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Guide to common oven symbols, settings and functions

August 6, 2022 | Ovens & Cooktops

Ovens offer a variety of settings and functions to get the best cooking and baking results. Different brands may use slight variations, however many oven symbols are universal and designed to help you identify the different functions of your oven.

If you tend to gravitate toward the functions you are most familiar and comfortable with, you are not alone! We take the guesswork out of deciphering those little pictures on your oven with our guide to common oven symbols, settings and functions.

Conventional heating oven symbol

Conventional heating oven symbol and function

The symbol for conventional heating is two lines – one at the top and one at the bottom. This means that both the top and bottom heating elements will radiate heat. The bottom heating element provides the primary source of heat, while the upper element delivers intense top-down heat to brown and grill your food.

Ideal for:

Roasting meat and vegetables or single shelf cooking.

Lower heating element

Lower heating element oven symbol and function

The lower heating element oven symbol is represented by a single line at the bottom. This indicates that the lower heating element is in use.

Ideal for:

Slow cooking, casserole baking or for food that requires a crispy base such as pizza or a pastry case.

Upper heating element

Upper heating element oven symbol and function

The upper heating element symbol is represented by a single line at the top. This indicates that the upper heating element is in use.

Ideal for:

Baking pies with a pie crust.

Fan forced

Fan forced oven symbol and function

Fan forced symbols feature a fan inside a circle. A fan forced oven has a heating element around the fan to circulate and distribute heat evenly. This allows for a faster cooking time, even temperature and a decrease in energy consumption. This will likely be your most used setting.

Ideal for:

Batch cooking, cakes, cookies.

Fan forced grill

Fan forced grill oven symbol and function

This symbol features a fan with a zig zag line above it. When this is switched on, the grill and fan will operate at the same time. The fan’s function is to spread the grill’s heat. Unlike the standalone grill, your oven door should be closed when using this function.

Ideal for:

Cooking through thicker meats or fish.

Grill

Grill oven symbol and function

The grill icon features a zig zag line on the top. It is also sometimes represented with a double zig zag line. This grill setting uses the entire grill of the oven.

Ideal for:

Vegetables, crisping and browning food.

Partial grill

Partial grill oven symbol and function

Some ovens offer a partial grill setting, represented by a smaller zig zag line. This indicates that only part of the grill is in use. You will need to place your food in the right spot (usually in the centre of your oven).

Ideal for:

Grilling smaller portions/amounts.

Defrost

Defrost oven symbol and function

The defrost function can reduce your defrosting time. The oven does not use heat on this function, instead it circulates room temperature air (30°C) around the food to give it an even and fast defrosting result.

Ideal for:

Defrosting food when you are in a hurry.

Plate warming

Plate warmer oven symbol and function

The plate warming symbol shows three lines stacked on top of each other. This keeps your dinner plates safely warm.

Ideal for:

Keeping your dinner guests happy.

Warmer

Warmer oven symbol and function

Often depicted as a dish with rising steam, this function keeps your food warm, without cooking it.

Ideal for:

Warming food or plates so they do not cool too quickly.

Oven light

Oven light symbol and function

Your oven cooks with the light on so you can view your cooking progress. Also handy when cleaning your oven so you can take a better look.

Child lock

Child lock oven symbol and function

A small key symbol indicates that the child lock feature is activated.

Ideal for:

Keeping children safe when the appliance is on or when the self-clean function is in operation.

Alarm

Alarm oven symbol and function

The alarm symbol will enable you to manually set your alarm.

Ideal for:

Setting a reminder to check your cooking when your oven is in use.

Self cleaning or Pyrolytic cleaning oven symbols

Self cleaning or pyrolytic oven symbol and function

The self cleaning function shows a series of black dots or diamonds decreasing size from top to bottom. It can also be represented by the letter P.  High temperature pyrolytic cleaning heats your oven to approx. 500°C. The intense heat will incinerate any built up grime and then the remaining ash can be wiped away.

Now that you are familiar with your oven symbols and functions, why not get familiar with the different parts of your oven and how they operate? Check out our essential guide to oven parts.

Shop for oven & cooktop spares at Statewide Appliance Spares. Our most popular oven and cooktop spare parts are always in stock, including oven elementsrackshingessealsthermostatsknobs and more. We have everything you could possibly need at competitive prices, with fast Australia wide delivery.

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