An oven is a kitchen essential, and a purchase you’ll want to get right the first time. It should not only cook all your meals to perfection, but also be easy to use and clean. A good oven is reliable and can last through endless hours of food preparation. Find one that ticks these boxes and you’ll be a happy customer.
There’s no doubt that Fiona knows her way around a kitchen and has endless knowledge about kitchen appliances. With 30 years’ experience, she’s seen lots of new technology enter the kitchen space – from the rise in pyrolytic self-cleaning ovens to useful control panels with automatic programs built in.
Over the years she’s put many ovens to the test and homed in on the factors that make an oven a breeze to use. Our test coordinator Chantelle is also a key member of our team, helping us put more and more popular kitchen appliances to the test.
With so many to choose from, what makes us choose one oven to test over another? As with most of our product testing, our aim is to test the most popular models on the market and what you’re most likely to see in stores.
We survey manufacturers to find out about their range of models and check market sales information, and we also check for any member requests to test specific models. From this information we put together a final list that goes to our buyers. They then head out to the retailers and buy each product, just as a normal consumer would. We do this so we can be sure the products are the exact same as what any consumer would take home and not ‘tweaked’ in any way.
Some freestanding ovens cost well over $6000 and in order to cover the market as well as meet our budgets we occasionally request one-off loans for higher-end models to see how they perform. These are always returned to the manufacturer after the test period.
How we test high-end ovens
Do you need the extra features found in expensive ovens, like wireless connectivity and assisted cooking?
How we test ovens
Our expert testers put ovens through their paces by cooking scones, meringues, roast chicken and pizza, and also toasting bread. By doing this they test the oven’s ability to perform over a range of temperatures, times and functions.
Performance
On most ovens, we carry out the following performance tests.
Multi-shelf cooking: Scones are baked over two shelves to test how evenly the ovens perform at a high temperature over a short time.
Low temperature cooking: Meringues are baked to assess cooking ability at a low temperature for a long period.
Roasting: Our testers roast a whole chicken to assess baking performance on a non-uniform food at a moderate to high temperature over a long period, while retaining moisture and crisping the skin.
Base cooking: We cook a freshly prepared pizza at a very high temperature for a short period to assess the ability to crisp and brown the base and evenly cook the toppings.
Grilling: We toast bread to assess the grill area for how quickly it toasts the bread and how evenly the heat is distributed.
The CHOICE Expert Rating, our overall score that determines which products we recommend, is made up of scores for performance (60%) and ease of use (40%). Weightings are in brackets.
Our test lab
We maintain a kitchen lab that is up to date with the latest reference machines and calibrated measurement tools for our testers to bring you the right results.
Rebecca Ciaramidaro is a Content producer in the Household team at CHOICE. Rebecca writes about a wide range of children's and household products, ranging from cots and strollers to ovens, BBQs, espresso machines and electric blankets. And also grocery items such as nappies, sanitary pads and laundry detergents.
Previously at CHOICE, Rebecca worked as a Test officer in the kitchen lab.
Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from the University of Western Sydney.
Find Rebecca on LinkedIn.
Rebecca Ciaramidaro is a Content producer in the Household team at CHOICE. Rebecca writes about a wide range of children's and household products, ranging from cots and strollers to ovens, BBQs, espresso machines and electric blankets. And also grocery items such as nappies, sanitary pads and laundry detergents.
Previously at CHOICE, Rebecca worked as a Test officer in the kitchen lab.
Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from the University of Western Sydney.
Find Rebecca on LinkedIn.
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