Wall Ovens, Steam Ovens, Speed Ovens and Warming Drawers

Once the oven leaves the range and moves into a cabinet, you have more choices than oven size. Wall ovens come as singles and doubles, with different kinds of convection, and alongside them sit steam ovens, speed ovens and warming drawers. This page explains what each one does well and how to plan the cabinet that holds them. Whether to separate the oven from the cooktop at all is covered under range versus cooktop and wall oven.

What each appliance does

Single or double

Wall ovens are sold in width classes of 24, 27 and 30 inches, with 30 inch the most common in new kitchens and 27 inch often found in older cabinetry. These are categories. The cabinet is built to the cutout on the installation sheet of the model you buy.

A single oven can be placed at exactly the right height, with storage above and below. For most households, one oven handles nearly every meal of the year.

A double oven stacks two cavities in one unit. It earns its place if you often bake and roast at different temperatures at the same time, or cook for large gatherings several times a year. The geometry is the compromise: with two cavities stacked, the upper one opens above the comfortable zone or the lower one sits close to the floor.

Other ways to get a second oven

• A single oven with a speed oven or combi-steam oven above it. Two different tools, each used often, in the same tall cabinet.
• Two single ovens side by side under the counter or at mid height. Both at the same good height, at the cost of width.
• A range with a single wall oven elsewhere.

Many designers now prefer the first option to a double oven, because the second cavity gets daily use instead of holiday use.

Convection, explained

Convection means a fan moves the hot air, which evens out the temperature and speeds browning. The word covers different designs:

• Fan-assisted convection. A fan at the back circulates heat from the ordinary top and bottom elements. An improvement over no fan.
• True convection (also sold as European or third-element convection). A dedicated heating element surrounds the fan, so the moving air is itself heated. This gives the most even results across several racks.
• Dual or twin convection. Two fans, sometimes reversing direction, for evenness in a wide cavity.

If you bake on more than one rack at a time, true convection is the feature to look for. If you mostly roast and reheat, fan-assisted is adequate. Other features worth a look: a temperature probe, telescoping racks that glide out fully under a heavy pan, and the cleaning method.

Steam and combi-steam ovens

A steam oven cooks with water vapor. A steam-only oven is the simpler, less common kind. A combi-steam oven combines steam with convection heat, alone or together, and is the one most people mean.

What it does well:

• Vegetables, fish and grains, cooked gently without drying.
• Bread and pastry, where steam early in the bake helps crust and rise.
• Roasts, kept moist inside with convection browning the outside.
• Reheating leftovers so they taste freshly cooked, the task many owners end up valuing most.

Water comes from one of two places. A reservoir model has a tank you fill and empty, and needs no plumbing. A plumbed model has a water supply and usually a drain, which must be roughed in to the cabinet location before drywall. Decide which you are buying early, because the plumbing has to be in the wall. Either way the cavity is smaller than a standard oven, so check it against your pans.

Speed ovens

A speed oven is a compact built-in oven that cooks with microwaves and convection heat together, and can use either alone. It reheats like a microwave, bakes like a small oven, and in combination cooks and browns faster than a conventional oven. In a tall cabinet above a single wall oven it replaces the microwave and provides the second oven in one piece. The other microwave placements are compared under microwave options.

Check the interior size, whether metal pans can be used in combination modes on that model, and the electrical requirement. Speed ovens are made in versions with different electrical needs, and the more powerful versions preheat and cook faster.

Warming drawers

A warming drawer holds food at serving temperature and warms plates. It is useful when family members eat at different times, when you entertain and dishes finish at different moments, and for proofing bread dough on a low setting. Look for humidity control, which keeps food moist or crisp as needed, and a temperature range wide enough for both proofing and holding.

It takes the place of a drawer, usually directly below a wall oven, and can accept a cabinet panel so it reads as an ordinary drawer front. If cabinet space is tight, a drawer of pots may serve you better. A warming drawer also needs power at its location.

Installation height

The point of a wall oven is its height, so set it deliberately. These are designer guidelines and personal fit, not code requirements:

• For a single oven, aim to have the rack you use most between waist and chest height for the main cook, so a heavy pan comes straight out without bending or lifting.
• With a drop-down door, the open door should sit below elbow height so you are not reaching up and over it.
• In a stack of two appliances, give the good height to the one used most. For many households that is the speed oven or combi-steam oven, not the large oven.
• Keep controls and displays below eye level for the shortest regular user.
• Stand in front of a mock-up, or a showroom display, with an empty roasting pan and check the motion.

The page on aging-in-place kitchen design has more on reach ranges and side-swing doors.

Cabinet and electrical planning

• The tall cabinet is built to the cutouts. Each appliance in the stack has its own cutout height, and the manufacturer specifies the spacing between them. Give the cabinet shop every installation sheet together.
• Support. Ovens are heavy. The cabinet needs a platform rated for the load, as the installation sheet describes.
• Flush or proud. Some ovens can be installed flush with the cabinet face, which needs a deeper, more exact cutout. Decide before the cabinet is built.
• Landing space. Plan a counter beside or directly across from the oven for hot dishes. A tall oven cabinet at the end of a run with counter next to it is the usual arrangement. The kitchen layouts page gives the guideline dimensions.
• Door clearance. An open oven door should not block a walkway or hit an island.
• Heat and neighbors. Follow the manufacturer's clearances to adjacent cabinetry. Some cabinet finishes are more sensitive to heat than others.
• Electrical. Each oven, speed oven and warming drawer has its own electrical requirement, and a stack of two or three appliances may need more than one circuit. This guide does not quote circuit sizes. Your electrician works from the nameplates, and the kitchen electrical code page explains the rules.

What to check on the spec sheet

• Cutout width, height and depth, and whether flush installation is allowed.
• Approved combinations: which appliances may be stacked, and whether undercounter installation is permitted.
• Usable interior dimensions and the number of rack positions.
• Convection type.
• Door type and hinge side.
• Electrical requirements and junction box location.
• For steam ovens: reservoir or plumbed, and the water and drain connection points.
• Weight, and the support the cabinet must provide.
• Cleaning method.

Who should choose which

• Most households: a single 30 inch class wall oven with true convection, set at a comfortable height.
• Frequent bakers and large-family cooks: a double oven, or two singles side by side.
• Health-minded cooks, bread bakers and people who reheat a lot: a combi-steam oven over a single oven.
• Households that want a second oven and a microwave without room for both: a speed oven over a single oven.
• Hosts and families on staggered schedules: add a warming drawer below.
• Smaller kitchens: a range, or a single oven under the counter, to protect counter length.

Every appliance on this page is built into cabinetry, so the models must be chosen before the cabinet order. The overview on choosing kitchen appliances explains the sequence. JDI Construction's team draws the oven cabinet from your chosen models' installation sheets during design. To talk through your kitchen, see our Vancouver kitchen remodeling page.