Find The Best Oven For Baking Cakes With These Top Tips.

We’ve been asked many times ‘What is the best oven for baking cakes?’ A few months ago we created a blog dedicated to this question. Now, we are taking our research one step further in order to help you find an oven that will help you to create the perfect bake!

We’ll unveil a few of our favourite ovens for the baker but before we do, there are a few important things to consider that will help you on your mission to buy the best oven for baking beautiful muffins, perfectly raised cakes and delicate meringues.

Convection, Fan & Conventional Ovens – What’s The Difference?

Convection Ovens: Any oven with a fan. The majority of ovens now include a convection setting as standard but they are not necessarily a proper ‘multifunction’ oven. 

Convection is just one step up from conventional.  In simple terms, a convection oven (also referred to as fan assisted) has a fan at the back of the oven that blows heat generated from the top/bottom heating elements, around the cavity. Convection ovens are available in gas or electric models.

Fan Ovens: A true fan oven has a fan with a heating element around it, essentially a third heat source. A fan oven is always electric. 

Cooking with fan assistance, results in an even oven temperature throughout the cavity. Food will cook quicker and more evenly too. A select number of top the the range, high spec fan ovens have specialist programmes dedicated to baking and are capable of adjusting the settings automatically.  It’s always worthwhile to research the special functions available on an oven before you commit to buy.

Conventional Ovens: A conventional oven heats up using the top and bottom heating elements only, it does not have a fan. These are the cheapest ovens on the market. Although a conventional setting is recommended for baking cookies and delicate bakes it’s worthwhile to buy a fan assisted oven with both convection and conventional functions, as having both options provides greater cooking flexibility.

Oven Features Bakers Will Love!

Soft Close Hinges.

If you love to bake a soufflé or two and regularly bake meringues it is worth looking for an oven with soft closing hinges to prevent sunken soufflés and collapsed meringue disasters!

Soft closing hinges allow the oven door to close softly and quietly without a sudden jolt. Slow motion closing prevents too much cold air sweeping into the oven which helps to reduce interference to the internal temperature. It is always best to avoid opening the door during baking, a sudden drop in temperature (opening the door before the cake has set) can spoil cakes, resulting in a sunken middle!

Telescopic Shelves.

Removing and placing food into an oven with telescopic shelves is much safer and easier.  Fully extendable telescopic runners are versatile and secure. Once fully extended, you can comfortably turn food or check the ‘doneness’ of your bakes safely, without having to peer into the hot cavity.

Assisted Baking Programmes.

Some top of the range ovens now come with programmes that take the guess work out of baking and cooking! Ovens in the Whirlpool W collection, for example, feature 6th Sense Technology which will automatically adjust times and settings during the bake to produce perfectly moist, beautifully browned cakes and chewy centered cookies. 

Assisted baking programmes have often been developed with the help of professional bakers and chefs as they understand that dependent on what you plan to bake, settings always need to be adjusted to suit the individual recipe. Technology and programmes tailored to a specific recipe will help you to achieve the best possible results time and time again. 

Self Cleaning Ovens - Catalytic, Hydro & Pyrolytic Cleaning Cycles.

There is no doubt about it a self cleaning oven makes oven cleaning really easy.  If you’re a keen baker and cook then a pyrolytic cleaning oven with it’s ultra tough cleaning cycle would be great choice for you. 

There are various options to look out for including ovens featuring catalytic liners, hydro cleaning cycles and also pyrolytic cleaning ovens. So what is the difference between a catalytic, pyrolytic and hydro cleaning oven? 

Catalytic Ovens.

The sides of a catalytic oven are lined with special catalytic liners that are coated with unique chemicals designed to absorb as much grease as possible during cooking. Catalytic liners are usually only placed on the sides of the oven meaning the upper and bottom sections will still need to be cleaned manually. 

Pyrolytic Cleaning Ovens.

Pyrolytic ovens feature a tough cleaning programme where temperatures soar up to 400ºC within the cavity, burning away any grease and food debris inside, turning it into ash.

The door on a pyrolytic cleaning oven will automatically lock when the cleaning cycle is in operation, only opening again once the temperature inside has lowered to a safe level. It takes a couple of hours to complete the programme but the results are outstanding! Simply wipe away the ash debris and you’re done! 

It is a cost effective cleaning cycle, costing approximately 40p per cycle. Ovens falling within the higher priced categories often have a pyrolytic cleaning cycle.

Hydro Cleaning Ovens.

Hydro cleaning ovens heat water to high temperatures to generate steam which loosens any food deposits and grease lurking inside. It cleans your oven without the need for harsh chemicals. The internal cavity is lined with a special coating which has unique cleaning properties, these are activated during a steam clean cycle and help to achieve sparkling results with ease!

Best Ovens For Baking Cakes.

Below, you’ll discover a couple of newly launched ovens that are now available to buy at Appliance House.  These models are serious contenders for the top spot on our mission to find the best oven to bake cakes! 

Whirlpool W11IOM14MS2H, Built in Single Oven

The A+ energy rated W11IOM14MS2H, Built in Single Oven from the Whirlpool W Collection is an outstanding oven designed to help you achieve professional cooking results with minimal effort!  

Featuring Whirlpool 6th Sense Technology and a multi sense food probe this oven is capable of monitoring the internal temperature of food to achieve outstanding results. The oven will automatically adjust times and settings accordingly so you can cook anything from succulent joints of meat, oven roasted vegetables through to meringues and strudels, all to perfection. 

The touch control, full colour screen enables you to scroll through plenty of settings including Ready2Cook which uses a powerful convection system. The Cook4 function allows you to cook up to four dishes without flavours mixing with options specifically designed for baking cookies, tarts and pizza’s. 

Sponge, fruit and chocolate cakes can be baked to chef standards using the multi sense probe. There are even bespoke settings and recipe suggestions for baking cookies, pastries, tarts, meringues and fruit filled pie that take the guess work out of baking!

Once you’ve mastered baking like a pro the eco friendly hydro cleaning setting on the Whirlpool W11IOM14MS2H will leave your oven sparkling clean with just the touch of a button.  

Caple, C2403GM Built In Single Oven

The stylish Caple C2403GM Single Oven has specialist technology that helps you cook with precision and control. Once cooking is finished, it also has self cleaning pyrolytic cleaning function to help keep your oven immaculately clean.

It features a 67 litre oven capacity which provides ample space to create multiple bakes and the full touch control is a delight to use making it effortless to scroll between functions. 

Bakes can be handled with ease thanks to two sliding telescopic rail system. The telescopic shelves are extremely stable and allows full visibility and access to every dish.  

The energy efficient A rated, Caple C2403GM Single Oven features Motion+ a function that evenly distributed heat around the cavity. This ensures the oven heats up quickly, saving time and energy. Motion + is ideal for multi level cooking allowing you to cook different dishes in the oven without the risk of flavour transfer. 

We hope you've found our tips and round up of the best ovens for baking cakes useful! We have an excellent selection of single, double and steam ovens on offer at Appliance House. Please call one of our helpful team at Appliance House on 0330 002 0229 should you require any further guidance or advice. 

We’re a friendly bunch and always happy to help.

Updated March 2024.