Burner controls
Controls that are directly responsible for adjusting the power of the burners. At the same time, other control elements can be provided in the design. For example, rotary knobs are often combined
with buttons, to which additional functions are designated.
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Rotary knobs. The traditional, most common option, found in hobs of all types — both gas and
electric — and price categories. Rotary knobs are quite convenient and functional while being simple in design and inexpensive.
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Pop out knobs. A variation on the rotary knobs described above, in which the control knobs can be recessed into the control panel. The specific design may be different: in some models, the handle is recessed during operation; in others, it remains recessed until the corresponding burner is in use and pops out from the panel during operation. This design gives the hob a neat appearance, reduces the number of places where dirt can accumulate, and makes the front panel easier to clean. Unlike rotary knobs, pop out knobs are mainly used in electrical models.
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Touch controls. Touch controls are found only in electric hobs. This option has several advantages. First, the touch controls look neat and have no protruding parts, making them easy to clean. Secondly, the control is carried out with light touches and req
...uires minimal effort. Thirdly, touch controls give the stove a stylish and technological appearance. On the other hand, such stoves are quite expensive and may be inconvenient for some users who are accustomed to traditional rotary knobs. Therefore, relatively few touch control models are produced. Usually, it is compact hobs for 1 – 2 burners without an oven, where rotary knobs would not be very appropriate.
— Slider. A kind of touch control represented by sensitive tracks. To adjust the heating intensity of the burners or quickly access other settings of the hob, slide your finger along the corresponding touch scale to the selected value. The convenience of slider control also lies in the fact that you can immediately set the required heating power by clicking on a certain area of the scale.
— Push-buttons. Control, carried out exclusively with the help of buttons, is used very rarely in modern stoves. Most models with such controls are compact portable stoves for one or two burners: it is not always convenient to equip such devices with rotary knobs, but the buttons fit well into the design. They are also cheaper than touch controls. On the other hand, the price difference is not so great, and the buttons are somewhat less convenient to use and clean — mainly for this reason they are noticeably less common.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.
Max. temperature
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.
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.
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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 ca
...n 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.Number of glass in door
It is the number of layers of glass installed in the oven door. The larger it is, the less heat goes out, and the less the outer surface heats up. The minimum amount required for effective thermal insulation is 2 glasses, and this option is considered the most popular.
Ovens with 3 glasses are noticeably less common, mainly middle and high-end models. The maximum number of glasses is 4; such thermal insulation is the most effective. However, it is not cheap and is used extremely rarely, mainly in top-class stoves.
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.