What's so great about eye level ovens?

[Wetherby123]

Designing our kitchen and everywhere I look i see eye level ovens. I feel like i prefer the under counter but what am I missing?

Out of reach of children- Just my children that are more likely to walk into the open oven door at head height or try put hands up then? At least with under counter I'm a physical barrier

Space for drawers under hob- what's with all the kitchen designers putting cutlery under the hob? Last thing I need when cooking is people constantly trying to get in for a spoon etc.

Less bending- This one I get, but people managed for decades. Counter argument. Isn't it easier all the cooking appliances being in a direct line? When you get something out of the oven you can rest it directly on hob without walking about

Then there is the obvious reduction in worktop space that comes with eye level

I've never had one, but I have used them. Most people keep pans underneath, not cutlery. You can see in without bending down. Ideal for older people or people with physical disabilities. My mum had her kitchen redone as she could no longer get heavier dishes out of her low oven. Easier to clean too.

You can see at a glance how it’s getting on. It’s easier on the back to keep the heavy casserole dish at the same height as you put it on the side. You don’t have to reach over the open oven door to put the casserole on the top.

I can’t really remember how it works with the oven down low, I only do it at DM’s which is appallingly organised anyway- no surface and a barely working oven.

Changed in 2006, so DC were 5 and 7. Since changing to an eye level I wouldn’t change back and no one has ever walked into it, DC were more likely to touch the under counter oven.

Safer for getting things in and out. I can't abide stooping down into an oven. Mine has a cupboard for baking trays, cooking dishes etc underneath. Hob has 2 deep drawers underneath, 1 for utensils and herbs/spices and other pots and pans, so right where you need them to be.

I've a 1.5 oven so main oven isn't eye height...that would be too high.

I have eye level and wouldn’t go back. I can see the food cooking at a glance and I’m not sure my back would ever forgive if I changed to a low oven now!

We have a tower unit with 2 ovens. The lower of the 2 is a Samsung that can be divided into 2 smaller ovens. 99% of our cooking is done in the top half of that oven. So not quite eye level, but higher than under counter.

It's so much easier than our previous range cooker. You can see how something is doing without having to crouch down. When taking things out they are pretty much level with the worktop. Easier to clean too.

We have a drawer underneath that holds baking tins that aren't used often. And a cupboard above that houses things like a hand mixer and vacuum sealer that again aren't used that often. We also have plenty of worktop space elsewhere.

The only time I'd go back to under counter is if I had a much smaller kitchen where a tower would be imposing and reduce already limited worktop space.

I absolutely hate it. Moved house from one with a freestanding range cooker to eye level wall oven and separate hob with cutlery drawer underneath and it’s all an accident waiting to happen. Can’t wait to rip them out again and go back to a range cooker or under counter oven.

I always cook with cast iron le creuset and lifting them to a higher oven is more dangerous, same with baking trays. Yes I can see what I’m cooking but personally I find wall ovens really ugly. also unless it’s spotless I can see all the dirt/ grease that needs cleaning all the time when I’m trying to do other jobs.

Terrified my children are going to come and put their hands on the hob whilst getting their cutlery out. They’ve already smacked their head on the corner. HATE HATE HATE HATE

I think wall ovens are ugly. Give me a range cooker any day. I have no back problems so am continuing to bend down with no issues.

I had a high oven years ago and found it to be more dangerous. It was really hard lifting heavy cast iron pots that high, and I found I was accidentally tipping baking trays towards myself. Also, I didn’t like my oven having such a prominent position in the kitchen and staring me in the face all the time. They are not particularly attractive appliances.

When they say out of reach of children, they mean small children. Having the controls and door handle out of the reach of my preschooler is something I greatly miss now we’ve moved and our oven is a range cooker.

Other than that, it’s just convenience. Nice not to have to bend over every time to get food or look at it. Nice not to open a hot oven into my face as the heat rises (I’m sure you learn not to eventually, but I forget every time).

Other people are saying it’s hard/dangerous to put a Le Creuset style dish into a higher oven, but I actually find it easier. My eye line oven is barely any higher than the kitchen counter top so only a very slightly arm effort, whereas my range oven is several inches lower than the counter and I have to crouch my whole body. Maybe those ovens are installed too high?

I have designed a new kitchen recently with a built in oven, and have gone for a single. We use a mini oven a lot so really the 'main' oven is only used for batch baking or a roast. The bottom of the oven is level with the worktop, so an easy transfer of heavy pots. There are drawers under the oven for baking tins, top cupboard for foil etc. Not a wasted inch.

Apart from the tower with the oven, everything is drawers. I don't understand why anyone would put the cutlery drawer under the hob if there is a choice - mine holds tea towels.

Eye level oven. Tinned goods underneath, baking trays and foil above. Love it. Also have cutlery drawer under hob. Best thing ever.

I feel like with small children or pets eye level is less safe because they could be running about underneath it and oil etc could drip on them or they could trip me up when I’m taking something out.

We are planning to do our kitchen later this year and I want to get two under counter ovens instead, with a wide induction hob centred over them (also safer as not hot to the touch). Currently I have a freestanding cooker with two ovens and I like having two but don’t like freestanding or eye level. You do obviously lose a unit though. Pic attached of something similar.

When I had my kitchen done four years ago, I swore I would not have an under counter oven again.

If baking or having something in the oven I needed to check I had to get on my knees to peer in and then clamber back up again. It was annoying and I hated it.

I bought a lovely built in Neff oven in the new kitchen and it was glorious to be able to see immediately how food was baking without dropping to the floor to look.

Cutlery drawer under the hob = nightmare and will never happen in any kitchen I have put into a house. Also hob in the island = stuff dumped on the hob = fire hazard. Our oven tower (top oven, main oven, pan drawers) is actually quite well thought out, the main oven is slightly lower than the work top so no reaching up to get things in an out. If I redo this kitchen I’ll keep that set up but treat myself to a warming/proving drawer as well!
The one I don’t get is sinks in an island, maybe we are a messy bunch but I just think water must end up everywhere!

Reading this thread has made me realize that I've. Never lived anywhere with an oven on the floor so it would never even occur toe tp consider one.

I didn't have any issues when my children were going or with lifting things, what's the difference between lifting a heavy tray up from the floor to take it out or put it in? It's actually less of a lift putting in in isn't it?

Do you make yorkshire puddings? That seems like it would be quite awkward lower down

And most importantly when I used to watch Bake Off it would give me the ick seeing the contestants sitting crossed legged on the floor in front of the oven 😁

Do you have mobility problems? I’ve never got on the floor to look in the oven. I just squat or bend.

How do clean a low oven when you are old like me and no so flexible?

It's the lifting out of heavy casseroles etc. ... much easier to lift down than up.

Better for seeing how things are cooking if you need to, e g. Scones.

I would never choose a low level oven, very uncomfortable when you are working at the hob and the heat from oven is on your legs.

No I don't but I had an old fashioned style oven that slotted in which is why I think I had to kneel down to look in.

I have a neff hide n slide eye level oven so the door disappears. It's ten years old now, works like a dream. It's easy to clean - I just do it regularly, every month or so I wipe the glass with pink stuff - the inside gets a pyroclean every six months or so. I am short (5'1") and find it easy to transfer my le creuset pans across from the hob to the oven. It's easy to see what is going on in there, and it means no crouching down and fending off pets.

Having said that, I would also have an AGA if I had a big kitchen. But I don't. So this works nicely.

I too have a Neff hide and slide oven mounted in a tower unit. I can move heavy pans from the oven to the worktop without having to bend over, can see how things are cooking at a glance, cleaning is easy because I don’t need to bend down to reach the back of the oven. My kids have never run into the open door, the outside of the oven is very well insulated and doesn’t get excessively hot to touch. I’d never get a below counter oven.

I have a drawer for baking tins and another for snacks underneath the oven and a big cupboard above that holds all the roasting pans, casserole dishes etc. It a very efficient use of space.

My DH would like one. They’re very hard to choose to fit, once you already have a range. It would mean a tall cupboard unit right in the middle of a wide run of worktop/ worktop level range. That would look hideous, so we have to do without!

Same here! We like a traditional style kitchen that complements the period houses we've lived in and when designing our new kitchens over the years, we've always opted for hand painted wooden cabinets with a range cooker. Imo, eye level ovens don't look great in those situations.

I hate the idea of the cutlery drawer beneath the hob - we've been using a plug in hob whilst working on our new kitchen and the only available space for it was directly above our 1000cm cutlery drawer. Totally inconvenient when someone's cooking and another person needs a knife etc...and our set up was only temporary!

That said, our new range cooker is a Lacanche which looks amazing, but I haven't taken to it at all and preferred our old Rangemaster Elan. After months of relying on two airfryers, a microwave and two ring plug in hotplate, I'm now seriously considering getting rid of the range and not bothering at all.

Not much tbh. We had a new kitchen in 2024. We have a kind of torso-height main over and a head height microwave. Use the mic more because we have an air fryer. Yes potential head bangs and awkward to reach into - need a step. If you do it, get one of those hide away door ones. We do love our warming drawer though!