Comparison Gorenje GECS 6C70 XC stainless steel vs Hansa FCCX69493 stainless steel

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 lowest temperature the oven can provide. Usually, it is in the range of +30 to +50 ˚C. So, for example, the minimum heating temperature at +30 ˚C allows you to defrost products. Models with a minimum of 40 ˚C and 50 ˚C allow you to heat ready meals, heat tableware (before serving), dry rusk, etc.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.