13592 Desmond St., Pacoima, CA 91331 818.897.0808 tel 888.753.9898 toll free www.americanrange.com
8
Cuisine & Performer Ranges
Use & Care Manual
OVEN OPERATION
To light the oven, push in and turn the thermostat to the desired operating temperature from 150ºF to 500ºF. You may be able to see a
bright glow from the sides of the oven bottom – this is normal and indicates the hot surface igniter is activated. Once the igniter is hot
enough for ignition, the gas valve will open, allowing the flow of gas into the bake burner. This may take up to one minute.
During the first few minutes of operation, a mild condensation may appear on the interior glass pane of the door window. Water vapor
is a normal by-product of combustion, and the condensation will disappear as the oven warms.
If you would like to bake using the Convection feature, you may turn on the fan at any time – allowing the oven about twenty or thirty
minutes to preheat before use.
Never place any pan or food item on the bottom of the oven, always use an oven rack place in at least the lowest position.
To use the Broil feature of the range, first consider what type of broiling you would like to perform. The closer you are to the broil
burner, the faster you will evaporate moisture from the surface of food and the quicker the surface will brown. In a similar fashion, the
further away you place the food (on the lowest rack, for example) the slower you will evaporate surface moisture and the longer it will
take for the surface to brown. A good rule of thumb is to start about 6” away from the broiler and watch for how quickly the food is
browning.
BROILER OPERATION
To light the broiler, push in and turn the thermostat to the position labeled BROIL on the control knob. In about twenty seconds, you will
see a bright glow in the oven - this is the hot surface igniter. Once the igniter is hot enough for ignition, the gas valve will open,
allowing the flow of gas into the broil burner. This may take up to one minute.
The broiler will have a blue flame that covers the ceramic tiles – after a few minutes, the tiles will glow bright red/orange and radiate
infrared energy. Remember the red surface is over 1800ºF in temperature and can be a source of serious burns or injury.
The Bake burner and Broil burner will not operate at the same time; the convection fan will not operate during Broiling.
OVENS 101
The oven is a gas fired, temperature controlled cooking cavity which is highly insulated to keep the kitchen cool and the food hot. The
oven contains two burners - the Bake burner positioned below the oven floor and the Broil burner located in the ceiling of the oven.
Bake and Broil are very different cooking operations and the burners are designed to deliver energy in a way appropriate to the task.
There are two types of baking - called Standard Bake (or conventional) and Convection Bake. Standard or conventional baking make
best use of Grandma’s cookie, cake or pie recipes – like Bake at 350ºF for forty-five minutes – to get the job done. These recipes are
tried and true – conventional or standard bake will deliver wonderful performance every time you cook.
When you Convection bake (using a fan to circulate the high temperature air inside the oven) you can lower the thermostat about 25º
and reduce the cook time by about 25% - and achieve fine cooking results just like Grandma’s – taking less time and using less energy.
Use the same recommended temperatures for meats and poultry dishes – but keep watch of the time. Convection cooking technology
was first developed in Europe and has been used for many years – recently taking hold in US residential kitchens and cookbooks.
In convection cooking, not only is the cook time faster, but also, the oven temperature is more even, top to bottom and side to side – so
cookies on several racks will have the same brown color and texture. However, to best take advantage of convection, use low, shallow
bakeware so that moving air can get over the sides and up to the food surface. Foods in covered dishes (like casseroles or pot roasts) do
not benefit from convection cooking.
