> The BS1363 is so massive that it shrugs off power loads of multiple kilowatts
They do have a higher current rating than the French and German standards (30A vs. 16A) but even those do support up to 4 kW. Ovens also run at 3 kW or so in France and Germany.
Ovens in the UK are usually wired in. Plugs go up to 13A, suitable only for small (e.g. tabletop) ovens.
You usually do not plug an oven into a standard 230V socket in Germany. They are connected to 3 phase outlets with 400V and up to 16A, which is nothing to sneeze at.
3 phase for ovens? That seems totally overkill to me.
In France even though they're not usually plugged into a standard socket, all the ovens I've used ran on standard single phase current. Houses are almost never wired for 3 phase anyway.
Parent was talking about toaster ovens though, and those are (as far as I know) always plugged to normal sockets.
Isn't this the common thing in (most of?) Europe? At least here up north it seems to be the standard.