11
USING THE FAN OVEN
The Fan Oven
The air inside the oven is heated by the element
around the fan situated behind the back panel.
The fan circulates hot air to maintain an even
temperature inside the oven.
The advantages of cooking with this function
are:
Faster Preheating
Because the fan oven quickly reaches
temperature, it is not usually necessary to
preheat the oven although you may find that you
need to allow an extra 5-7 minutes on cooking
times. For recipes, which require higher
temperatures, best results are achieved if the
oven is preheated first, e.g. bread, pastries,
scones, souffles, etc.
Lower Temperatures
Fan oven cooking generally requires lower
temperatures than conventional cooking.
Remember to reduce temperatures by about
20- 25
°
C for your own recipes, which use
conventional cooking.
Even Heating for Baking
The fan oven has uniform heating on all runner
positions. This means that batches of the same
food can be cooked in the oven at the same
time. However, the top shelf may brown slightly
quicker that the lower one.
This is quite usual. There is no mixing of
flavours
between dishes .
How to Use the Fan Oven
1. Turn the oven function control knob to
2. Turn the thermostat control knob to the
required temperature.
HINTS AND TIPS
Runner positions are not critical, but make sure
the shelves are evenly spread.
When cooking more than one dish in the fan
oven, place dishes centrally on the shelves
rather than several dishes on one shelf.
When the oven is full, you may need to allow
slightly longer cooking time.
A shelf may be placed on the floor of the oven.
Place dishes on a shelf in this position rather
than on the oven base, to allow air circulation
around the food.
When the oven is full of the same food, e.g.
equal trays of small cakes or equal size victoria
sandwich cakes, then they will be cooked in the
same time and removed from the oven together.
When different sizes of trays or types of food,
e.g. biscuits and cakes are cooked, they will not
necessarily be ready together.
The fan oven can be used to heat foods through
without thawing first, e.g. fruit tarts, mince pies,
sausage rolls, and other small pastry items. Use
a temperature of 190-200
°
C and allow 20-40
minutes (depending on the quantity of food in
the oven).
Only experience will enable you to determine
the proper settings for your personal cooking
needs. The temperatures are intended as a
guide only. It may be necessary to increase or
decrease the temperature to suit your individual
requirements.
The effects of dishes on cooking results
Dishes and tins vary in their thickness,
conductivity, colour, etc. which affects the way
they transmit heat to the food inside them:
A
Aluminium, earthenware, oven glassware
and bright shiny utensils reduce cooking and
underneath browning.
B
Enamelled cast iron, anodized aluminium,
aluminium with non-stick interior and coloured
exterior and dark, heavy utensils increase
cooking and underneath browning.
Defrosting
The defrosting function allows you to defrost
frozen foods. The oven fan operates without
heat and circulates the air, at room temperature,
inside the oven. This increases the rate at which
defrosting takes place.
This function is particularly suitable for delicate
food which could be damaged by heat, e.g.
cream filled gateaux, iced cakes, pastries,
bread and other yeast products.
HINTS AND TIPS
•
Cover food with a lid, aluminium foil or
plastic film to prevent drying out during
defrosting.
•
Small or thin pieces of fish fillet or peeled
prawns, mince, liver and thin chops will
defrost in 1-2 hours. Ensure that they are
cooked or refrigerated immediately after
defrosting to maintain good foodhygiene.
•
Place the food to be defrosted in a single
layer.
•
And turn over half way through the defrosting
process, where possible.
•
Place the frozen food a single layer where
possible, and turn it over half way through
the defrosting process.
•
DO NOT leave food at room temperature
once it is defrosted. Cook raw food
immediately or store cooked food in the
fridge.
•
Take care to follow the basic rules for
hygiene when handling fresh, frozen, raw
and cooked foods.