I recently attended a NEFF Experience Centre to find out more about Neff products, with a particular focus on its ovens and steam cooking technology.

We’ve all heard how amazing steam technology is, but I wanted to see this for myself.

The session was hosted by Brigitte Kriehn, who brought a rare combination of culinary experience and deep appliance knowledge. With more than 35 years in the industry, experience as a pastry chef and chocolatier, time working in London, a degree in nutrition and a former role as Head Pastry Chef of the Grand Hyatt Singapore, she was exceptionally well placed to take us through the range and she brings a wealth of culinary expertise to the table. 

With an array of built-in NEFF ovens behind her, Brigitte took us through the range, starting with the entry-level N 50 B6ACM7AG7A. With traditional dials alongside an LCD display, it has a reassuringly familiar feel for anyone who enjoys a more hands-on approach to cooking.

One of the first features she demonstrated was NEFF’s patented Slide & Hide® door. It’s a clever space-saving design that allows the door to disappear underneath the oven, while the oven itself can heat from cold to 180°C in around four minutes.

But it was some of the more practical features that really started to demonstrate where Neff differentiates itself.

Brigitte introduced us to the meat probe, which comes with the oven and plugs into the inside left side panel. The concept is simple: select your desired internal temperature, insert the probe into your meat and let the oven do the monitoring. Once the required temperature is reached, the oven switches off automatically, helping prevent overcooking.

Brigitte shared her own guide to cooking temperatures for different proteins:

> Beef: temperatures in the 50s, with 48°C for blue and around 55°C for medium

> Lamb: 60°C for rare, 65°C for pink and 68°C for well done

> Chicken: 75–80°C

When combined with steam, the meat probe can help reduce cooking times, retain moisture and achieve precise internal temperatures.

“Brigitte said This is a gamechanger, it will always give you the perfectly cooked meat ”

She then told us about a recent call from a fellow chef who was hosting a poker night for a room full of other chefs. His challenge? Cooking the perfect scotch fillets for a group who would undoubtedly know exactly what a perfectly cooked steak should taste like.

He'd asked Brigitte for her recommendation. Rather than using the increasingly popular reverse-sear method, she suggested a quick sear followed by cooking in the oven with the meat probe set to 53°C. Apparently, the result was such a success that he is now something of a hero among his chef friends.

Stories like this made the technology feel much more relevant than simply reading a list of features. This isn't just about having more settings on an oven; it's about having greater control over the outcome.

Brigitte also highlighted NEFF's guidance around tray and rack positions, with different heights recommended depending on what you're cooking. For anyone with a discerning palate who knows what good food tastes like, that level of control could be a deciding factor.

Another feature that caught my attention was the Pyrolytic self-cleaning function. At high temperatures, food residue and grease are reduced to fine ash, which can then simply be wiped away. It means less scrubbing and no need for harsh cleaning chemicals.

The Slide & Hide® door can also be removed for cleaning, although Brigitte recommended following the YouTube guide when doing so or use the NEFF Service Techs that can do this with ease.

Then there’s Home Connect.

I'll admit, it always seems slightly strange that modern kitchen appliances need an internet connection. But there is a practical reason for it here.

If you experience an issue with the oven, NEFF service technicians can potentially access it remotely to help troubleshoot problems. Rather than trying to decipher an error code from a manual, the appliance can communicate information directly to the technician.

You can also access the oven remotely through Home Connect, including preheating it before you get home. Brigitte gave the very relatable example of coming back from a muddy football or soccer field and wanting to get dinner in the oven for the family.

The Slide & Hide® door, rapid heat-up, meat probe, self-cleaning technology and Home Connect alone make a compelling case for the range.

But then we got to the steam.

We moved on to the N 50 B5AVM7AG7A with added steam.

The obvious question was: why would you need it?

Brigitte explained that NEFF's Circo-Therm® hot-air function can be combined with different levels of steam, depending on what you're cooking.

For baking, steam level one introduces humidity to cakes, muffins and cookies, helping prevent them from drying out and baked goods last longer.

Steam level two can be used with red meat to help retain moisture and reduce shrinkage. For baking and roasting, it can also help achieve golden, puffy pastry and crispy roast vegetables without drying them out.

Steam level three is suited to foods such as fish, pork and chicken - particularly useful for proteins that can quickly become dry when overcooked.

There’s also a temperature guide supplied with the oven, although Brigitte shared some of her own preferences during the demonstration.

One of the simplest examples was broccoli. At 100°C using pure steam, it can be cooked in around four minutes, helping retain its colour, flavour and nutrients.

There is a little more planning involved when combining steam with traditional roasting. If you're cooking vegetables at 220°C, for example, you can't use full steam straight away because the steam function operates up to 100°C.

Something else I hadn't considered was whether a steam oven would make the kitchen itself feel humid.

Apparently not.

The steam used is clean steam, and when the oven door is opened, it evaporates quickly rather than filling the kitchen with moisture.

This was where the technology became particularly interesting.

We moved on to the N 90 B69FS5CY0A built-in oven with full steam functionality. Brigitte lifted the display panel to reveal the hidden water tray, which supplies water to the oven during steam cooking.

Importantly, the oven isn't plumbed in by design. That means installation isn't dependent on having plumbing available behind the appliance, which could be particularly useful when designing an island kitchen or working within an apartment.

But the real question is what full steam actually adds.

The N 90 also introduces another clever approach to cleaning.

Its Eco Clean system uses an ecolytic interior designed to absorb and break down grease, fats, proteins and sugars generated during cooking. Once the oven reaches the required temperature, these residues are broken down and collected, with the easy Eco Clean function helping to remove the remnants.

It's one of those features that sounds slightly futuristic until you see how it works.

The idea is simple: spend less time scrubbing the oven and more time using it.

Then came perhaps the most unexpected feature.

The full steam oven is the only NEFF appliance in the range we looked at that can be used for sous vide cooking.

For anyone unfamiliar with the process, sous vide involves vacuum-sealing food - in this case, a piece of beef with simple seasonings such as salt, pepper, garlic and thyme - before cooking it in a precisely controlled water environment.

For a medium-rare steak, Brigitte recommended around 54°C for one to two and a half hours, depending on thickness.

Once cooked, the steak is removed from the bag, dried thoroughly and quickly seared in a very hot cast-iron pan with oil and butter to develop a crust.

The result is the kind of consistency associated with restaurant cooking: precise internal temperature, a deeply seared exterior and flavour retained throughout the cooking process.

At this point, full steam started to feel like a rather compelling proposition.

Brigitte also demonstrated a number of more specific cooking functions, each designed to make certain jobs easier:

> Air Fry: fan speed and crisping for quick, pre-cooked foods - yes, including 'nuggies' and frozen treats.

> Fan & Grill: useful for maintaining colour while cooking foods such as chicken, fish and burgers.

> Circo-Intensive / Pizza: combines bottom heat and fan cooking, particularly useful when paired with a pizza or NEFF Baking Stone Z1913X0.

> Circo-Roast: fan-assisted with grill which makes this great for roasting.

> Dough proving: a controlled combination of low heat and moisture to produce the optimum temperature of 40oC for yeast doughs to  rise in 30 minutes.

> Reheat: one of Brigitte's favorite functions at home, with a temperature of 120oC and produces a humidity to reheat foods keeping them crispy, like it has just been cooked.

She also demonstrated steam-poached eggs. Using Full steam eggs could be perfectly poached in around three to four minutes, with consistent airflow allowing multiple eggs to be cooked at once.

That consistency is important. It means you can time different components of a meal - steamed rice, eggs, proteins or baking - with much greater confidence.

And yes, apparently steamed cakes, Christmas puddings and sticky date puddings are all very much on the menu.

After spending so much time looking at the ovens, it was time to see what the N 90 induction cooktop could do.

The V68YYX4C0 features precise temperature control through Frying Sensor Plus. Brigitte used it to deep-fry some mini arancini balls she'd prepared earlier - a perfect demonstration of why precise temperature control matters.

Using the removable Twist Pad Flex, she set the cooktop to the desired temperature. Once it reached the correct heat, the cooktop beeped to signal that it was ready.

The arancini came out beautifully: golden and crisp on the outside, with melted cheese and creamy risotto filling inside, served with a horseradish cream that added a welcome kick.

After discussing the cooktop, Brigitte moved on to dessert, using the N 90 B69FS5CY0A's full-steam function to bake fresh mixed berry cakes.

The result was incredibly light and fluffy - honestly, the nicest cake I've ever eaten - with a consistency that would have been difficult to achieve without the steam setting. It was also remarkably fast, and looking around the room, it was clear that everyone's serving had achieved the same perfectly even texture.

Watching Brigitte drizzle the lemon syrup over the cake and seeing it soak into the soft sponge was a highlight.

Served with yoghurt, tart berries and a dusting of dried berries, the dessert was beautifully balanced: not too sweet, with bright citrus notes from the lemon, a little crunch from the dried berries and a soft, spongey texture that absorbed all the flavours.

The yoghurt brought everything together.

It was the kind of dessert that makes a technical feature suddenly make complete sense.

I'd noticed the N 90 induction cooktop's integrated downdraft ventilation running quietly in the background throughout the demonstration.

It became particularly obvious when Brigitte was working with the lemon syrup. The system was visibly drawing in the vapour coming off the pot.

I'll admit, I had doubts. Would it actually be powerful enough? And would the filter be a nightmare to clean?

Those concerns were quickly put to rest.

I was sitting directly behind the cooktop and could barely detect the vapours or odours being produced. Brigitte then lifted out the filter to show how easily it can be removed and placed in the dishwasher.

There are 2 filters first set absorb the grease and fat and these can go straight into the dishwasher these contains multiple layers and are designed to prevent moisture from entering. The 2  filters including a charcoal layer that removes the aroma out of the air, when recirculating the air back into the room there is no food odours. These can be replaced when required.

Beyond the practical benefits, downdraft ventilation opens up some interesting design possibilities for island cooking areas where a traditional overhead extraction system may not be desirable.

Brigitte explained that, once filtered, air can either be redistributed into the kitchen or filtered out through the cabinetry.

One of the most useful parts of the session wasn't actually a cooking feature at all.

It was the importance of understanding water hardness when setting up a steam oven.

The NEFF manual contains a surprising amount of useful information, from recommended cooking temperatures and cooking modes through to setup requirements.

When you first receive a steam oven, it's important to complete the calibration process and enter the appropriate water hardness setting.

Water hardness relates to the amount of dissolved minerals in your water. Higher levels of minerals such as calcium and magnesium can eventually result in limescale - that familiar chalky residue you might see in kettles and coffee machines.

For a steam appliance, understanding this is particularly important because it affects how often the appliance needs to be descaled.

The water hardness scale used in the demonstration was:

> Soft: 0–60 mg/L CaCO₃

> Moderately hard: 60–120 mg/L CaCO₃

> Hard: 120–180 mg/L CaCO₃

> Very hard: 180+ mg/L CaCO₃

Brigitte pointed out the oven will inform you when it needs descaling and you follow the instructions and prompts, this varies on how often you use steam, Brigitte said she descales every quarter year.

It's also worth noting that (whilst trendy) UV treatment doesn't remove the minerals responsible for water hardness. If you're unsure about your home's water hardness, providers such as Watercare publish regional water quality information, while inexpensive water test strips can also be used at home.

Neff also provides guidance on descaling and support through MyNeff if you need help with the process.

After spending several hours seeing the NEFF range in action, I came away with a very different appreciation for what these appliances are designed to do.

It is absolutely worth visiting Winnings to see the appliances and live cooking demonstration sessions in person at the NEFF Experience Centre , particularly if you want to understand how the different functions actually translate into cooking.

Neff ovens are designed for people who enjoy spending time in the kitchen, appreciate the difference that precision can make and relish achieving consistently impressive results.

Steam cooking was the biggest revelation for me. The combination of precise temperature control, moisture and even cooking produced results that were genuinely noticeable - particularly when it came to proteins and baking.

The meat probe takes the guesswork out of cooking proteins, while full steam opens up everything from faster cooking and nutrient retention to sous vide.

And after tasting that mixed berry cake?

I'm considerably more convinced that steam cooking isn't just another appliance trend.

If you entertain regularly, enjoy experimenting in the kitchen or simply want greater control over the food you cook, there's certainly a lot to celebrate here.

Restaurant-quality results, cooked with greater precision and enjoyed at home.