How Falcon test ovens, hobs and grills
For that extra peace of mind, all new Falcon products go through a series of tests to ensure they can stand the heat.
Our Home Economist, Alex, gives an insight below to her testing process and the vital role she plays in making sure your model performs to the highest standard.
The development of a Falcon cooker starts from the basis that the most important function of the appliance is to cook food in an efficient and safe manner.
Falcon follows the British and European Standard
BS EN 50304:2009, BS EN 60350-02:2013 plus A11:2014 and BS EN 30-2-1:2015 as well as the appropriate safety standards when developing our range of cookers.
We know that actual cooking in the oven is vital during its development.
Falcon uses small cakes to determine the heat distribution in electric ovens. These cakes are always made from the same ingredients and 28 g of the raw cake mixture is weighed into each greaseproof paper cake case. Even the size and grade of paper of these cases is laid down in the standard. After cooking, the tops and bases of the cakes are examined to note any differences in browning. If the cakes are not evenly browned, we go back to the development engineers who will make some changes to the oven cavity to remedy any unevenness and then test cooking is done again to verify the changes.
As well as small cakes, we use scones and fruitcake which cover three different cooking temperatures - cool (fruitcake), medium heat (small cakes) and scones (high temperature).
Apple pies are used to check if the oven can cope with a heavy load. Once again the colour of the base and top is checked and the filling is tested to make sure it is cooked.
As we manufacture one of the largest oven cavities available, which is great for family cooking, we also cook a full meal in the oven and check it is large enough for a 11,3 kg Christmas turkey.
The hob, being a vital part of cooker, is also subjected to testing.
Can the burners be turned right down without the flame going out? Of course!
Are the zones on an induction hob as responsive as they should be? Yes!
The griddles provided with your Falcon range cooker are thoroughly tested to make sure that the coating is non-stick during cooking and cleaning, and the multi-ring burner and wok cradle are checked using our own non-stick wok.
When it comes to grills, we test with toast to calculate the percentage browned in relation to the size of the grilling area and the time it takes to do this.
We also cook beefburgers to verify the uniformity of cooking and browning.