An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been used to accomplish a wide variety of tasks requiring controlled heating. Because they are used for a variety of purposes, there are many different types of ovens. These types differ depending on their intended purpose and based upon how they generate heat.
A double oven
A ceramic oven
Oven depicted in Jean-François Millet's painting, Woman Baking Bread (1854)
Ancient Greek portable oven, 17th century BC
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay into pottery, tiles and bricks. Various industries use rotary kilns for pyroprocessing and to transform many other materials.
Charcoal kiln in California
Indian brick kiln
Farnham Pottery, Wrecclesham, Surrey with the preserved bottle kiln on the right of photo
A modern tunnel kiln