Multifunction, Fanned & Conventional Ovens
As well as providing a statement centrepiece within your kitchen, the best range cookers offer so much more in terms of flexibility and cooking capacity.
When it comes to choosing the perfect range cooker, one of the most important features to consider is the type of ovens it offers. No matter whether you're a weeknight dinner minimalist or an ambitious home chef, understanding the differences between multifunction, fanned and conventional ovens can help you cook smarter.
Let's break them down...
Conventional Ovens: The Classic Choice
The electric oven was invented in the late 19th century and became popular in the UK in the 1920's and 1930's when companies such as Belling began to see opportunities for a significant cooking change. There is the same principle today, with elements placed at the top and bottom of the cavity, inducing a natural convection which makes the oven hotter at the top rather than the bottom.
A conventional oven, sometimes known as a static or traditional oven, relies on top and bottom heating elements to warm the oven cavity. The bottom heating element is the primary source of heat and is ideal for roasting large cuts of meat, like turkey or whole chickens. The upper heating element delivers intense heat and works for browning, with the middle rack being considered the favoured position for items such as baked goods.
Conventional ovens do not have a fan to circulate the hot air, so where you place your food within the oven is key for the best results, with dishes often requiring rotation. The classic roast dinner could be cooked with the meat in the middle of the oven, potatoes at the top for maximum heat and crispiness and dessert can be heated up at a more gentle temperature at the bottom of the oven.
- Baking cakes and bread (especially where rising is important)
- Roasting meat when a more radiant, direct heat is desired
- Dishes that need a crispy top (top shelf) or a gentler heat (bottom shelf)
Fanned Ovens: Even Heat, Every Time
Invented in 1945, the first fanned ovens were introduced into the US airline industry, in order to prepare hot meals more quickly. The Maxson Whirlwind Oven did this an impressive 25% quicker, but the domestic fanned oven didn't really begin to develop until the 1960's, with it gathering pace within the UK in the 1980's.
A fanned oven consists of a fan that is designed to circulate air around the cavity and the food. The fan distributes the heat in order to cook the food as evenly as possible, often in less time and at a lower temperature, giving you the best results and perfect for batch cooking. This has various advantages over a conventional oven:
- The oven gets to the required temperature much quicker, meaning heat reaches all parts of your cooking at the same time and often also speeds up cooking time.
- More food can be cooking at one time, without having to change the positions of the dishes within the oven.
- With the air constantly moving around, mixing of flavours is minimised if cooking different types of food, e.g. sweet or savoury.
- Some fanned ovens even allow you to use the fan without the heating element, meaning it is a great way to defrost any meats or other frozen food.
- Cooking multiple trays at once (perfect for batch baking)
- Roasting vegetables and meat quickly
- Meals that require even browning
Multifunction Ovens: The Best of Everything
A multifunction oven offers a variety of heating modes, often combining features of both fanned and conventional ovens. They come with two or more cooking styles to change the heating styles to meet your food's requirements.
Multifunction ovens are built with multiple heating elements behind the oven walls - a top element, a bottom element and one coiled around the electric element. A multifunction oven essentially takes a conventional oven and a fan oven and combines them. This means it is great for all types of cooking, ensuring juicy meat, perfect pastry and crispy potatoes all at the same time!
Many multifunction ovens also include additional features and functions that will suit your every cooking need, often including:
- A defrost function is a very common feature on many multifunction ovens. The fan distributes unheated air so that it won't accidentally start to cook the food.
- Browning functions that perfectly brown or toast your dishes.
- Base heat functions utilising only the lower element to bring a slow cooking style required for specific dishes. It is also ideal for giving your pizza the perfect crispy base.
- Rapid response means that the oven heats up much faster than a regular gas oven.
- Versatile cooks who want flexibility
- Recipes that need precise, controlled heat
- Switching between cooking styles in one appliance to suit different dishes
Most modern range cookers, especially the premium brands we sell, offer more than one oven type - often combining a multifunction oven with a fanned or conventional one. Here are some of our Rangecookers recommendations for when it comes to finding the right functions for you and your cooking...
The multifunction oven on a Rangemaster range cooker offers various functions to allow really flexible cooking:
Defrost
This function operates the fan to circulate cold air only. This enables small items such as desserts and pieces of meat, fish and poultry to be defrosted. Defrosting in this way speeds up the process and protects the food from contamination.
Fanned Grilling
This function operates the fan whilst the top element is on. It produces a more even, less fierce heat than a conventional grill. Thick pieces of meat are ideal for cooking in this way, as the circulated air reduces the intense heat from the grill.
Conventional Oven
A full cooking function for roasting and baking in the lower half of the oven.
Browning Element
Perfect for browning and crisping cheese topped dishes. The browning element can be used in the latter part of the cooking process to fine tune the results to your particular requirements.
Rapid Response (on other selected models)
Rapid Response pre-heats the oven 30% faster than a fan oven, so it means no wasted time waiting for the temperature light to go out before you start your cooking. Tests have shown you can place chilled foods in a cold oven, select Rapid Response, and still get the same results as you would when starting with a pre-heated oven.
Duo Mode (on other selected models)
Provides a gentle heat, operating both the fan and base elements. This is suitable for baking pastries, cake and open tarts e.g. quiches.
The Estel Deluxe offers a practical yet stylish option for those who value durability and functionality. This 110cm model offers a popular symmetrical layout, with a spacious 80-litre multifunction oven, equipped with eight versatile cooking functions, alongside an 80-litre fanned oven.
Above these ovens is a 27-litre slow cook oven, perfect for cooking all types of meals such as curries and stews. On top, this electric induction model boasts the impressive Series 2 induction hob, with five powerful induction zones including boost, child lock and hot hob indicators. There is also a useful bridging zone allowing two zones to be used as one with a removable griddle.
Whether you're an amateur baker or a confident chef, ILVE's specialist functions are very well thought out and give a wide range of benefits...
ECO Cooking
Save energy whilst cooking by choosing ILVE's ECO cooking function. This setting works for slow cooking your food, which is great for pasta bakes and delicate foods such as pastries, but won't be so good for frozen foods.
Pizza/Bread Setting
Take all of your favourite toppings and create an authentic Italian style pizza in your oven with this handy setting. It can also be used to bake bread, with heat being distributed evenly from below and ensuring a perfect bake.
Fan Grill with Rotisserie
The rotisserie function grills meat whilst it rotates around on a spindle provided, ensuring evenly cooked and succulent meat.
Quick Start
If you are short of time, this setting is ideal. The ILVE quick start function will heat your oven to 200°C in as little as six minutes. This saves precious time and gets food onto those plates much quicker.
If you have been looking for a grand, elegant range cooker with a good helping of modern technology, look no further than the ILVE Majestic.
The Majestic offers an array of options for the enthusiastic cook. The twin oven cavities offer a superb cooking environment, with all of the functions and refinement you could need. The multifunction main oven can be timer-controlled using the auto programmer and there is even a meat probe for achieving consistent results. The second oven is also multifunction, but without a fan element. It also features a rotisserie, for succulent cooking of any meats.
The TFT touch screen display/control panel acts as the oven temperature and function indicator for ILVE's excellent E3 technology. This precision temperature control system allows you to select the oven function, then set the desired oven temperature from 30°C to 300°C, and with this higher temperature comes great news for pizza lovers and the more exact adjustment will be welcomed by home bakers.
On top is a superb six zone induction hob, with the advanced and efficient technology you would expect from this top brand. Power boost, automatic boil and a heat up function all add to the convenience.
Bertazzoni are a prestigious sixth generation family-run range cooker manufacturer and one of the oldest brands in Italy. This heritage inspires high end products which combine clean lines, exquisite proportions, and functional ergonomic design, including some of these useful functions.
Bake/Bottom Bake
Uses the lower heating element for even heat distribution, ideal for single-rack baking or warming.
Convection/Fan Assisted
Circulates hot air with a fan for faster and more even cooking, especially beneficial for multiple racks or larger dishes.
Grill
Uses the top heating element for direct, high-heat cooking, perfect for searing and browning.
Convection Grill
Combines convection with grilling for even browning and crisping.
Pizza/Bread
A setting optimised for baking pizzas and crusty breads.
Fast Preheat
Heats the oven quickly to the desired temperature.
Bertazzoni Professional 90 Twin
This double-oven range cooker brings both versatility and style to your kitchen. The main electric oven has 11 functions ranging from convection and grilling to fast-preheat.
A digital programmer allows perfect control of cooking, displaying the oven functions selected, manages time during cooking and gives feedback on real-time temperature. The useful second auxiliary oven has six modes and a high-resolution LCD touch screen display makes all of this easy to control.
On top are six high-quality gas burners, providing power and efficiency with a double-ring wok burner in the centre that is perfect for cooking stir fries.
With lots of other brands to take a look at on our website, plus many more functions to choose from, our team are happy to help on the phone any time! Call us on 01244 402 975 or visit our website here to find out more.
