Hotpoint Class 4 SI4854HIX Review
A basic but straightforward integrated oven
Verdict
A solid budget choice, the Hotpoint Class 4 SI4854HIX is a large (71-litre) no-frills oven that gets all the basics right and cooks well. Its modes can be a little hard to understand, but the range of options, including some automatic choices, are appreciated. If you want a straightforward no-frills option, this one is great value.
Pros
- Great value
- Good cooking results
- Nice choice of accessories
Cons
- Slightly fiddly interface
- No pull-out shelf
Availability
- UKRRP: £299
Key Features
- CapacityLarge 71-litres of space inside: enough for large dinners or lots of people.
Introduction
Not everyone is a keen cook or can afford to buy a flashy oven packed with features. If either of these sound like you, the Hotpoint Class 4 SI4854HIX could well be for you.
A simple, straightforward single oven, this model is a decent allrounder, providing all of the basic functions you’ll need.
Features
- Plenty of accessories
- Basic interface
- Some automatic programmes
Although a lower cost oven than many, the Hotpoint Class 4 SI4854HIX comes with a range of extras, including one wire shelf, a backing tray, and a tray with raised wired shelf. That’s more than you get with the more expensive Miele H2265-1 B.
There’s a decent 71-litres of space inside. Given that ovens top out at around 75/76 litres, this model isn’t far from the maximum and it’s easy to fit in everything you’re likely to want to cook.
This oven is a little more basic than many. It feels robust, but it lacks a little polish: the door will just slam shut and there are no sliders for making it easy to add and remove food. That’s all perfectly forgivable at this price.
I found the interface a little tricky to use, as there are just a series of icons to select, rather than an LCD that clearly describes the option you’ve selected. Our guide on how to use oven settings can help.
The choices include conventional cooking, grill, forced air (for multi-shelf cooking), and convection bake. There’s then a chef’s hat icon, which activates a secondary Special Functions menu, with more icons to choose from: turbo grill (this turns the fan on), eco-forced air (the light is turned off and the door should be kept closed until the end of the cooking time(, keep warm, rising (for proving dough) and diamond clean (you add water to the base of the cavity to steam the interior).
Finally, there are auto programmes, which select the best cooking mode and temperature for casseroles, meat, maxi (large joints of meat), bread, pizza and pastry cakes.
It’s worth keeping the manual to hand, particularly when the oven is fresh, to help understand what the modes mean.
For most modes, once selected, there’s then a choice to select the target temperature, and then pick a cooking time. When the oven hits temperature, it will beep, but the countdown only starts when the door has been opened and then closed, which is neat.
Performance
- Good results
- A little warmer on one side
- Even grilling
I tested this oven by starting off with oven chips. Setting the oven to 210C, I ran the oven until the chips were done. Ignoring the energy used during warm up, this oven used 0.412kWh (14p, assuming 34p per kWh), which is a good result.
I did notice that while the chips were well cooked, they were slightly more done on at the rear than on at the front. It’s well worth moving food and turning a cooking tray with this oven.
Heating the oven to 200C and adding a tray of ceramic beads, I found that the tray was slightly warmer towards the back. Measuring the temperature at the back I got a reading of 211C at the back and 206C at the front, with the tray on the top shelf.
On the middle shelf, the temperature spread was similar, but the variance was a bit less: 209C at the back and 204C at the front.
I then cooked a baguette. The result was fairly even, although lacking the steam option of the Hotpoint SI9 S8C1 SH IX H, the exterior of the bread wasn’t quite as crispy.
Finally, I grilled some bread, lying six slices out across a shelf. The result is pretty good: all of the bread is toasted, even if the slice in the middle at the front isn’t quite as well done.
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Should you buy it?
You’re on a tight budget: This oven is very well priced and cooks well if you just want the basics.
You want a more varied cooking experience: Up your budget and you’ll get more precision and a wider range of cooking options.
Final Thoughts
If all you need is a straightforward oven, then the Hotpoint Class 4 SI4854HIX is a decent choice. It’s well priced, cooks pretty well and has a good range of accessories. It’s a little hard to decipher all of the symbols, so the manual will be needed, but this is a solid choice for those on a budget.
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
This mode uses water you place in the cavity to create steam that releases stuck on grime.
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.
