Tips for choosing a De'Longhi mini oven

There are apartments in which you cannot put a large electric stove with an oven. This is not a problem if you are a fan of cafes and restaurants and have the opportunity to eat out. If you want to cook delicious homemade food, then you will have to explore the options offered by modern manufacturers of household appliances.

One of these options is a mini oven. What it is? Despite the prefix "mini", this is a very functional thing! This device combines the properties of an oven, grill, microwave oven and even a bread machine. At the same time, the consumption of electric energy in a mini-oven is much lower than that of each of the listed devices. De 'Longhi mini-ovens are reviewed below and which model is best to choose from.

De 'Longhi is of Italian origin, the brand is over 40 years old and has an excellent reputation in the home appliance market. The company's credo is to transform familiar household devices into models of comfort and versatility. The brand is constantly evolving, investing most of its profits in the development and research of new technologies.

The difference between a mini-oven and a familiar oven is primarily in size. Gas mini-ovens do not exist - they are only electric. However, they consume little electricity, especially when compared to microwave ovens or ovens. There are mini ovens equipped with cooking rings. They are warmed up rather quickly, and maintaining the desired temperature is possible for a long time.

Food is cooked in mini ovens thanks to heat treatment. It is provided by heating elements - the so-called heating elements. There can be several or one of them. The most common options for installing heating elements are at the top and bottom of the furnace: to ensure uniform heating. Quartz heating elements are extremely popular, as they heat up much faster.

In the De 'Longhi line, there are mainly relatively expensive models, but there are also a number of budget stoves. Premium models have a wider range of features, they are more powerful.

Standing in front of two or even three dozen different ovens, one involuntarily wonders how to make the right choice. To do this, it is worth discussing the criteria that should be considered when purchasing this type of household appliance.

• Oven volume. The "fork" from minimum to maximum is quite large: the smallest oven has a volume of 8 liters, and the most spacious - all forty. When choosing, it is important to know what the unit is for: if you warm up semi-finished products in it and prepare hot sandwiches, a minimum volume is enough; if you plan to fully cook for yourself and / or your family members, medium and large ovens are suitable. The larger your mini oven, the more you can cook in it at a time.
• The power of the oven is directly related to the volume of the oven. De 'Longhi offers a range of wattages ranging from 650W to 2200W. More powerful units cook faster, but consume more electricity. The price is also in direct proportion to the capacity.
• The coating inside the oven must withstand high temperatures and be environmentally friendly and non-combustible. It is desirable that it is easy to wash.
• Temperature modes. Their number may be different, the choice depends on your needs.

In addition to the above, when buying, you should make sure that the device is stable, strong, does not wobble or slip on the table surface. You need to check the length of the cable, for this it is better to decide at home where you plan to put your stove, measure the distance to the outlet and calculate the length that you need. The operating instructions supplied with each model will most likely contain a recommendation to heat the device to maximum temperature before cooking for the first time. This advice should not be neglected.

In addition to the above, De 'Longhi devices may have a number of additional functions., such as self-cleaning, the presence of a built-in thermostat, spit, timer, backlight. Childproof protection may be provided. A metal detector is very convenient, which does not allow the oven to turn on if a metal object gets inside. Of course, the more additional functions a device has, the more expensive it is.

First of all, it is worth dwelling on the pros. So:

• the versatility of the device, the ability to bake any products;
• easy to clean and maintain;
• less energy intensive than analogues of other brands;
• easy to place on the table, compact;
• budget and versatility.

With all the positive characteristics of the devices, they also have disadvantages. It:

• strong heating of the device during operation;
• the panels are not always conveniently located;
• if food has fallen, there is no tray for it.

Of course, it will not be possible to talk about the features of the entire line within the framework of one article, therefore, we will focus on the most popular models of the brand.

• EO 12562 - medium power model (1400 W). Aluminum body. Equipped with two heating elements, built-in thermostat. Manually operated with levers. Has five temperature modes and convection. Heats up to 220 degrees. Compact, meals are prepared quickly. Control levers can become seized during prolonged use.

• EO 241250. M - powerful model (2000 W), with three heating elements. It has seven temperature modes, as well as convection, and is equipped with a built-in thermostat. Heats up to 220 degrees Celsius. Easy to operate, high quality, but users notice problems when baking meat.

• EO 32852 - the model has almost the same characteristics as the oven above, except for the power: it has 2200 watts. The door is glazed in two layers, which is why the outer part heats up less. The control is done manually by means of levers. Of the shortcomings, users call the difficulty in installing the spit.

• EO 20312 - model with one heating element and three temperature settings. Mechanically controlled, equipped with convection and built-in thermostat. In addition, this type of mini-oven has a timer that can be set for 2 hours. The volume of the oven is 20 liters. Among the disadvantages of the model is the need to have a large margin of time for cooking.

Each De 'Longhi mini oven comes with a multilingual instruction manual. Any (even the most inexpensive) model is guaranteed for at least a year.

In the next video, you will find an overview of the De'Longhi EO 20792 mini-oven.