect for gas stoves. However, gas control is more important for an oven — it is more difficult to control the presence of a flame in it. But in the hob, this function is not so critical, especially if the stove is constantly under supervision during cooking.

The type of auto-ignition provided in the stove.

Auto-ignition systems are used only for gas burners and ovens. They work based on an electric spark, from which the gas ignites, and greatly simplifies the ignition of the stove, eliminating the need for matches, lighters and other sources of fire. Auto ignition can be provided for a hob(hob), for an oven, or both. In all these cases, it is assumed that the ignition is activated automatically when the knob is turned. There is also another option for electric ignition — a special button. Such systems are somewhat simpler and cheaper, while they usually cover all gas heaters available in the stove (therefore, the location is not indicated for push-button electric ignition).

Anyway, the stove requires mains for this function to work.

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.