Which oven is best?

When looking for a new oven, you probably want to know which oven is best for your kitchen and needs. What is a conventional oven? What is a convection oven? Is a convection microwave oven worth it? What about a steam oven? These questions might float through your mind while exploring your options.

Most of our ovens, for example, are convection ovens, meaning they are equipped with a fan to evenly spread hot air throughout the oven. Cleaning the oven is a tiresome, thankless task. Opt for a self-cleaning oven, also known as a pyrolytic oven, to save time and hassle.

Browse our oven guide below to find out what to consider when buying a new appliance.

Depending on your kitchen layout and your personal preferences, there are different types of ovens to choose from.

Built-in oven : Integrated into a cupboard, either underneath a worktop or, more ergonomically, at eye level in a wall.

Built-in oven with hob controls : Control both your oven and hob from the same control panel.

Freestanding cooker : Two appliances – an oven and a hob – in one appliance.

Double oven : Two separate ovens in one appliance – typically built into a wall.

Measure your cutout or look in the user manual of your current oven as a starting point. Here's some general advice about oven sizes.

• Standard oven size: 60 x 60cm (w x h)
• Compact oven size: 60 x 45cm (w x h)
• XL oven size: 90 x 48cm (w x h)
• XXL size: 90 x 60cm (w x h)

Pro tip:  A compact oven can be combined with a warming drawer to fit a standard oven size cutout.

Today's ovens generate heat or circulate the air in different ways. For example, a convection oven cooks and bakes with hot air while a steam oven can cook food with steam in addition to cooking and baking with hot air.

What is a convection oven?

A convection oven uses a fan to distribute heat evenly throughout the interior. This helps dishes to cook more evenly. In addition to the convection setting, a convection oven also offers, for example, conventional heat (no fan), bottom heat and grill settings. Our ovens come with an advanced convection setting, such as 3D Hotair or 4D Hotair. The advantage: even distribution of heat on three (3D) or four (4D) racks simultaneously.

What is a steam oven?

In addition to offering the cooking modes of a conventional oven, a steam oven also uses steam to cook foods. Steaming is a light yet delicious way to cook a wide variety of foods, from fish and poultry to vegetables. The method also helps preserve nutrients and provides an effective way to reheat many foods. Our steam ovens allow you to steam cook an entire meal – vegetables, fish, potatoes – on three racks at once.

Pro tip: An added steam feature on some of our convection ovens let you add blasts of steam to bake, for example, crusty bread.

What is a convection microwave oven?

A convection microwave oven is a convection oven that comes with a microwave setting. The multi-functional appliance can be used to cook food as well as to heat it up, meaning you don't need a separate microwave. Activating the microwave while cooking also speeds up the cooking process. Efficient, space saving and convenient! 

Pro tip: Some of our convection microwave ovens also come with added steam function.

What is a self-cleaning oven? A self-cleaning oven, also known as a pyrolytic oven, comes with a cleaning programme that uses high temperatures to burn off food and grease residue on the interior. When the programme is finished, all you have to do is wipe out the remaining ash – no harsh chemicals necessary!

Some of our ovens comes with a grease absorbing coating or hydrolysis water cleaning instead of pyrolytic self-cleaning.

A WiFi oven can be accessed and operated via an app on your smartphone. Our smart ovens, which work with the Home Connect app, offer clever features that make daily life more enjoyable. 

• Convenience: Preheat the oven on your way home.
• Safety: Double check it's switched off after leaving.
• Precision: Select a recipe in the app – send the settings to your WiFi-enabled oven.
• Support:  Remote Diagnostics allows a Bosch technician to investigate an issue from afar. 

Look forward to new features in the future as well.

Advances in oven design and technologies take cooking and baking to the next level. Here are some of our highlights.

Telescopic rails: For easy and safe handling, telescopic oven rails help you safely remove baking trays, dishes and racks from the oven.

PerfectBake: The PerfectBake sensor monitors the moisture content of baked goods, and turns off the oven automatically when done. So every cake is baked to perfection.

PerfectRoast: With up to three measuring points, our PerfectRoast meat probe measures the temperature of all kinds of meats, for perfectly-cooked meat at every time.

Pizza stone: Dream of delicious homemade pizza? Add a ceramic pizza stone as an accessory to any of our ovens for a crisp crust.

What is the most reliable oven brand? How long do ovens last? What is the best oven to buy? Who makes the best ovens? It's natural to want a high quality appliance that will last for years to come. At Bosch, we offer uncompromising quality, technical perfection and maximum-possible reliability – as demonstrated in many independent product tests. 

How much energy does an oven consume? It varies from model to model as well as the settings and temperatures you frequently use.

Generally speaking, most modern ovens consume around 2.4kWh per hour on medium to high heat. Our most energy efficient ovens use convection heat. 

Crusty bread, moist cake, tender biscuits: having the best oven for baking is a must for passionate bakers. All of our ovens are designed for baking, so it ultimately comes down to your wants and kitchen space. If you frequently bake large batches of, for example, muffins or biscuits, an XL or XXL oven provides extra space for multiple trays at once. Features such as PerfectBake or added steam are the icing on the cake.