Recent research from Mintel has found that dishes made completely from scratch sat at 46 percent of all types of evening meals prepared most often across UK households in 2023.

The number is on the rise, with more and more people becoming interested in what goes into their food as well as how to cook it.

There’s also nothing tastier than a fresh homemade meal, especially when it’s been cooked to perfection.

If you’re keen to become your household’s very own chef, it’s important to understand an oven’s cooking symbols and functions.

There are quite a few features to get your head around with modern appliances, but the experts from Beko have made a simple guide to help you understand.

Fan oven

What the symbol looks like:

The experts said: “This is identified by an image of a fan, which is usually within a circle.”

How to use the element:

The appliance pros noted: “In fan oven mode, your kitchen appliance will be able to distribute hot air evenly around the oven’s cavity.

“Food will therefore be cooked or baked uniformly no matter where in the oven it’s been placed.

“A hot and dry environment is also achieved when an oven is set to fan oven mode."

Fan with lower heat

What the symbol looks like:

As well as an image of a fan, this symbol has a horizontal straight line under the fan.

How to use the element:

Pies, quiches and pizzas will taste delicious when cooked using an oven that’s in its fan with lower heat mode.

The experts said: “This is because the heat will be coming from the bottom of the oven - meaning the bottom of your food will be getting nicely cooked - but then some of that heat will be circulated around the rest of the oven to keep the top of a dish nice and moist.”

Conventional oven/upper & lower heating elements

What the symbol looks like:

The pros continued: “You’re looking for two horizontal straight lines, one at the top of the symbol and the other at the bottom.”

Lower heat element only

What the symbol looks like:

Only one horizontal straight line is present on this symbol, at the bottom.

When to use this element of your oven:

If you are cooking food where you’re hoping for a crispy base but without the risk of burning the top, switch on your oven’s lower-element heat feature.

This includes food items such as pizza bases and pastry cases.

This element works by the heat only coming from the bottom of the oven when the appliance is in this mode.

Ovens also have grill settings as well as defrost, slow cooking, preheating, plate warming and reheating.

Direct heat comes from both above and below when food is cooked inside an oven set to its conventional oven mode.

This setup means that even browning and consistent cooking should be achieved, making it a fantastic option when baking bread and cakes.”

This is the element of the oven most people are unaware of.

Lower heat element only

What the symbol looks like:

Only one horizontal straight line is present on this symbol, at the bottom.

When to use this element of your oven:

If you are cooking food where you’re hoping for a crispy base but without the risk of burning the top, switch on your oven’s lower-element heat feature.

This includes food items such as pizza bases and pastry cases.

This element works by the heat only coming from the bottom of the oven when the appliance is in this mode.

Ovens also have grill settings as well as defrost, slow cooking, preheating, plate warming and reheating.