The choice of heating tube material affects the service life of the steam oven!

When it comes to choosing the right heating element material, many people are likely concerned. After all, many people's understanding of steam ovens is still limited to traditional ovens, believing that heating elements are easily damaged by steam, shortening the lifespan of the machine. This is especially true for ovens that fail to function properly when using methods like water baths. However, steam oven technology is now highly mature and generally lacks defects. A typical lifespan is 5 to 10 years. Today, we'll introduce the performance of various materials for steam oven heating elements to help you choose the right one.

In the current steam oven market, the main materials for steam oven heating elements include quartz, carbon, and 310S stainless steel. Quartz offers high thermal conductivity, eliminates the need for far-infrared coating, provides excellent radiation absorption, maintains long-term radiation performance, and is affordable. Stainless steel offers high thermal conductivity, high quality, corrosion resistance, dry-burn resistance, long life, and reliability, making it the predominant heating element material. Carbon offers the highest thermal conductivity, reaching 98%, offers rapid heating, low energy consumption, high quality, and is easy to clean.

Because each material has its own unique properties, many brands mix different heating elements to achieve optimal results. For example, some countertop steam ovens use a combination of quartz and stainless steel heating elements. The upper heating element is made of quartz, taking advantage of quartz's high thermal conductivity and excellent radiation absorption, while the lower heating element is made of stainless steel, taking advantage of stainless steel's resistance to drops and bumps. This combination of materials not only achieves excellent heating performance but also protects the heating element from damage.

Many steam oven vendors also mention bluing technology when it comes to heating elements. This is actually a surface treatment process for steel. It involves heating the steel in air or immersing it in a concentrated oxidizing solution to form an oxide film approximately 1 micron thick on the surface. The purpose is to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of the steel. Therefore, heating elements using bluing technology are generally much better than ordinary stainless steel elements, significantly extending their service life.

Some friends have also asked why the heating element surface of their newly purchased steam oven glows red when they turn it on for testing, but then disappears after a while. Is it broken? First, the reddening of the heating tube surface is normal. This reddening occurs because the surface load is designed to be high, with the surface temperature exceeding 400°C. As the temperature rises, the heating tube rapidly heats up, drawing significant power. This high-load process causes the heating tube to glow red. Once the internal temperature reaches the preset setting, the power is reduced, and the tube temperature also drops, naturally fading.

The two heating tube materials mentioned above are primarily found in tabletop steam ovens, while built-in steam ovens are generally made of stainless steel. Unlike the 840 stainless steel used in ovens, steam ovens utilize 310S stainless steel. 310S stainless steel heating tubes are more suitable for steam ovens because they are more corrosion-resistant than 840 stainless steel. 840 stainless steel heating tubes are chosen for ovens due to their superior high-temperature resistance, while 310S stainless steel is chosen for ovens with steam function due to its corrosion resistance.

Therefore, for steam ovens, there is no defect that the heating tube is damaged by water vapor corrosion. Although the 310S stainless steel material focuses on corrosion resistance, the heating effect and high temperature resistance are not much different from the oven heat pipe.