Oven symbols and functions guide

Modern ovens can offer a huge number of different settings and functions to help you get the best cooking and baking results. These settings are represented by a universal symbol and can be seen on ovens from different manufacturers. To help you make sense of your oven and get the most out of it, this handy guide to oven symbols from NEFF will explain all of the latest fan assisted oven symbols, grill symbols and cleaning and safety symbols. We’ll also help you to learn the best oven symbols for baking cakes, scones, pastries, bread and pizzas.

Starting and setting your oven.

on/off symbol

Press this button to switch on and off you oven.

What are the oven symbols for cooking?

CircoTherm® symbol

Many NEFF ovens feature CircoTherm®, a unique hot-air system that enables you to bake and roast at the same time on different shelves in your oven, enabling you to cook different dishes at the same time (and have them ready at the same time). This is identified by a large fan symbol.

Circo-roasting/grill with fan symbol

Using the grill with the fan on is ideal for gentle roasting as the fan circulates the hot air all around the oven. The grill switches itself on and off to ensure food doesn’t get too dry. This symbol shows a jagged line above a fan.

Bottom heat symbol

Ovens with top and bottom heating elements are very versatile as the elements can be turned on and off separately. The lower or bottom heat symbol (a single line at the bottom of the symbol) is used for gentle, slow cooking of casserole-type dishes, and can also be used for reheating or crisping.

Top and bottom heat symbol

With two lines at the top and bottom of the symbol, this setting is ideal for roasting and for baking items like pastries, scones or biscuits on a tray. The fan doesn’t get used with this setting.

Pizza setting/ CircoTherm® Intensive

What is the best setting for pizza? By combining bottom heat with the fan, you can make sure pizza bases crisp up nicely without over cooking or burning the toppings. This fan with bottom heat setting is also great for pastry dishes where you want to keep the fillings moist. Look for the symbol showing a fan with a single line below, or on NEFF ovens with a specific pizza mode there will be a symbol showing a sliced pizza.

Bread baking symbol

Getting bread just right can be challenging, so an oven with a bread setting can be a big help. On NEFF ovens, this symbol shows a loaf of bread.

Slow cooking symbol

A great alternative to bottom heat without fan for slow cooking casserole-style dishes. Ovens with this function use gentle top and bottom heating to cook food thoroughly and tenderly for several hours.

Dough proofing symbol

Proofing (or proving) dough in the oven is quicker than at room temperature and this special setting won’t let the surface of the dough dry out. The dough proofing symbol shows a dish with dough rising from it.

What are the oven symbols for grilling?

Full surface grill symbol

Grilling of steaks and sausages are usually done with the full grill, shown by two rows of jagged lines. This setting is ideal for grilling large amounts of food that cover the whole grill area.

Grill, small area symbol

The part grill is used for grilling smaller amounts of food. Care needs to be taken to make sure your food is directly under the hot grill area. The symbol uses a single jagged line.

What are the oven symbols for time saving and convenience?

Plate warming / Preheating symbol

Great for dinner parties or warming plates for your favourite take away, the preheating or plate warming symbol shows two or three stacked plates.

Defrosting symbol

This low temperature setting is really practical as it enables you to safely defrost frozen food quickly. Look for a symbol showing frost with a water droplet below it.

Interior lighting symbol

Great for checking on progress without opening the door. Ovens with an interior light have a self-explanatory lightbulb symbol.

Reheating symbol

Reheat allows you to gently warm dishes again and thanks to the moisture in the oven, they will look and taste freshly prepared. Oven with this fubnction will have a symbol showing a dish with heat rising from it.

Power Boost symbol

Save time to preheat your NEFF Oven by pressing on this button.

Keep warm symbol

An ideal setting for keeping food warm without drying it out before serving. Typically set between 66° C to 100° C.

What are the oven symbols for self-cleaning?

Pyrolytic self-cleaning symbol

Ovens with Pyrolytic cleaning functionality heat built-up food residues to turn them to ash that can then be wiped away. To use this setting look for a symbol showing three sets of three arrows or dots.View the pyrolytic cleaning how-to video here.

EasyClean® symbol

For a lightly soiled oven, put approximately 400ml of water and a drop of washing-up liquid in the base pan and then select the Easy Clean programme. It softens baked-on residue so you can just wipe it down, for fast and uncomplicated oven cleaning.View the EasyClean how-to video here.

Descaling symbol

Steam ovens need to be periodically descaled to keep them working properly. Luckily, this can be done automatically using the descaling function, shown by a symbol with four downward-facing arrows.

Eco Clean symbol

Eco Clean is a microfine ceramic bead coating on the oven’s interior top, sides and back. It has a very large surface area, making it extremely absorbent. It absorbs fat droplets and keeps the inside of the oven clean.

What are the oven symbols for safety functions?

Child lock symbol

Some ovens are fitted with a childproof lock that needs to be pressed for around 4 seconds to turn and off. Look for the key symbol to see if your oven has this setting.

Minute minder symbol

A minute minder is really useful as it will turn the oven off after a certain time and give an audible beep. It’s represented by a clock symbol.

Alarm symbol

This simple setting will sound an alarm when cooking is complete. The symbol looks like a bell.

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