Ovens - where to place them in a kitchen and how many would you ideally like?

[hiccup88]

We are planning a kitchen extension and are deciding on the appliances and layout.

My questions are:

Where is your ideal oven location?
I see ovens placed higher up on the wall (waist level and above) on a tall cabinet so often in homes, social media, and magazines. Is this the new norm? For those with this setup, would you recommend it?

I think ovens are a bit of an eyesore and would like to keep them under the integrated induction hob (similar to how a typical range would have an oven below the hob) so that it can be hidden from view by the island. Would I regret this decision? Should I put them higher up like everyone else? There has to be a reason why placing it higher keeps getting done, right? I'm assuming it's so you don't have to bend down and it saves your back. Another is probably for child safety. However, kids won't forever be kids and will learn soon enough to not mess around with the oven.

How many ovens would you ideally have?
I often see TWO ovens stacked on a tall cabinet nowadays. Since buying an air fryer, we rarely use the big oven anymore (maybe once a month). I'm thinking of getting just one oven...will I eventually regret this decision? I currently don't have kids yet so I haven't been cooking for more than 2 people. Will I need two ovens? What do you think?

When buying a property, does the oven/kitchen layout/built-in appliances put you off from buying?
How much impact will these "small" decisions have on the re-sellability of our house in the future?

Thanks!

Those ovens at chest height can be a total pita to clean, it's really hard to lean into them when they are that high. Side opening ones are probably easier, mind.

My ideal setup would be two single 60cm ovens next to each other, inbuilt, at a lower level. Lots of oven space. My OH doesn't really want a range anymore, they're often v expensive to run and, as he often points out, if one 60cm goes wrong, it's cheap and easy to replace, and you still have another oven to use whilst the other is broken.

Someone here posted pics of one on an island the other day. It looks pretty good but idk how practical it is, because you kinda want to use the work space?

If have read that having a hob in an island just renders the rest of it wasted space, fat etc goes everywhere, you don't want it all over your stuff. So I would probably put a hob on a worktop, but make sure it has masses of space around it for pots and pans.

We have two ovens at waist level or thereabouts - one above the other so one is DH level and one is mine (he’s a foot taller). Slide and hide so no issues with cleaning or reaching in. It’s a lot easier and safer IMO than the low level ovens we used to have, especially when dealing with a large cast iron casserole full of liquid or similar.

We don’t use the second oven often but when we do need it it’s a godsend. But if you have an airfryer I guess that does the same job as a second oven. For resale purpose, in your shoes I might put in a small second oven which is also a combi microwave - unless you really need a separate microwave. I slightly wish we’d done this tbh.

We've just done our kitchen and have small oven (also a steam over) and a large oven, one above the other, with the smaller one at a very comfortable chest height and the large one still above floor level (deep drawer underneath).

After years of bending down to the Aga ovens, it is absolute heaven to be able to just see/reach directly in. We hope to have the kitchen for 20 years, by which time DH will be 80, so definitely wanted it to be easy to reach. Because the higher oven is fairly small, reaching to clean is not a problem. Do be careful though - in the original design the top oven would definitely have been too high for us to use easily. We are not tall!

To be honest, we rarely use the second bigger oven. Only when doing a lot of cooking/entertaining. But I wouldn't want to be without either. Also, just the small oven definitely wouldn't be enough, but having one small oven for everyday use is more economical than always heating up the big oven.

Btw I would not put ovens under a hob. It becomes a nuisance when you need to open the oven doors and attend to pans at the same time. Too much stretching.
But then I am not fully able bodied so I have to think of things like that.

I have a waist height oven - no bending over hot fat to test your meat or lift a heavy tray out so I think it's safer than a low one

One is quite enough

We have 2 x 60 under an island as agree that we prefer visually they are hidden. Seldom use both but need for Xmas, hosting etc you do have to bend but that’s worth it for us. Don’t have lots permanently on the island as it’s neater just use for cooking stuff and plating up. No idea re resale might become apparent from this thread.. also have underneath extractor that’s part of the hob.

Two ovens or an oven and a microwave combi at waist/chest height is my preference. Much better not needing to bend down to put things in and out and a second oven is really useful when feeding a large group. Get ovens with a self cleaning function to make life a bit easier.

In terms of hiding them visually - we have an L shaped kitchen and fridge and ovens are on the side of the L that you don’t ever really look at - if that makes sense. So the side that you see from the dining table & breakfast bar only has cabinets, no appliances. Do you have the option to do this?

This is what we’ve got.

I like the ovens at chest height, they have hide and slide doors and work surface next to it to take stuff out on to…important as you can’t just rest things on the open door. It’s much easier to see. Also opening oven door doesn’t get in way of hob.

we’ve got an induction on the island with a downward venting hob. The duct had to be put in specifially to the floor, so have a think where the ventilation will be. We’ve got a roof light above so couldn’t have a cooker hood.

I like the space round it to prep etc.

wish I’d put a little spice rack drawer underneath for oil etc.

I hate high up double ovens. I’m 5’3 and find the grills/upper ovens are often a bit high to feel comfortable getting stuff out, especially if it has a lot of liquid. Under counter height is definitely the way forward. I’ve actually got a freestanding cooker so I have a double oven at that height (and induction hob).

I’ve had undercounted ovens and worktop height ones. I prefer the worktop height ones. Just much easier to use and see in. I do a lot of baking and sometimes want to see what’s happening without opening the door.

We have 2 more for aesthetics than anything else. It can be useful at Easter and Christmas though.

I was thinking the other day that as we have 2 ovens and 2 sinks it would be very easy to make our kitchen Kosher.

I have a set up like this. One isn't enough for Christmas etc and I also separate baking and cooking. I had waist height previously- it is good and slide and hide makes it easier to clean. I think it is just personal preference. Visually I prefer under counter

I like having the oven under the hob, in my last house it was high up and every time I opened it I got a blast of hot air in my face, something I hadn't considered a major problem until Xmas day when my make up basically melted off my face as I had to use it so much! And now I am menopausal I am grateful that it's my legs that take most of the heat!

We've got a double oven, a large warming drawer (used a lot) and a combi oven/mircrowave. The microwave isn't very strong and I'm toying with changing it for a stronger one (it's 600W) but that's a lot of expense when I could just get a standalone microwave and put it in the utility.

We don't often use both ovens, but when we do it's useful but not essential - we cook for 8 people fairly regularly and one oven is usually enough.

The warming drawer is used a lot, when there's the 2 of us or when we've got people round.

@KievLoverTwo Yes 100% against the hob on the island for me! I am a messy cook and I just KNOW that grease and sauce will be all over the island when I'm cooking! It'll be a no-go zone when I'm using the hob as you'd be at risk of splashes lol

That's a good idea and something I'll look into!

That is so interesting re: warming drawer! I've never had one in past houses (rentals) and wouldn't know what to do with it haha. Do you literally use it to hold food to keep it warm before serving or do you use it for other purposes?

As for the combi, we use the microwave a lot as we usually cook big portions for dinner and then reheat the leftovers for lunch the next day. Do you find combi oven-microwaves not good enough at doing both jobs? (Similar to how washer-dryers aren't good at doing both tasks haha)

With the combi we just didn’t check the microwave power when we bought it, you can buy 900 w ones that are great. Ours is just low powered.

the warming drawer, warms plates, keeps food warm if people over or someone late …does what it says on the tin really. You cam also prove bread and use as a very slow cooker.

I'd prefer them at waist/shoulder height. Not only saves bending down but I can actually see what I'm taking out! I don't see why they should be an eyesore it's a kitchen after all and food looks sooo good cooking.

I can't fit several things in the air-fryer at once (like meat, potatoes and veggies in separate glass baking pans) but maybe one of those family sized Ninjas can. If I had an air-fryer with the same amount of space I'd choose it OVER the oven hands down!

I also warm food up in the air-fryer you can even do soup and stuff with air-fryer dishes. Much more even heating and preserves the texture. Plus dishes can go in the dishwasher.

Whether layout would put me off depends on the other features of the house if I was desperate I'd overlook anything apart from ovens too high for me to reach and kitchen size.