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Oven - better to access from the front or side?


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I am working on plans to update our kitchen. Where the oven is currently positioned, you must stand next to it and reach in from the side to access the food. I don't think I've ever had a kitchen setup where you access the oven straight on. Was just wondering if there's pros/cons to one or the other.

 

For example, I was thinking that if you access the oven straight on, you'd have to stand away from the oven to leave room for the open door, and the heat would come out straight at you.

 

So which do you prefer - accessing the oven from the side or straight on - and why?

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My mum's oven was access from the front and so is mine. So I have no experience with accessing from the side.

 

I don't have the heat come out at me problem because for baking, I let the cakes/muffins/casseroles cool in the oven before taking them out.

 

From the front, it is easy for me to use both hands to pull out a heavy casserole pan or big cake mould. If I am standing from the side, it gets harder for me to get anything heavier than a 6 cup muffin tray out.

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From the front is *definitely* better. I've always been able to do that...until we moved here. I have to stand to the side, and it's awkward. It's doable, you know, but if *I* had designed this kitchen, the oven would have been over *there* where I could stand in front of it. :glare:

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Well my kitchen is U shaped. There is too much space between the very long penninsula and the other side with the oven. So I got a skinny butcher block island for the middle. Now I sort of have to stand to the side. It IS kind of weird. I often wonder if I need that thing in the middle.

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I've never seen an oven that you access from the side.

 

Agreeing, I'm trying to picture this :confused:

 

Some of my neighbours have oven that you access from the side. They have a L shaped kitchen countertop with a kitchen island. Their oven is directly opposite the kitchen island so when the oven door is open, it almost touch the kitchen island.

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Huh. I seem to prefer accessing my oven from the side if it is higher than normal, but from the front if it's 'normal' height.

 

In this house, I have double ovens and I use the top oven the majority of the time. I open the door, scoot to the side and reach in. I do this for everything from muffin tins and frozen pizzas to my 15 pound turkeys.

 

When I use the bottom oven, I open the door, let the heat escape, then reach in from the front.

 

In my other house, I had a stove/oven combo and I also stood in front of that one.

 

Anyone else have a preference based on the height of the oven? If it matters, I'm 5'6". My 5'3" dd doesn't like to use the upper oven no matter where she stands, but when using the bottom oven, she stands to the side.

 

What an interesting thread!!

Double oven here too. I never gave it much thought before this thread, but I do that too! I can reach either oven from front or side, but typically I access the top from the side and the bottom from the front.

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Do you mean teh oven door opens to the front like usual but there is no room to stand there so you stand to the side? I have always done that even when I had room to stand infront unless I was taking out something quite heavy like a turkey, then front on is the best. Generally I prefer to take things out from the side (well technically not really from the side or the front, more of a diagonal) because I hate the feeling of teh blast of heat on my face.

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