Why the Neff N70 Slide and Hide oven is the perfect kitchen upgrade

Shopping for a new oven can seem like a fairly prosaic exercise. All ovens do broadly the same thing, after all, so it may seem like picking out a new one involves finding a design that fits both your aesthetic and budget.

But the Neff N70 Slide and Hide oven has a lot of useful features that will help make your kitchen a calmer, more efficient and pleasant place to spend time – which is ideal both for those who use cooking as a form of relaxation and those who would prefer to minimise their time at the countertop.

Buy the Neff Slide and Hide oven from John Lewis

A great cooking experience

It should go without saying that the Neff N70 cooks brilliantly. In fact, it’s likely better than anything you’ve experienced before thanks to its Circo Therm® technology. We’ve all seen recipes that ask us to use certain oven shelves to guarantee the right temperature – but with Circo Therm® that’s no longer necessary because heat is distributed evenly throughout the oven.

This is made possible via a stainless steel fan that draws in air from the oven, heats it up and forces it back via ducts at the rear wall. The result is an even cook across the appliance, letting you bake a roast dinner with all the trimmings and a fruit crumble at the same time without worrying about food on the top grill suffering.

And there’s no chance of getting the wrong temperature by mistake – an occupational hazard of ovens with analogue controls. The Neff N70 packs a bright, clear 3.7in TFT touch display with an intuitive menu to make monitoring your oven’s contents a doddle.

Not only that, but the screen and the accompanying Home Connect app is your gateway to a whole host of extra time savers. You can save your favourite settings so your oven is always set just how you like it, and you can even enjoy Automatic Meal Settings with temperatures, heating method and timings intuited by the oven based on what you want to cook. Whether you’re looking for a super-moist sponge cake or the perfect crispy roasties, all you need to do is pick a programme and press start.

Buy the Neff Slide and Hide oven from John Lewis

Thoughtful design inside and out

Neff’s design ingenuity isn’t limited to the cooking side of the oven, and the “Slide and Hide” part of the name is just as important when it comes to getting the most of your kitchen.

Unlike conventional ovens where the door opens outwards, the Neff N70’s panel quietly vanishes into the counter when you want to check up on your cooking. Forget the slamming of oven doors – with gently dampened sliding action, this is the stress-free way to cook.

Once you’ve tried this, you won’t want to go back to traditional oven doors. Not only is the Slide and Hide design a space saver for smaller kitchens, it’s incredibly helpful for those with mobility issues who find that the door gets in the way when they’re trying to reach the back of the oven. And, suffice it to say, burning yourself on the oven door is an accident that’s confined to history – just pull up on the rotating handle and guide the door back into place to reseal your oven.

‘As any amateur chef knows, cooking can be a messy business, but the N70 takes some of the pain out of the process with two cleaning methods to make maintenance a doddle. Just pick an EasyClean setting, for a quick and convenient way to clean your oven interior which breaks down dirt and grease with vapour for an easy clean with water and a drop of liquid detergent. For more stuck-on stains, you’ll want Pyrolytic Self-Cleaning, which heats the oven up to 485℃, turning baking, roasting and grilling residue into a pile of ash for you to easily wipe away without harsh cleaning products in under two hours.’

Beyond all this, the Neff N70 can become an integral part of your smart home. We briefly mentioned the Home Connect app earlier, and this opens up plenty of new smart functionality, from downloading new recipes and oven settings, to being able to remotely control temperature and functions from your smartphone. You can even get push notifications when everything is ready to eat.

It gets even better if you have Alexa or Google Assistant looking after your smart home via a smart speaker. Once set up via the Home Connect app, you can use voice controls to adjust oven temperatures, check how long is left or turn it off completely. For Alexa specifically, functionality is even more advanced, as you’re able to request a specific dish you want with the power of your voice, only to have the ideal settings automatically applied. Don’t worry if you don’t have an Echo to hand, though – all of this is available in the Home Connect app too.

In short, the Neff N70 Slide and Hide modernises the oven with features to make your life easier, while providing superb cooking performance. The Circo Therm® technology promises an even finish on every level of the oven, while the Slide and Hide design works flawlessly to maximise kitchen space. With Pyrolytic self-cleaning, you won’t feel like putting off maintenance, and the smart functionality makes it hard to go wrong with new recipes.

Whether you live to eat, or eat to live, the Neff N70 Slide and Hide oven should be top of your shopping list when it comes time to upgrade your kitchen.

Buy the Neff Slide and Hide oven from John Lewis