The most important thing to look for when buying a wall oven is size, especially if you are replacing an old one. Choosing the wrong size wall oven may mean you need to do additional construction, which is both costly and time-consuming. Once you’ve checked with a professional on what size your kitchen can handle, it’s time to decide whether you want convection cooking, smart technology, or any other bonus features. Our top choice, the KitchenAid 30-Inch Single Wall Oven with Even-Heat True Convection, is a convection oven which means that the heat is equally distributed across all the racks. We looked at wall ovens in various sizes with different options, finishes, and features. To help you narrow down your choices, here are the best wall ovens to have in your kitchen to create your best bites, from meatloaf to monkey bread. What We Don’t Love: Not smart technology compatible, the touchpad is slightly dated looking If you’re looking for a solid wall oven, the KitchenAid 30-Inch Single Wall Oven with Even-Heat True Convection is an excellent choice. This oven has lots of features that will appeal to home chefs starting with the Even-Heat technology, which assures no cold spots during preheating and that the convection heating reaches all racks evenly throughout the cooking cycle. If you’re new to convection cooking, the oven can help you easily convert conventional recipes, so your dinner comes out right every time. When it comes time to cook your Thanksgiving turkey, a built-in temperature probe facilitates accurate internal temperature measurement. In addition to these features, there’s a gliding extension rack that allows for easy loading when you’re cooking with large or heavy dishes. You also won’t have to worry about accidental spills because this model is self-cleaning. Finally, you can choose from three finishes: stainless steel, black stainless steel, and white. Price at time of publish: $3100 Fuel: Electric | Dimensions (DxWxH): 23.25 x 30 x 28.75 inches | Oven Capacity: 5 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: No smart technology If you prefer to cook with gas, opt for the Frigidaire 24-Inch Single Gas Wall Oven. This oven is well-designed with five different levels for the two included racks. The boiler has both high and low heat options for those who like to make broiled dishes, while bakers will like its even bake feature. Digital controls make it easy to choose the precise temperature you want and can be wiped down should things get messy. Better yet, this oven self cleans in just two hours. While this is a great appliance, it doesn’t offer convection cooking or smart technology. You can choose from three finishes: stainless steel, white, and black. Price at time of publish: $1974 Fuel: Gas | Dimensions (DxWxH): 25.4 x 23.9 x 40.5 inches | Oven Capacity: 3.3 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: No convection, limited features If you have a limited budget and are looking for a quality wall oven, opt for the Frigidaire 30-Inch Single Electric Wall Oven. While this oven doesn’t have too many extra features, there are still a few extra conveniences. Those who like to bake will particularly appreciate Frigidaire’s Even Baking technology, as well as the delayed baking and timed cooking features. If you find you’re a fan of using the broiler, this model offers variable broiler settings from 400 to 550 degrees. When you’re all done, it’s also self-cleaning, with 2, 3, and 4-hour cycles. Another great thing about this model is that there are a variety of finishes to choose from, including white, stainless steel, black stainless steel, black, and EasyCare stainless steel. The EasyCare stainless steel finish is fingerprint-resistant as well as easy to clean, making it a great choice for families with young children. Price at time of publish: $1620 Fuel: Electric | Dimensions (DxWxH): 24.75 x 30 x 29 inches | Oven Capacity: 4.6 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: Limited options for finishes, shows fingerprints The LG 30-Inch Combination Double Electric Convection Wall Oven has everything you could want in a double oven and more. It’s a convection oven with a built-in microwave-like feature, infrared heating, and Wi-Fi. Compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, this is ideal for anyone who wants all the bells and whistles. With a 1.7-cubic-foot upper oven and a 4.7-cubic-foot lower one, the infrared heating function means you can cook faster since neither oven needs to preheat. There’s also a reservoir for steam cooking for when you need moisture in the oven, like for crème brûlée cheesecake. The upper oven has TurboCook, which can cook food 2 to 4 times faster, which might replace your microwave. Besides Google Assistant and Alexa, the smart technology means monitoring your oven from the other room plus two different cooking apps to help you figure out what to make for dinner. Finally, this comes in two colors: stainless steel and black stainless steel. Price at time of publish: $3390 Fuel: Electric | Dimensions (DxWxH): 24.5 x 29.75 x 43.8 inches | Oven Capacity: 6.4 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: Only available in stainless steel, odd blue interior With convection technology, it cooks evenly and preheats quickly, you can even start your preheat via the app. When it comes time to place a heavy dish, like a prime rib roast, into the oven, there’s a fully extendable rack to glide your food in or out. There’s also delay start, delay bake, and keep warm functions so you can cook while multitasking. Just note that while this wall oven is beautifully designed, it is only available in a stainless steel finish. Price at time of publish: $2449 Fuel: Electric | Dimensions (DxWxH): 24.4 x 29.75 x 29.3 inches | Oven Capacity: 4.7 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: Expensive If you want the side-by-side look of French-door appliances, you will love the Cafe 30-Inch Smart Single Electric French-Door Wall Oven. This convection oven has lots of features, including smart technology to help you easily cook everything from a healthy salmon dish to reheating last night’s lasagna. There’s also precision cooking (so no preheating is necessary), as well as an easy-to-use color display. While it’s very expensive, this Cafe oven has an air fryer for fried food with less mess, smart technology so you can control the temperature remotely, a roller rack for your literally heavy dishes, and top-down true convection for even baking throughout the oven. The oven even has a full-coverage broil element, so your entire dish will get perfectly browned. In terms of design, I think this appliance checks more boxes than any other model on this list. It really adds something to your kitchen. The handles are available in four styles: brushed copper, brushed bronze, brushed black, and brushed stainless. There are also three finishes to choose from: stainless steel, fingerprint-resistant matte white, and fingerprint-resistant matte black. Price at time of publish: $5000 Fuel: Electric | Dimensions (DxWxH): 26.75 x 29.75 x 28.6 inches | Oven Capacity: 5 cubic feet
What to Look for in a Wall Oven
Controls and Settings
Oven controls are generally knobs, a control pad (buttons), or a digital touchscreen. A touchscreen is the most modern technology, while knobs will be the easiest to use. Digital controls let you set a precise temperature and will most likely also have a timer. A few ovens now come with variable broil settings behind the classic high and low.
Self-Cleaning or Manual Cleaning
A self-cleaning oven uses a high heat cycle to clean any baked-on food, spills, etc., without the need to use oven cleaners. There is technology available for self-cleaning at lower temperatures with less odor, which might appeal to those who will use this feature. An oven without a self-cleaning feature must be cleaned manually with chemical products.
Additional Features
Additional features include convection heating, smart technology integration, and infrared heating. Convection heating uses fans to create currents in your oven and will shorten your cook times. Smart technology helps you remotely monitor your oven, including starting it up for preheating, while infrared heating means you don’t need to preheat at all. There are also flexible double ovens, storage drawers, hidden bake elements for more interior space, and better interior lights.
How do you measure for a wall oven?
If you’re replacing an existing wall oven, measure what’s currently in your kitchen as a reference when shopping for a new one. “Many wall ovens have a lip that hangs over the opening, so oftentimes the oven’s façade is a bit wider and taller than the actual cabinet cutout it sits in," says Kevin Busch, VP of Operations of Mr. Handyman, a Neighborly company. “If you’re able to measure the depth of the cabinets from a different area (opening a door to the side of the oven), that would be best. Otherwise, you will have to entirely remove the oven to measure the depth of the cabinet it sits in.”
Can wall ovens be installed under the counter?
“Yes, depending on their size,” says Busch. “A single oven will likely fit under most standard heights of counters. It’s larger models that may need to be installed elsewhere, but that’s the only thing that would prevent you from installing it under a counter.”
What else should people know about the installation of wall ovens?
If you don’t currently have a wall oven but are thinking of installing one, ensure the planned install location is suitable for an oven. “Generally, there are specs about clearances around all sides of the oven for a safe installation. Also, ovens will require electrical, gas, or both. You should always contact a professional when dealing with those elements,” explains Busch.
Why Trust Simply Recipes?
This article is written by Amanda Lauren, an ongoing contributor to Simply Recipes, Forbes, The Balance, Investopedia, Reader’s Digest, and A Sweat Life. Amanda has written hundreds of articles about interior design and lifestyle. While she loves to cook, she prefers to grill because it’s easier to clean up. One day, Amanda hopes to have a kitchen large enough for an island, but would easily settle for a peninsula. Read Next: The Best Flatware and Silverware Sets
