Ovens, like most kitchen appliances, have become increasingly standardised thanks to decades of development and evolution, leading to the ovens and stoves so many of us use today.
The reason for the standard design is that it makes oven cleaning and replacing parts significantly easier and cheaper.
However, despite this, there have been many bizarre and unusual oven designs that have been developed over the years to either fix a problem in a new way or allow homeowners to show off.
Here are some examples of unique and unusual ovens.
Tappan Fabulous 400
The late 1950s and early 1960s was a period of transition for many kitchen appliances, where stoves that were fairly mundane and standard were given glamorous new designs, extra trim and unique features.
Probably the most fascinating of these was the Fabulous 400 by Tappan, which fundamentally changed what had by then become the conventional design of having four stove rings above an oven.
Instead, the stove rings were hidden away in a draw compartment behind a chopping board, ready to be pulled out when needed, and the conventional low single oven was replaced with a long dual oven system, both of which were placed at eye level.
The Frigidaire Flair had a similar design as well, and both have become an iconic part of “jet age” design, even if a lot of ovens have returned to more conventional designs.
Speed Ovens
Like conventional ovens only smaller, speed ovens are designed to use multiple cooking methods to rapidly cook small items such as sandwiches. These can include convection heating, steam, microwaves and several other means to get food ready faster.
It is a fairly novel approach compared to the traditional combination of a conventional oven and a microwave but can be very effective and desirable in some contexts.
Chateau Supreme
In practice, this luxury range cooker does not do anything particularly new, but given that it costs over £100,000 to buy and is made with a range of luxury materials with a particularly refined design, it stands out from the rest.