Do you want to get rid of excess equipment in the kitchen, but still feed your family tasty and varied? Then you definitely need a convection oven - convection oven. It will replace the oven, dryer, partly a double boiler and even microwave. But so that the purchase does not disappoint, you need to know the basic rules for choosing a good aerogrill.
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The best manufacturers of convection ovens - which company to choose
Convection oven is a rare guest in our kitchens, and therefore shops do not rush to score counters with similar equipment. The choice of models is not rich, but among them there are really interesting devices - powerful, high-quality and functional.
These can be found in the range of well-known companies:
- Polaris;
- Redmond;
- Hotter;
- Kitfort;
- Supra.
You can simply choose a good aerogril, without going into the nuances, among the winners of our rating. It presents the best models of all listed manufacturers that will serve you for years.
But since we still have to deal with an unfamiliar technique, let's understand its features first. This will help make the right decision.
The principle of operation and the device aerogrill
Convection oven is often called a convection oven, because it prepares food by blowing hot air over it. As a result, the dishes are succulent inside and do not burn outside. And most importantly - they bake and roast without oil and do not accumulate carcinogenic substances.
The main elements of the "air" grill:
1. The lid in which is located the entire electrical filling;
2. A heating element;
3. Blower fan;
4. Control Panel;
5. Deep bowl with grill, various supports and rings, increasing its useful volume.
When you turn on the heater (halogen, carbon or conventional heater), built-in cover, heats himself and heats the air in the chamber.
The fan immediately picks up the hot streams and causes them to circulate inside the case, smoothing the food evenly. Depending on the features of the selected model, the temperature and power of the air "vortexes" can be set from the control panel.
Types of aerogrill
Classic convection oven (with bowl)
Above, we briefly described the device of traditional air-grills. These models are made of heat-resistant glass, often equipped with a wide variety of accessories, and their cover, which is essentially a grill, can be removable or mounted on a bracket.
The useful volume of the convection oven flasks is 3-14 liters, and this limit will have to be guided when choosing portions of ready meals.
Pros:
- A wide range of models;
- The ability to increase the volume of the bowl using a special extension (only in devices with a removable lid);
- Good feature set and rich equipment.
Minuses:
- Rather big dimensions;
- The high cost of devices with electronic control.
Universal convection oven cover
Since the entire working “filling” of the aerogrill is located in its lid, such universal devices without bowls began to appear on the market. They can be fixed to any heat-resistant dishes of a suitable diameter, starting with a frying pan and ending with a deep pan.
The result is no worse than that of full-fledged models with their own flasks, and the cost of universal caps is much lower.
Pros:
- Relatively compact size;
- Possibility of fastening to any ware of the necessary volume;
- Affordable cost.
Minuses:
- Poor functionality compared to classic aerogrills - mainly due to the mechanical control method;
- Modest selection of models.
Airgrill selection options
Power
For aerogrill, power is one of the main indicators that determines the number of available temperature regimes and the speed of cooking. On the other hand, too powerful devices create a serious wiring load and consume a lot of energy.
What you are willing to donate - decide for yourself. As a guide, we offer the following numbers:
1. 800-1000 W - so much consume low-power models with limited functionality. They can be used in houses with weak wiring, but you should not expect high cooking speed from such devices.
2. 1200-1400 W - the best indicator for a home appliance. Such models have a sufficient number of additional options and the average cooking speed.
3. 1600 W and above - so powerful appliances it makes sense to choose only if you do not have an oven, a microwave, and you are going to cook in a convection oven every day. However, with these devices you can often find many unnecessary functions that are not always needed, but seriously increase the cost of the convection oven itself.
Heater Type
Three types of heating elements can be used to heat the air in the convection oven:
1. Heating element
It is a metal tube with a resistance core inside it. It creates long heat waves that uniformly heat the products inside and outside the chamber, and has a decent service life (up to 10-12 years).
Alas, it takes quite a long time to prepare dishes with the help of heating elements, and at the same time they lose most of their juice. Another disadvantage of such a heater is the possibility of oxidation of the metal sheath, so give preference to stainless steel tubes.
2. Halogen heater
This is a bright tubular lamp, whose energy is spent not only on the glow, but also on the generation of heat. Such a grill brings food to readiness faster, and when it is turned off, it cools down just as quickly.
A serious disadvantage of luminous heaters is the fragility of the glass bulb and the service life not exceeding 2-3 years. In addition, impurities appear on the surface of the halogen lamp during cooking, which may even disrupt the structure of the glass envelope.
3. Carbon Heater
Faster than others goes to a predetermined temperature and more economically consumes consumed electricity. Durable, although it requires careful handling. With it, all the dishes are evenly baked from the inside, and the outside is covered with an appetizing grilled crust. The main thing is not to shake or drop the cover with carbon fiber heater, otherwise its core will collapse.
Control type
Like any small appliances, convection ovens can be electronically or mechanically controlled.
Simple low-end models are equipped with rotary controls, with which you can set the temperature and cooking time (usually no more than 60 minutes). Perhaps the only advantage of this solution is ease of operation - even those who are not particularly friendly with modern technology will quickly understand the mechanical aerogril.
More advanced and functional models have electronic controls and even a small display. All this makes it possible to choose different cooking modes, control the temperature and speed of the air flow, and most importantly, quietly leave the appliance to work unattended. He will turn off after the program is completed, and in case of any problems he will inform the hosts about this.
Bowl volume
If universal models in the form of lids can be fixed to almost any dish, then this trick will not work with classic aerogrill. The maximum that manufacturers can offer is expansion rings that increase the volume of the main bowl by 2-4 liters. And the rest will have to be content with the capacity that is provided by the design of the device.
The smallest devices are the volume of 3-8 liters - they can cook dinner for 1-2 people.If you are cooking several dishes at different levels or you want to fry a whole bird carcass in a convection oven, you will need a model of 10-14 liters.
Lid attachment method
Classic aerogrills have two types of covers: removable and folding, mounted on a special bracket. Each of these options has its pros and cons.
A removable lid allows the use of expansion rings to increase the volume of the complete bowl, or even pick up other suitable dishes. But in the cramped kitchen sometimes there is simply no place to lay aside the heavy red-hot nozzle, if you need to add something to the cooking dish.
Fastening with the help of the bracket solves the problem of lack of space and does not require to hold a heavy device on weight. However, this design does not allow to “build up” the walls of the bowl, and the folding mechanism itself under such load may break over time.
Additional functions
Despite the abundance of functions of electronically controlled aerogrill, not all of them will be in demand in your kitchen, but each of them separately will increase the cost of the device. So the choice of convection oven on this parameter should be approached soberly.
The following programs will be really useful:
1. The timer - at the end of cooking, emits a signal and turns off the device. With the models that are further advanced, you can also set the start time.
2. Keeping warm - keeps ready meals hot for a given time.
3. Adjustable airflow - choosing a high-speed fan mode, you can cook dishes with minimal power consumption, make a crispy crust at high speeds or bake the food better from the inside.
4. Auto heating - it takes more time than using a microwave, but if you do not have a microwave, this function will help more than once.
5. Drying is the mode of low-temperature processing of mushrooms, herbs and fruits, which allows to keep the maximum of useful substances in them.
The so-called self-cleaning, claimed by some manufacturers, is in fact difficult to call a separate function. You can put a container with water and detergent in almost any high-quality convection oven, and then steam the chamber for 10-15 minutes. Then the softened fat will still have to be scrubbed by hand.
But the complete set of a convection oven should be as complete as possible. Lattices, nets, skewers, baking trays and tongs-tongs - all this will make your communication with the equipment easier, and the menu is more diverse.
Which convection oven is better to choose
1. For small families, as well as all those who already have an oven or microwave, a large convection oven is not needed. A compact classic model with a bowl capacity of 3-6 liters, a hinged lid and a capacity from 1 kW is suitable. Functionality is better to choose richer, preferring the device with electronic control and a halogen lamp.
2. Those who love culinary experiments should take a closer look at aerogrills with a removable lid and an increasing bowl of not less than 8-10 liters (the extension rings should be included in the kit). Look for a 1.3-1.4 kW appliance with a halogen or carbon-fiber heater, as well as a maximum list of functions.
3. If you decide to do without the oven, you will need the largest convection oven, which is only on sale - from 14 liters and more. Take the device with a removable cover and additional extensions with high power (up to 1.8 kW). It is good if it will be possible to regulate not only the heating temperature, but also the fan speed in it.
4. Is there not enough space for a full-size aerogrill in the kitchen? Buy a universal cover. For the first acquaintance, the simplest device with mechanical control and metal heating elements is suitable. But if you plan to use it to heat food, it is better to choose a device with a halogen lamp. You do not need to chase after high power - enough of an economical device for 800-1000 watts.
How much is convection oven
1. Classical Tenovy models in the market are presented most widely - it is possible to find convection oven of any volume at the price from 2,5 to 13 thousand rubles.
2. Devices with a halogen heater are on average cheaper - from 1600 to 9500 rubles.
3. So far there are not enough carbon models on sale, and all of them belong to the budget segment (2-3 thousand rubles).
4. Universal covers are the cheapest - these can be bought for 1200-1800 rubles.
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