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Oven cooking guide
The following cooking guide is intended as a rough guide only. You may be required to set oven 10-20 degrees above
or below this guide to get the result you want. Also adjustments may be needed to the cooking time to suit personal
expectations. If you are new to using a Fan Forced oven It is advisable to make these adjustments until you get to
know the way yoor oven performs. If following cookbook recipes or pre-packaged goods you should read carefully
their cooking times guidelines.
For best results when baking, preheat your oven for 15-20 minutes.
Food
Conventional Oven / Pizza
Fan forced mode
Time in
minutes
Temperature (ºC)
Oven shelf
position
Temperature(ºC)
Oven shelf
position
Plain or fruit scones
200
Any
10-15
Rolled biscuits
170
2-3
150
Any
10-15
Spooned biscuits
190
2-3
180
Any
12-15
Shortbread biscuits
160
2-3
150
Any
30-35
Hard individual meringues
110
2
100
Any
90
Soft individual meringues
180
2
165
Any
15-20
Pavlova
110
2
100
Any
75
Patty cakes
190
2-3
170
Any
15-20
Sponge
180
2-3
170
Any
20-30
Plain butter cake
180
2
170
Any
25-40
Rich fruit cake
140
2
130
Any
180
Short crust cornish pasty
180-200
2*
160
Any
40-45
Short crust custard tart
180-220
2*
170-200
Any
20-30
Cream puffs
210
2
200
Any
25-30
Yeast bread
210
2*
200
Any
25-30
Pizza
215
2*
205
Any
12-20
*
When using you could use position 3 of the oven
Meat/Poultry/Fish
Fan Forced - Rec. Temp (ºC)
Minutes per kilogram
Beef
Rare
180
35-40
Medium
180
45-50
Well done
180
55-60
Lamb
Medium
180
40
Well done
180
60
Veal
170
60
Pork
200
60
Chicken
180
45-60
Duck
180
60-70
Turkey
180
40–45 (less than 10kg)
35–40 (more than 10kg)
Fish
160-170
20
Using the oven
12 Baumatic 540mm Upright Cooker USING THE OVEN
Understanding cooking problems
Problem
Causes
What to do
Uneven cooking
Incorrect shelf position
Select shelf that puts food in centre of oven
Oven tray too large
Remove oven tray. Use smaller trays or dishes
Trays not in centre
Put trays in centre
Oven fan causing uneven browning or small
cakes to lean over
Rotate food during cooking, or use Conventional
Mode (i.e. no fan)
Baked products too
brown on top
Oven not preheated
Preheat the oven
Baking tins too large (diameter) for recipe
Use correct size tins
Fan-forced mode with oven temperature too
high
Check recipe. Reduce oven temperature by
10 – 20 or more
Cooking time too long
Next time, shorten cooking time
Baking tins not evenly spaced
Stagger baking tins at least 3cm between tins and
the oven walls
Items to be cooked are not evenly sized or
spaced on trays
Make into same size and shape and spread
evenly over trays
Baked products too
brown on bottom
Baking tins too large (diameter)
Use correct size tins
Baking tins are dark metal or glass
Change to shiny, light tins or lower the
temperature by 10°-20 C
Food too low in oven
Cook one shelf higher
Oven door opened too frequently during
baking
Don’t open the oven door until at least half the
cooking time has passed
Baking temperature too high
Lower the temperature
Oven tray blocking heat (below thermostat)
Use higher shelf position for oven tray
Cakes have a cracked
thick crust
Baking temperature too high
Lower the temperature
Food too low in oven
Cook one shelf higher
Cake batter over mixed
Mix just long enough to combine the ingredients
Baking tin too deep or wrong size
Check size of tin and use recommended size
Baking tins dark
Change to shiny light tins
Baked products are pale,
flat and under cooked
Baking temperature too low
Raise the temperature
Food too low in oven
Cook one shelf higher
Baking time too short
Increase cooking time
Incorrect baking tin size
Use correct size tin
Cakes fallen in centre
Baking temperature too low
Raise the temperature
Baking time too short
Increase cooking time
Proportions of ingredients incorrect for recipe
Check recipe
Opening door too early during baking
Do not open door until the last quarter of
cooking time
Roast meat and potatoes
not browning in fan oven
Poor hot air circulation
Elevate food onto a rack to allow air circulation
Oven temperature is too low
Increase temperature to 200 - 220
Not long enough in oven
Continue cooking for another 15+ minutes
NOTE: Condensation on oven door is normal, especially when kitchen is cold
Also spacing and size of food on trays and the number of baking dishes in the oven can affect air circulation.
Using the oven
Baumatic 540mm Upright Cooker USING THE OVEN 13