Fan ovens - I don't like them.
Discussion
Can anyone help me?
I've just moved house and the kitchen has a nice stainless steel style cooker. The hob is fantastic, with a smart wok burner and a griddle for my steaks. However, it's just got a single fan oven.
Now I find when roasting anything in this sort of oven, even turning down the heat compensate, it just dries everything out and scorches it. Last night it was belly pork. I usually bung my veggies and meat in for an hour and a half at about 180, go away and forget about it, and come back to a stonking dinner.
However, last night's dinner came out looking like it had been left drying in the Sahara for a month. A shepeherds Pie came out the other night with a 1cm solid crust on the top.
So what am I doing wrong?
I've just moved house and the kitchen has a nice stainless steel style cooker. The hob is fantastic, with a smart wok burner and a griddle for my steaks. However, it's just got a single fan oven.
Now I find when roasting anything in this sort of oven, even turning down the heat compensate, it just dries everything out and scorches it. Last night it was belly pork. I usually bung my veggies and meat in for an hour and a half at about 180, go away and forget about it, and come back to a stonking dinner.
However, last night's dinner came out looking like it had been left drying in the Sahara for a month. A shepeherds Pie came out the other night with a 1cm solid crust on the top.
So what am I doing wrong?
Hm.. I wouldn't exactly say that. Witha normal convection oven, I don't usually have these issues.I am finding that even at lower temps the fan just dries everything out. If you were to try and slow-roast anything, you would end up with dessicated dinner. So yes I'm doing something wrong, but can you tell me what it is?
Fan ovens are great. As a general rule, no need to pre-heat, and drop the temperature twenty degrees (n.b. exceptions for bread or pizzas). Get an oven thermometer, and pay a bit of attention fifteen minutes before the end. We roast a chicken every week, pretty much to the minute that they now helpfully pre-calculate and print on the label for you.
I can't help with your roasted veg, though; revolting stuff.
I can't help with your roasted veg, though; revolting stuff.
prand said:
Hm.. I wouldn't exactly say that. Witha normal convection oven, I don't usually have these issues.I am finding that even at lower temps the fan just dries everything out. If you were to try and slow-roast anything, you would end up with dessicated dinner. So yes I'm doing something wrong, but can you tell me what it is?
I've done 18-hour slow-roasted shoulder of pork in mine with no problems. As suggested, get an oven thermometer to test the actual temperature.You had something which cooked to perfection in your old non-fan oven at 200C, so you'd expect it to do something similar in a fan oven at 180C, maybe knocking 10% off the cooking time for good measure.
That's all well and good, but it's quite possible that your old oven was over-reading by 10C, whilst your new one could be under-reading by the same amount, in which case you'd be cooking at exactly the same temperature, which would make it no surprise at all that the fan oven is drying the food out.
grumbledoak said:
Silent1 said:
Get an AGA ...
I love this place! For all we know the OP is living in a modern (i.e. tiny) studio apartment. Said Aga could be bigger than his bedroom, let alone his kitchen!We have a dual fuel cooker, gas hob for the speed and adjusability and electric oven as it keeps the temperature spot on. We are looking at changing it (another dual), but over a straight gas or electric theres a premium of £100-200.
As said electric ovens are deemed better, the fan increases the speed it cooks at. Though I once did an enormous turkey in there one christmas and I failed to turn it round - one leg was shall we say "rather well done".....
Sounds like the temperature was a bit too high. We leave roasties in for hour and a half, nice and crispy but not burnt. Though I have never left a (roast) dinner for more than 30 mins without checking veg or basting.
As said electric ovens are deemed better, the fan increases the speed it cooks at. Though I once did an enormous turkey in there one christmas and I failed to turn it round - one leg was shall we say "rather well done".....
Sounds like the temperature was a bit too high. We leave roasties in for hour and a half, nice and crispy but not burnt. Though I have never left a (roast) dinner for more than 30 mins without checking veg or basting.
Kermit power said:
grumbledoak said:
Silent1 said:
Get an AGA ...
I love this place! For all we know the OP is living in a modern (i.e. tiny) studio apartment. Said Aga could be bigger than his bedroom, let alone his kitchen!Thanks for the useful answers folks, I think a bit more experimentation is required with lower temps. I can see how its easy to forget how used you get to your own equipment (my old one was a double gas oven). But saying that, I couldn't get used to my previous fan oven, so some of the techniques above fro checking temps will be very helpful.
prand said:
Can anyone help me?
I've just moved house and the kitchen has a nice stainless steel style cooker. The hob is fantastic, with a smart wok burner and a griddle for my steaks. However, it's just got a single fan oven.
Now I find when roasting anything in this sort of oven, even turning down the heat compensate, it just dries everything out and scorches it. Last night it was belly pork. I usually bung my veggies and meat in for an hour and a half at about 180, go away and forget about it, and come back to a stonking dinner.
However, last night's dinner came out looking like it had been left drying in the Sahara for a month. A shepeherds Pie came out the other night with a 1cm solid crust on the top.
So what am I doing wrong?
Are you 100% certain it's on the right setting? When we moved in to our place I thought the oven was rubbish, getting the same kind of results you are, until my wife gently pointed out that what I had thought was the 'fan' setting was in fact 'fan plus top heat'. Ever since then it's been great I've just moved house and the kitchen has a nice stainless steel style cooker. The hob is fantastic, with a smart wok burner and a griddle for my steaks. However, it's just got a single fan oven.
Now I find when roasting anything in this sort of oven, even turning down the heat compensate, it just dries everything out and scorches it. Last night it was belly pork. I usually bung my veggies and meat in for an hour and a half at about 180, go away and forget about it, and come back to a stonking dinner.
However, last night's dinner came out looking like it had been left drying in the Sahara for a month. A shepeherds Pie came out the other night with a 1cm solid crust on the top.
So what am I doing wrong?
deckster said:
Are you 100% certain it's on the right setting? When we moved in to our place I thought the oven was rubbish, getting the same kind of results you are, until my wife gently pointed out that what I had thought was the 'fan' setting was in fact 'fan plus top heat'. Ever since then it's been great
In a similar moment of genius, my mother-in-law cooked a Sunday lunch using just the grill, and wondered why the beef was charred on the outside and raw at the bottom, and the potatoes just wouldn't crisp up. Silent1 said:
Kermit power said:
grumbledoak said:
Silent1 said:
Get an AGA ...
I love this place! For all we know the OP is living in a modern (i.e. tiny) studio apartment. Said Aga could be bigger than his bedroom, let alone his kitchen!To make it even vaguely workable, you have to start buggering around with extra plates and things to decrease the heat, and when you're putting these in the oven, the already small oven becomes smaller still.
On top of all that, the sodding thing is about the size of a Mini, and it's a nightmare to cook at because of the amount of heat it gives off.
It's one and only saving grace (apart from being good for slow-roasting) is the fact that you can still cook in a power cut. This would've been damned useful in the 70s, and probably will be again 20 years from now if the government doesn't sort out a power policy, but at the moment, it's useless.
prand said:
Thanks for the useful answers folks, I think a bit more experimentation is required with lower temps. I can see how its easy to forget how used you get to your own equipment (my old one was a double gas oven). But saying that, I couldn't get used to my previous fan oven, so some of the techniques above fro checking temps will be very helpful.
In which case, prepare to be forever disappointed. There's no beating a gas oven for crispy skin on roasts. Although in their defence, fan ovens are supposed to be better for cakes - not that I make these very often.
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