AEG BPK948330M Review
A smart oven with automated cooking
Verdict
Thanks to its automatic programmes and temperature probe, the AEG BPK948330M can make cooking simple for beginners, while more powerful features will be well received by more experienced chefs. It heats and grills evenly, providing plenty of flexible space inside, and with pyrolytic cleaning making it effortless to keep the inside clean, this is a great oven all round.
Pros
- Temperature probe for precise cooking
- Even grilling
- Even temperature heating
Cons
- App not that useful
Availability
- UKRRP: £1239
Key Features
- TypeThis is an integrated oven
- CapacityOffering 71 litres of space, this oven easily delivers the room for cooking the largest of meat joints or dinner.
- Max temperatureThe top temperature achievable is 300ºC
Introduction
Trying to work out when food is perfectly cooked can be difficult, but the AEG BPK948330M aims to do this in two ways: it has a temperature probe for monitoring food, plus a set of automated programmes for cooking common food types.
With its excellent temperature control and brilliant interface, this is a top oven for those who demand the best.
Design and Features
- Smart controls via app
- Temperature probe automates cooking
- Excellent interface
Sporting a thoroughly modern look, the AEG BPK948330M is a stylish appliance that will happily fit into practically any kitchen.
There’s a generous 71 litres of space inside, with five shelf positions. AEG provides two wire shelves in the box, plus a deep baking tray and trivet for cooking joints of meat or for grilling large amounts.
There are two runners in the box, too, which can clip into any of the shelf positions to enable a wire shelf to slide in and out. This is handy for getting larger vessels, such as casserole dishes, in and out. I have found myself using this quite a lot, since I can slide the shelf out and then remove my items. I find I avoid burning my arm on a shelf this way.
As with the AEG KMK968000M integrated microwave combi oven, the BPK948330M is controlled via an LCD and a dial. It’s a great combination; all the info is delivered in English on the screen, meaning you don’t have to decipher any icons as you would with a standard oven.
There are a set of standard cooking modes for when you want to take manual control of the oven. These include grill, turbo grilling (this uses the fan), fan cooking, frozen foods (this is for frozen chips, nuggets and so on, cooking without the need to preheat), conventional cooking (for baking), pizza (fan heating, with bottom element only) and bottom heat only.
For each mode, you then select the oven temperature and hit the Start button to let the oven warm up. When running, the oven’s dual lights turn on inside, lighting up the cavity so you can clearly see how food is cooking without having to open the door. This proved particularly brilliant for cooking Yorkshire puddings, which are easily ruined if the oven door is opened too soon.
These settings are great if you know what you’re doing, plus the AEG BPK948330M also has some special modes. There’s a lot to choose from, including preserving (for keeping fruit in jars), dehydrating, plate warming, dough proving, defrosting, au gratin, slow cooking, keep warm, moist fan baking (the oven runs on eco mode and retains moisture in the cavity), and bread baking for crispy baguettes and loaves.
Oven temperature runs between 30ºC and 300ºC; typically, the highest temperature that I need is 250ºC for cooking fresh baguettes.
In addition, there’s also a temperature probe for cooking meat, fish and casseroles. Just plug the sensor into the connection point inside, and stick the probe into the food you’re cooking. You can then set the target temperature for your food and have the AEG BPK948330M beep when your food is ready, or have the oven turn off completely.
It’s a very useful feature, particularly when dealing with meat, where often cooking times are a guess. Here, the oven can halt cooking at the exact point the food is properly done. Given that I used a manual meat thermometer when cooking anyway, having the oven automate everything makes life much easier.
AEG has also included some assisted cooking modes. Just select the type of food you want to cook – such as hash browns, sirloin or turkey – and the oven will pre-set the ideal oven mode, temperature and cooking times. Once a programme is complete, the oven drops down to its keep warm mode automatically, so you can largely set and forget.
Some foods, such as turkey, let you enter a cooking weight, although this isn’t always that useful: for turkey, the highest weight setting is 4700g. To me, that’s a very small turkey.
Alternatively, the meat and fish options can work with the food sensor. That’s far more useful, since the oven will just turn off when the right temperature has been reached. AEG has pre-programmed safe target temperatures, too: turkey has a minimum of 75ºC, although you can use the “More” setting if you’d rather have it cooked to 85ºC.
Compatible with the AEG My Kitchen app, the AEG BPK948330M can be remotely controlled. Safety settings mean that the oven can’t be started remotely, unless the option is activated manually on the oven. This is a requirement every time that the oven is turned off and back on.
From the app, I could select any of the standard oven functions but not the assisted cooking modes. Ultimately, taking out my phone, opening the app and setting the mode I wanted wasn’t as easy as simply heading over to the oven and setting it up manually.
For cleaning the AEG BPK948330M comes with pyrolytic modes, delivering a light to heavy clean. The system works by burning away any cooking debris, leaving just ash behind that can be vacuumed up – which is one reason this oven needs a dedicated 16A circuit. Note that all of the shelves and accessories need to be removed before using the pyrolytic modes. The mode works brilliantly and saves having to use any chemicals, steam, or worse, elbow grease.
Performance
- Even grilling
- Even temperatures
- Useful auto cooking modes
I put the AEG BPK948330M through a series of tests to see how well it performs. First, I used its bread baking mode to cook a baguette. I found I needed to increase the cooking time slightly in order to achieve a nice colour on the bread. The end result was decent, but I’ve seen better in steam ovens such as the Hotpoint SI9 S8C1 SH IX H.
I then used the automatic programme to cook frozen hash browns without a warm-up time. A 20-minute programme, close to the end of that time the oven switched down to the keep warm mode to prevent over-cooking. I found the hash browns to be crunchy and quite dry, although an air fryer will do a better overall job much faster.
To test the grill, I lined up a shelf with bread slices for toasting. The results were fairly even, and only slightly less done towards the back edge; not enough for this to make a difference.
I tested oven temperature evenness by heating a baking tray full of ceramic beads. As you can see from the shot below, the oven is slightly warmer towards the back, where the heating element and fan sit; but the heat is spread evenly throughout without any clear hot or cold spots.
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Should you buy it?
If you want even results and the option to cook with a temperature probe, this is an excellent high-end oven.
If you want to cook with steam, then look for an oven that can do this job automatically.
Final Thoughts
Beyond simple cooking modes, the AEG BPK948330M oven offers a lot of additional features, including bread proving, keep warm and plate warming. These additions makes it a great appliance even when you’re not cooking food in it directly. I found its automatic cooking programmes useful, particularly those that use a temperature probe: meat and fish is best when the exact internal temperature has been reached, and the AEG BPK948330M ensures this happens.
Even grilling and cooking make this oven a top choice for all kinds of dishes. The only area that proved somewhat redundant was the app – but this is because the main interface is so good.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every oven we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main oven for the review period
We use ceramic beads and a thermal camera to see how evenly the oven heats.
We use slices of bread to see how evenly the grill cooks.
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FAQs
The AEG offers 71 litres of space, which is generous enough for a large roast dinner and trimmings.
Yes, it comes with three levels of pyrolytic cleaning.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
