What the different oven symbols mean

Circulating air, top heat or hot air? The symbols on the oven are often not clear. We explain what the signs mean.

Have no idea what all the symbols on your oven stand for? We reveal what they mean!

Whether it's pizza, roast or casserole - you use the same settings on your oven over and over again? 180 °C top/bottom heat is the classic. Then you should quickly get to grips with the other symbols on the wheels of your oven. For optimal baking results, you should take advantage of the oven's entire performance spectrum! Manufacturers are irritating many customers with new features all the time - so it's time to go back to basics. So what do the classic oven symbols on the knobs of the appliances mean? When do the respective settings come into play? It's not that hard!" Oven comparison: the best devices at a glance

The oven symbol for top and bottom heat

The classic: top and bottom heat is the most common oven setting.

Every layman knows the combination of top and bottom heat. Inside the oven are usually heating coils - top and bottom. The lower heating element is always covered, the upper is usually open. Current ovens can reach up to 300 °C with this mode at a power of 3500 watts. Top/bottom heat is considered particularly versatile, but reaches its limits with multiple levels. Thus, the pizza placed on top does not get much of the lower heating coil - the lower pizza, on the other hand, hardly gets brown on top.

• This is what the oven symbol looks like: Two cuboids at the upper and lower ends of the symbolic oven represent the heating coils. This symbol is so familiar that it hardly differs between at different manufacturers.
• Variations: Upper and lower heat you also control individually if necessary. The respective switched off cuboid is missing in these representations.
• Tip: You can save the preheating in the top / bottom heat in many recipes - simply adjust the cooking time individually and save energy. By the way: intensify the effect of the respective heating coil by placing the baking tray further up or down.

The oven symbol for circulating air

You can always recognize circulating air by the propeller. The can always look different depending on the manufacturer, however.

The circulating air solves the problem of uneven heat distribution with multiple levels. The oven supplements the top and/or bottom heat with a propeller, which is often placed on the back wall of the oven. The circulating air distributes the temperature better, cooking food more evenly. Circulating air is considered gentler and comparatively energy-saving.

• This is what the oven symbol looks like: The stylized blades of a fan indicate that air is involved here. Depending on the manufacturer, this can be three or four fan blades - it does not make a difference.
• Variations: Some ovens represent the circulating air in conjunction with other symbols, such as the top / bottom heat squares. Often, only one of the radiators can be activated to save energy.
• Tip: Also here, the preheating is not necessary. Circulating air quickly comes to operating temperature - preheating only causes unnecessary costs.

The oven symbol for the grill

A jagged line symbolizes the grill function. The number of prongs indicates the intensity.

Many ovens now offer a grill function. Complementary to the top heat, the grill function relies on an even more intense heat. Thus succeeds an intensive browning and the popular Knuspereffekt with überbacken cheese. However, this function is only a limited substitute for a grill from the garden. Who wants, subjects his dishes with the grill function but a successful heat cure for more intense roast flavors.

• So the oven icon looks: A jagged line at the top of the symbol. Here there are small optical differences among manufacturers, but the grill function is basically the same in its functionality.
• Variations: You also switch on the convection mode if necessary. In conjunction with the convection propeller, you activate the convection grill to distribute the heat a little more evenly.
• Tip: Who plans to use the grill function regularly, should pay attention to a sufficient heat output to achieve the desired crispy browning in any case.

The oven icon for hot air

Danger of confusion: the symbol for hot air is similar to circulating air - but the modes of operation differ significantly.

Hot air is a feature that plays a role in many premium ovens. A ring-shaped radiator heats up on the rear wall of the oven, a fan distributes the air complementary in the oven. This special constellation distributes the air even better than with classic convection, as the radiant heat is first distributed from above and below. Due to the intensive temperature development, preheating is completely unnecessary. However, caution is advised: Not all foods can be prepared without problems with hot air. If you want something gentler, it's worth considering the classic convection oven. Especially rolls and other dough baked goods quickly suffer from the strong heat effect from all sides.

• This is what the oven symbol looks like: A propeller in a ring symbolizes the special heating technology of hot air. Not to be confused with the circulating air.
• Variations: None
• Tip: A high heat output also means that you should beware of drying out the dishes. When used correctly, however, hot air saves energy and time.

Alternative oven icons

Some functions look different on every appliance. Here only the look in the manual helps,

ovens come with always new functions on the market. Be it automatic cleaning by pyrolysis or special reheating functions. Here only the look in the manual helps: for many functions there are simply no standardized symbols. A separate program for defrosting bread? A keep-warm function? All of these things are available in some ovens, but you'll have to find out exactly what they look like on a case-by-case basis. It is also impossible to make a definite prediction here about the mode of operation: Zum Grad der Hitzeentwicklung und der verwendeten Heiztechnologie sollten Sie aber in jedem Fall Informationen in der Anleitung des Ofens finden.

• So sieht das Backofen-Symbol aus: Vollkommen unvorhersehbar. Hersteller programmieren Funktionen in ihre Öfen, Standards gibt es hier kaum
• Variationen: Unbegrenzt
• Tipp: Informieren Sie sich vor dem Kauf, was Ihr künftiger Backofen können muss – und was nicht. So sparen Sie eventuell Geld bei der Anschaffung. Mithilfe des Produktfinders klicken Sie sich ganz einfach zu Ihrem perfekten Ofen.

Backofen

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