Defrosting and cooling in the
main oven
To
defrost
frozen foods, turn the
main oven control to the defrost
position, place the food in the centre
of the oven and close the door.
To
cool
foods after cooking prior to
refrigerating or freezing, turn the
main oven control to the defrost
position and open the door.
Defrosting times
Small or thin pieces of frozen fish or
meat - eg; fish filets, prawns & mince
will take approximately 1 - 2 hours.
Placing the food in a single layer will
reduce the thawing time.
A medium sized casserole or stew will
take approximately 3 - 4 hours.
A 1
1
⁄
2
kg / 3lb oven ready chicken will
take approximately 5 hours, remove
the giblets as soon as possible.
Be safe
Do not defrost stuffed poultry using this
method.
Do not defrost larger joints of meat
and poultry over 2kg / 4lb using this
method.
Never place uncooked food for
defrosting next to cooked food which
is to be cooled, as this can lead to
cross contamination.
Defrosting meat, poultry, and fish can
be accelerated using this method
but make sure they are completely
thawed before cooking thoroughly.
Place meat and poultry on a trivet in a
meat tin.
Cooking with a fanned oven
As this is a high efficiency oven,
you may notice the emission of
steam from the oven when the
door is opened. Please take
care when opening the door.
If you are used to cooking with a
conventional oven you will find a
number of differences to cooking with
a fan oven which will require a
different approach:
There are no zones of heat in a fan oven
as the convection fan at the back of
the oven ensures an
even temperature
throughout the oven. This makes it
ideal for batch baking - eg; when
planning a party or stocking the
freezer - as all the items will be cooked
within the same length of time.
Foods are cooked at a
lower temperature
than a conventional oven, so convention-
al recipe temperature may have to be
reduced. Please refer to the conversion
chart.
Preheating is generally not necessary
as a fan oven warms up quickly.
There is no flavour transference in a
fan oven, which means you can cook
strong smelling foods such as fish at
the same time as mild foods - eg; milk
puddings.
When batch baking foods that will rise
during cooking - eg; bread - always
ensure that enough space has been
left between the shelves to allow for
the rise.
Notes:
When 2 or more shelves are being
used, it may be necessary to increase
the cooking time slightly.
Because the 2 oven shelves are wider
than in many ovens, it is possible to
cook 2 items per shelf - eg; 2 victoria
sandwiches or 2 casseroles.
Although you need to keep in mind the
points
‘To help the air circulate freely’
with careful choice of dishes and tins,
it is possible to cook a complete meal,
and perhaps something else for the
freezer, in the oven at the same time.
When roasting meats, you will notice that
fat splashing is reduced, which is due
in part to the lower oven temperatures,
and will help keep cleaning of the
oven to a minimum.
Because a fan oven has an even
temperature throughout the oven, there
is no need to follow the shelf positions
given in the baking guide. There is no
need to interchange dishes onto
different shelves part way through
cooking, as with a conventional oven.
To help the air circulate freely
Position the shelves evenly within the
oven and maintain a clearance from
the oven roof and base.
If more than one cooking dish or
baking tray is to be used on a shelf,
leave a gap of at least 25mm
between the items themselves and the
oven interior.
14
Using the Main Oven
