(NAPSI)—Here’s hot news for home cooks: You may be able to get much more out of the kitchen stove than you realize. Today’s ranges let you do more than just heat up a frozen pizza or boil water. Here are six things you can do to make meals easier, faster and more fun to make.

1. Understand the conventions of convection heating: True European Convection is a setting that may be a bit confusing to people who haven’t used it before. Simply stated, it means that a separate heating element works in conjunction with the traditional top and bottom elements along with a fan that works to evenly distribute heat. This makes for fast, even baking. Plus, this function limits flavor transfer between foods so that you can cook a savory main dish with a sweet desert without mixing flavors—saving valuable time and energy, too.
2. Make defrosting delightful: Some ranges, like the professional-style Verona, have a defrost setting that turns on the fan and oven lamp simultaneously. This function allows food to defrost quickly without beginning to par-cook, which is what usually happens when you use the defrost setting on the microwave. The defrost setting also keeps food from drying out as it would in a microwave.
3. Create a great personal pizza: Try the pizza mode setting for your frozen or handmade pizza. An exclusive feature of the Italian-made ILVE range, the pizza mode setting removes the guesswork by automatically heating the oven’s elements and setting the temperature to 480° F for a perfectly crisp crust and flawlessly melted toppings without burning.
4. Wake up to the possibilities of the wok ring: Whether you enjoy making your own Asian foods or just want to sauté some vegetables quickly for dinner, this can be a great tool. It’s especially designed to cradle the bottom of a wok and evenly distribute heat for high-temperature cooking and sautéing without burning.
5. Be up on upper element mode: This setting found on ILVE ranges turns on the top heating element only. It’s great for that last 10 minutes of cooking lasagna or any dish that says “remove lid” so you can brown, crisp or melt for a special finishing touch.
6. Get cooking faster: Some ranges can preheat faster; for example, ILVE offers an exclusive quick start mode, which goes from 0° to 350° F in just eight minutes.

Learn More

For further facts on the professional-grade home kitchen you can have with the customizable stoves, hand assembled by Italian artisans and available from ILVE and Verona Appliances, go to http://eurochefusa.com.