Ovens, also known as drying stoves, are devices used to dry and sterilize glass and metal containers used in various laboratory processes. The laboratory stoves allow to carry out the sterilization by dry heat, where hot air is used to carry out this process, these equipments allow a uniform distribution of heat inside, where the material is exposed to temperatures of approximately 170ºC for 2 hours.
Dry heat sterilization works by destroying microorganisms by oxidation of their cellular components. This is a less efficient process than wet heat sterilization because microorganisms die more quickly when in the presence of water because it allows their protein configuration to be altered more easily and provides a means of evenly distributing heat throughout the sterilizing equipment's internal chamber. For this reason, to achieve the sterilization of the material using dry heat, higher temperatures should be applied for a longer time.